[Music] welcome to road to the Olympic Games 2024 I'm Kia Simmons we're here in Paris the city of light as it gets ready to welcome the world for the next 30 minutes we're going to take you around this city to the amazing sites and venues playing host to the Paris Olympics we'll travel to the river sen and also head to the Palace of Versa two of the most historic and picturesque venues ever showcased at the Olympic Games but we'll start right here with what is perhaps the signature landmark of Paris the Eiffel Town Rising more than a thousand F feet above the city of light at night Illuminating the Paris Sky the Eiffel Tower is one of the most iconic sites in the world and the centerpiece for the Olympics kicking off the countdown to the games it will Tower over the event just as it did the last time the Olympics were here 100 years ago NBC News was given special access to the Tower and an incredible insight into Gustaf Eiffel himself self who designed her and helped design another Beacon of freedom and modernity the Statue of Liberty Madame Eiffel mirian L Eiffel is Gustaf eiffel's great great granddaughter look at this this is formidable as with so many modern ideas the tower was not initially welcomed by all parisians she was too mod she was too modern and and and she was frightening it was a monster of iron it's so frightening for people Paris just wouldn't be Paris without the Eiffel T she's more than 130 years old now so it takes a little TLC to keep her functioning and beautiful it's safe right it is it is it is because thanks to this guy thanks to this guy uh it's safe so it's a lot of painting firstly because all this wow look cuz there's guys here and there's guys there were guys up here so we have to paint it every seven years to protect the iron of the structures from the rest Jean franois Martin is Eiffel Tower president and helped lead the bid for Paris to make Olympic history again in 1924 uh for the Paris Olympics it was the first competition that was um live broadcasted on radio and the radio was on the eel Tower so we have't story with the Olympics beneath the tower a rare opportunity to see how the elevators work what goes up must come down they are hydraulic powered using water taking a 100 trips up and down each day in the 19th century this was an engineering feat helping folks avoid the stairs there are a lot of them but amazingly Gustav Eiffel preferred them and he would climb the stairs up here every day he had uh his office here and uh he went to very every day to work should we go and meet your great great grandfather that office still there today wow this is amazing and so moving for me too my grandfather with uh his blue eyes a very athletic man he was a swimmer a fencer and speaking of athletes just down there the beach volleyball you could call this the nose bed seats the centerpiece of the Paris games like her American cousin the Statue of Liberty represents a message from the past about believing in the future about the power of hopes and [Music] dreams here we are along the river sen it winds through Paris famously separating the left and the right Banks along these Banks you will find the city's defining monuments like the Lou and notredam but for this Olympics it's the river itself that is in the spotlight oh look a major cleanup operation began 7 years ago a more than1 billion project yet these efforts haven't necessarily eased concerns for Olympians competing in marathan swimming and the triathlon through Paris if it works then this Olympics will turn back time to when parisians would call off in the river and while swimming in the sen by the public was baned the city in 1923 the year before the last Paris Olympics the rule was not always followed I'm relying on you a little Upstream in a peaceful Village just outside Paris last year I met up with a friend from French TV who lives by the river and swims in it I guess you just do it a chance to truly test the water it's actually really really lovely out here peaceful beautiful huh quintessentially French the life is good here I can say I swam in the [Music] sent the City of Paris has bold environmental goals to be carbon neutral by 2050 and it is keeping that Focus as it welcomes the world this summer as National Climate reporter Chase Kane explains the city she is going for Gold by remaining green we believe the success of Paris is also how we will reduce the carbon footprint and uh to resist against the climate change Tony eston is the president of Paris 2024 and three time gold medalist who we met at a potato farm really he was visiting one of the local farms providing 80% of the 13 million meals served during the games local food Less meat equals lower emissions but that's just one slice of the green pie Paris has been cooking up to cut its emissions in half all along the way people were saying this is too ambitious you're never going to make it actually that was one of the most difficult things people always telling you this is not possible you're never going to make it but Georgina gr says they've already made it she oversees Paris 2024's decarbonization efforts and is especially proud they were able to help build and Source enough new wind and solar to power these Summer Olympics with 100% clean green energy everything from windmills on the Normandy Coast to solar panels on the roofs of venues in Paris and speaking of venues using existing Arenas also helped slash their carbon footprint Paris added temporary bleachers at a few iconic landmarks and only Built two new venues for Aquatics and basketball and both of them have seats made entirely from recycled plastic water bottles but honestly Olympic games are a huge opportunity to accelerate the transformation of public spaces on walking toward of Paris the city's Deputy Mayor showed us how the city is also embracing climate solutions to endure long after the Olympics including 800 miles of new bike lanes and planting 300,000 new trees if we wait too longer it will be more expensive and more difficult so that's why we have decided to accelerate our investments it's cheaper to do it now and honestly people are ready the hope is that Paris 2024 can spark a new kind of competition where countries compete with climate solutions for the gold medal in green if this game can send a message that it's worth making