Look what tourists fly home with from Paris Olympics
Just opposite the fencing stadium, the Grand Palais on the Avenue des Champs Élysées, scores of tourists have been queuing up outside the largest Olympic merchandise store to take home a taste of Paris. The Paris 2024 megastore offers a variety of souvenirs, from 5 euro pens and bracelets, to giant mascots costing 800 euros. Weekday visitors have had to wait around 15 minutes to get inside the store, but most RTHK spoke to said it was worth queuing up for.  Adam, a UK tourist in Paris with his kids, bought a T-shirt, a hat, a poster and some badges. “We spent about 110 euros, which I think, as it's only every four years, it's something to remember the Games by, so I think it's okay every once in a while,” he said. The Olympic mascot “Phryge”, a little red hat symbolising French liberty, is one of the bestsellers at the store. Douglas from Hong Kong bought one because he wanted something special to take home with him. “It’s unique and it's like representing the culture and France and also it represents the spirit of the Olympics, so we're trying to look for something very unique for a gift,” he said.   Visitors to the French capital can also take home the smell of a fresh baguette, with the launch of scratch-and-sniff stamps by the French postal service La Poste. “It's to celebrate the baguette, which is one of the symbols of France for the tourists for them to enjoy and to share this with the people they live with abroad,” said Gaspard, a worker at the Olympic Village’s post office. The French baguette was given Unesco heritage status in 2022.