People gather at the Vieux-Port (Old Port) to welcome the three-masted ship Belem carrying the Olympic flame of Paris 2024 as the French Air Force elite acrobatic flying team “Patrouille de France” (PAF) flies over during a ceremony in Marseille, southern France, on May 8, 2024. (Photo by Julien Mattia/Xinhua)
Tens of thousands of people gathered on Wednesday in Marseille to welcome the Olympic torch and mark another milestone in the lead-up to the Paris Olympics.
A majestic three-mast ship carried the Olympic flame into Marseille’s famed OldPort at sunset as the French national anthem, La Marseillaise.
An Air Force fly-over marked the ship’s arrival, with planes drawing the five Olympic rings and then the red-blue-white colors of the French flag.
French singer JuL delivers a speech after lighting the Olympic cauldron during a ceremony welcoming the Olympic flame of Paris 2024 at the Vieux-Port (Old Port) in Marseille, southern France, on May 8, 2024. (Photo by Julien Mattia/Xinhua)
XINHUA PHOTOS OF THE DAY The Belem, a three-masted sailing ship carrying the Olympic flame, arrives in the southern French city of Marseille on May 8, 2024. (Photo by Julien Mattia/Xinhua)