an effort to reduce his own emissions that is possible that yes you can do it you know if this gamees managed to send that message across I think we have all won you know a really good medal out of this behind me is the Lou now a famous art museum but you may not know it was once also the home of the French monarchy that is until 1682 when Louis the 14th moved the Royal Court to versailes this summer the site will host equestrian and modern pentathlon competitions Versa stands as a monument to Louis the 14th's dedication to building an iconic Palace and almost 350 years later is still a stunning sight to see from Louis the 14th's resplendant rain to Revolution the Palace of Versa was a masterpiece designed to demonstrate French superiority this is the shimmering Hall of Mirrors incredible it's meant to be to impress especially ambassadors or all important guests from abroad there are 357 mirrors what was he trying to say Lou the 14th of course he had to say that he was the greatest King maybe in the world this is France at the Zenith of its royal power yes what started Life as a small hunting lodge in the forests and swamps outside Paris developed into a glorious Palace of 10,000 people Louis the 14th's power his shadow has over 2,000 rooms earned him the name the Sun King and of course every King needs an opera house today one of the king's Apartments is being recovered with gold back then even the gardens inspired International awe and imitation this looks just like the Washington Mall or the Washington Mall looks like this yes sure and I think uh this uh idea is to have an unlimited perspective and maybe to be able to con conquer the world I see the famous golden horses in the distance there Louis the 14th loved horses yes horses was his passion Louis the 14th had a thousand horses he said it was the best way to get around this place these days a bike is Alam up [Music] 50 years later in a quiet corner you would find the wife of another King Louie France's most famous Queen Mar Antoinette she did not love the Pomp and protocol of the 18th century court and desperate to escape that suffocating Royal life she even created this idilic Village this is the Queen's apartment yes it's you can understand why when you tore what we would call her private rooms and here's the most famous room of the palace the Queen's bedroom the Queen's bedroom and the Queen's bed and the Queen's bed huh even while the queen slept she was being watched by members of the Court yes you cannot let someone as important as the queen of France abandoned or not watched you everything she does is in public getting dressed getting her bath everything how many people will have been in this room when she gave birth several dozens of people wow her dislike of it all was famously reciprocated by France in 1789 the revolutionaries stormed to the Palace Gates you have two little doors very discrete and this one this is where she escaped at the revolution when the people invaded the palace and never came back never Mary Anto she had no idea that she would never see this place again the end of French royalty versa's opulence had come to represent all the revolutionaries despised yet more than 200 years later it is one of the most popular tourist attractions in the world inspiring admiration just as the Sun King envisaged when we come back I'll take you inside the herculan effort to restore nraam after a devastating fire [Music] under the Eiffel Tower the beach volleyball Stadium now has 2,000 tons of imported sand we really welcome the world to to come and and to join us this summer close by a first look at the Judo and wrestling venue with almost 8,000 Spectators expected it's going to be crazy we have a magnific stadium at at the famed plasa Concord where history has often been made Olympic break dancing will Premiere well next door look at this the iconic chanis already partially pedestrianized for the games The City of Paris itself becoming an Olympic venue are you having fun in Paris we found 5-year-old Isa from DC you never have a chance to be on the Sham with no cars you know barely any pedestrians and it's all to yourself most venues repurposed such as the stat to France built for France's 98 soccer World Cup getting ready to host Athletics competitions and this Aquatic Center one of the few purpose-built facilities NBC News got exclusive access to team USA's Training Center among the Innovations there this Olympics Intel triling an AI app helping Olympian or par Olympian quickly find their way around look at that we're here technology that allows essentially turn-by-turn directions indoors Holly has AA clerk from Seattle now lives with her family on a houseboat beneath the Eiffel Tower we are so excited about the Olympics they'll temporarily relocate their boat to make way for the opening ceremony but they are no less excited to compensate for moving our boat for the Olympics they are giving us five opening ceremony tickets and that is definitely on my bucket [Music] list way up there you can once again see the cross at top the nram cathedral it survived the devastating fire which in 2019 destroyed so much of this beautiful building it was lovingly restored over the past 5 years and reinstalled this may but the work is not done hundreds of professionals are working on nraam ahead of a December reopening the world able to admire this iconic Cathedral once again beautiful it's fantastic it's awesome I just wish I could get inside years of delicate restorative repairs inside and out the centuries old Monument now nearing completion parts of the massive scaffold are gone revealing the carefully mended scars from the devastating fire we're coming back on the air with the breaking news out of Paris where an inferno is burning at the fame notredam Cathedral one of France's most popular tourist destinations firefighters are on the scene where the 850 yearold Cathedral has been burning for hours now 5 years ago an inferno tore through the interior of the Magnificent Church consuming 800 years of history in minutes bringing the cathedral back to its former glor Glory required rare skills remaking each of its famous wood structures amongst the few foreigners involved in the Colossal effort Hank Sila a carpenter from New England who helped rebuild the roof made by medieval Craftsmen