Olympics on a Bronze budget

“The city is empty,” Rachida says with a sigh. “We were expecting things to be good, but for hotels and restaurants it’s …”

She pauses and simply makes a gesture with her hands of falling from a cliff.

Rachida manages the Hotel Pax Opera: a three-star hotel around the corner from the Folies Bergère in Paris. My comfortable sixth-floor room costs a very reasonable £75 with breakfast and a friendly welcome. That is about one-third less than I paid in a similar property early in December last year.

France attracts more international visitors than any other country, and in summer its capital is usually rammed – particularly with big tour groups from Asia and North America. But this year they are staying away from Paris during the Olympics – and, looking at hotel and flight prices, well into August too.

“This is a very bad time for us, but it’s a good time to be a tourist because there are no queues.” Rachida sums up why you should take the Paris tourist decathlon challenge.

Head south across the Channel. Not only will you grab a bargain; I guarantee you will see the French capital in a fresh, uncrowded light.

You will also feel the quintessential Olympic ambiance. Don’t heckle: my first Games was Seoul, South Korea, in 1988. (For the avoidance of doubt, I was not competing.) On the elusive quality of humanity celebrating internationalism, passion and achievement, I do know what I am talking about for once.

For example, the random strangers you meet: just now, I was talking to the parents of the woman who is cox to the Australian rowing eight. Their faces were a picture of pride and joy.

So get here quick – but get in training for the Paris tourism decathlon.

Event 1: Reaching Paris

I timed my run for the day after the opening ceremony. Three days ahead, I bought a British Airways London Heathrow-Paris CDG flight for Avios points. Availability is tighter because of the Eurostar chaos. Because of the arson attack on the high-speed line from Lille to Paris, thousands of passengers were unable to travel on the trains they had booked, and the subsequent extra demand has driven up prices.

But for example on 6 August you can travel for 9,250 Avios (which I value at around £93).

I have a plane ticket back from Paris Orly to London Gatwick on Vueling for £40.

Lower fares are available from a wide range of UK airports. For…