Stale bread and no wine: Olympic spectators complain about terrible food
The Paris Games intended to showcase the best of French cuisine but sport fans instead say it resembles the type of food available at American sporting events
Attempts to use the Paris Olympics to promote French cuisine have left spectators with the taste of stale bread, alcohol-free beer and hour-long waits to to be served.
The Games’ organisers had previously outlined their ambition to “use the knowledge and creativity of French cuisine to create more responsible eating habits in stadiums and during sports events”.
But Paris’s proud reputation as gastronomic heaven has become fast-food hell at Olympic venues where ticket holders complain they are being served a menu usually found in American sports stadiums.
Esmee Takens, 21, a student from Groningen in the Netherlands, visited the dressage competition in the grounds of the Château de Versailles, which is renowned for its opulence.
“There is not much on the menu and the prices are high,” she said as temperatures reached 34℃. “I will bring my own food tomorrow. I haven’t found a water tap and it is very hot.
“I did not have a reference to what it would be like, but I thought it would be better than this because it is in France.”
Carey Lucas, 62, a retired restaurateur from Pau in southwest France, said: “I had a vegetarian hot dog, it was good, but you would not get a good meal here.
“This is not the food of France,” she added. “But how can you expect it to be French when there are Coca-Cola signs everywhere”.
Coca-Cola is a sponsor of the games and its brands, including Fanta and Sprite, are available at €5 (£4.20) for a 50cl cup with an additional refundable deposit of €2. A small bottle of water is €3.50.
While hospitality guests can order alcohol, the Games’ organisers admitted they “did not ask for an exemption or special dispensation” to allow wine and beer to be sold to ordinary ticket holders.
A plastic container of alcohol-free lager costs €8 for 40cl, less than three-quarters of a pint.
A chicken and pesto sandwich is €11, with crips and popcorn available at €4. Fries are €7.50 while a quinoa and vegetable salad cost €12. Some venues have a stall selling regional delicacies, including crepes at €6. Ice creams covered with chocolate sauce and dipped in sprinkles also cost €6.
Ulrik Leegaard, 53, is visiting the games with his wife Mariane, 49, and daughter Mai, 21, from Denmark. “I guess the food is alright, it is the sort of food you get in America. It does not seem very French. I don’t think many people will be drinking beer without alcohol.”
Le Figaro, the French newspaper, commented: “With such prices, it is obvious that we are not getting a very good deal. But they are similar to what we can observe in train stations, airports, motorway areas or even amusement parks: consumers being captive on the site, the seller is in a de facto monopoly situation and takes advantage of this to inflate its prices.”
It advised disgruntled visitors: “For those who find the prices too high, it is worth remembering that going to the refreshment bar is not essential.”
There have been complaints about the quality, range and cost across venues. An Italian broadcaster described the coffee as apparently being made with water from the river Seine. The Italian fencing team has taken their own coffee machine into their box at the Grand Palais.
Most venues have huge queues at the refreshment stalls because of temperamental bank card machines and confusion among staff. Under a sponsorship deal, only Visa cards are accepted, which leads to heated arguments at tills.
There were lengthy queues at Roland Garros for tennis on Tuesday. One fan wrote on Twitter: ‘Dreadful … massive queues for food and ran out of food by 1pm. Plus no alcohol. Treating spectators like dirt.”
Brendan O’Hagan and Philip Bickerstaff, 69, who travelled from Lytham St Annes, Lancashire, queued for more than 30 minutes for a drink.
O’Hagan, a retired HR manager, said: “It’s a bit of a shambles really. There is just one guy serving this whole queue —they don’t seem to have enough staff. And it’s the same all over the ground. And there’s no beer.”
As temperatures reached 35℃ there were warnings to spectators to “drink plenty of water”. However, there were queues of 30 minutes in the sun to fill bottles at taps. A sprinkler was turned on so spectators could cool down.
Competitors have also complained of small portions, undercooked meat and lack of supplies at the athletes’ villages.
Jack Draper, the British tennis player, criticised the organisers for making players drink “hot water” on court after wilting in a second-round loss to American Taylor Fritz.
Players are supplied with environmentally-friendly refillable bottles, but Draper found himself unable to keep his water cool, and spent the changes of ends waiting at a water fountain.
“It was tough conditions, there’s no doubt about it,” said Draper as he dripped with sweat. “Part of it’s physicality but I said to the referee, it’s pretty poor that the players have to drink hot water when we’re playing in those conditions.
“It’s important we have good fridges to keep our water cool… we shouldn’t have to fill our water up every change of ends, we need to sit down. I just think it’s pretty poor that they put the players through that on court.”
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