what does it feel like to be standing here now it still doesn't feel real if I'm honest it's still a bit um bit of a dream really Hank belongs to Carpenters Without Borders a volunteer group of woodwork experts restoring historic structures Around the Globe last year he watched overwhelmed as the trusses he crafted were transported and lifted into position what was it like to watch that to see a a truss of that scale handh Hune pegged together flying through space it's it's a really out of time kind of experience last December NBC News got a special Glimpse inside the cathedral climbing 300 ft to spectacular views across Paris so this is the Spire that went crashing down ex actually we all watched it all around the world right up there is where we were now the can be seen across Paris again we first met Hank last summer at a workshop in Normandy painstakingly crafting the roofs beam in the US we have a built tradition that's much newer being able to work on this building which is the birth of this technique is particularly meaningful using replicas of Medieval tools like these axes Hank and his colleagues reconstructed each truss exactly as they were made in the 13th century as Carpenters here we've had to do things that the original Carpenters never did we've had to recreate all these inconsistencies all these deformations that have accured over the centuries the Reconstruction effort 5 years on nearing the Finish Line while Hank now calls France home this incredible building has changed your life oh absolutely for the rest of your life you can come here yeah and look at this and know that you had a part in it I'll be dining out on this for a long time yeah yeah I think this is the city to die out who doesn't love this Paris Street life with a cafe for a coffee or a wine but below these streets is an underground site that is part of the city's Heritage the Paris catacombs first opened its doors to the public in 1809 now it draws hundreds of thousands of visitors every [Music] year this is the way down it's only the beginning hidden 65 ft underground a glimpse into the soul of Paris the Empire of death death death Death oh mcginness it's kind of Goosebumps really yes some people even cannot believe that these are real bones these people are just piled up yes and from many many centuries by the late 18th century paris's Graves were full to combat a Public Health crisis the bodies from every grave were transferred to an empty Quarry just outside the city one of the things you really notice is the silence yes it's just there's nothing yeah it's thought up to 4 million skeletons were moved to the catacombs but as Revolution rocked France Paris learned to celebrate the individual perz one of the world's largest and most beautiful cemeteries bour historian and author M Jean Manuel tront has given tours of PES for years the PES is now clearly the most elegant place to be buried in Paris even Legends chose pesz as their final resting place Oscar Wild's grave the reason why Oscar wild is in buried in Paris is because he was gay and he could not face London Society so he went to Paris to die so here we have one of the most flowered Graves of the whole Cemetery it's always popular the grave of edit PF wow so now another very famous grave that famous grave is that of course of Jim Morrison and from day one that is from 1971 gazillions of young people have come all over the cemetery this will be where he is this is the grave this is this is Jim Morrison's grave the grave surrounded by barriers to keep fanatical pilgrims at Bay I have seen things that I cannot describe but happening exactly on the grave wow we really obsessed with the dead we are really obsessed with the dead living exactly people the problem is it will happen to us to become a dead person so our obsession is a little bit understand not all of us though are as famous or as Infamous as Jim Morris from the Middle Ages to Jim Morrison Paris has lessons in life and death after the break we'll give you a sneak peek at the next city getting ready to host the 2028 [Music] Olympics welcome back to the road to the Olympic Games 2024 among paris's many claims to fame it's where many say the movies were born way back in 1895 thanks to the lumier brothers but for the next Olympic Games we're heading to the city now most associated with the film industry Los Angeles gy Schwarz is there with a preview hey look The Cauldron is burning there is arguably no place that says Olympics here in the United States as iconically as the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum it has stood here for over a century it's hosted two Olympic Games 19 1932 1984 and for the tens of millions of people who have come here throughout the years for concerts for some of the biggest sporting battles in history they've always been reminded by those rings by that flame the LA is truly an Olympic city now there are already so many massive venues like this spread all across Los Angeles So the plan has always been to use as many existing venues as possible but that of course is going to come with some Renovations here at the LA Memorial Coliseum that track you see it is not anywhere near big enough so what they're going to have to do is they're going to have to build a temporary platform by coming up about 14 rows and that new elevated platform will let athletes warm up below before competing on the world stage up above and right next door more familiar rings for diving in front of the same pool that hosted the 1932 aquatic events and about 7 miles away Sofi Stadium will be playing a major role in these games possibly even sharing the spotlight with the Coliseum for both the opening and closing ceremonies and of course nothing puts summer in the summer games like some sand and some surf this is Santa Monica the birthplace of modern-day competitive beach volleyball as we know it hopefully they'll get their time in the sun and the Pacific Ocean so many possibilities for surf up and down the coast 2028 cannot come soon enough [Music] and that's our show we hope you enjoyed road to the Olympic Games 2024 be sure to tune into all the action with the Olympic Games on NBC and peacock I'm Kia Simmons aravir [Music] thanks for watching stay updated about breaking news and top stories on the NBC News app or follow us on social media