Now 10 days in the running across France’s roads, the Olympic Torch Relay passed through the Gers department, a rugby hotbed that celebrated the participation of 7-a-side player Paulin Riva, national star Anthony Jelonch and pioneer Odette Desprats, who lit the Cauldron at the Mouzon sports complex.

France’s prime minister Gabriel Attal announced the Olympic flame will not be passing through New Caledonia on 11 June after several days of rioting in the overseas archipelago this past week.

The Olympic Torch Relay continues its intense and emotional journey since arriving in mainland France on 10 May with a grand ceremony in Marseille after a long and special journey from Greece aboard the 19th Century boat Belem. Seven days later, rugby was in the spotlight.

This Thursday, the Olympic Torch made a leap back in time to explore the unique medieval heritage of the Aude. Nearly 110 Torchbearers carried the Flame from the fortress of Peyrepertuse to Carcassonne. Dimitri Pavadé, one of the relay captains, was in Carcassonne and Olivia Ruiz, one of France's most popular singers, lit the Olympic cauldron.

The Olympic Torch Relay has been travelling the roads of France for a week now, and on Wednesday the Pyrénées-Orientales département took centre stage. The Catalans, who have kept the tradition of the Canigó Flame alive since time immemorial, waited with bated breath for the arrival of the Olympic torch in their region.

The Olympic Torch first came to Corsica in 1992 for the Winter Olympics in Albertville. Now, 32 years later, it returned on Tuesday to highlight the natural beauty of the French island, 17 days after leaving Greece aboard the Belem.

Still on the Mediterranean coast, the Paris 2024 Olympic Torch visited a new region on Monday. With no clouds in the sky, the torch illuminated the main towns of Millau, Sète and Montpellier, all of which are located in the southern part of the Occitania region. 

The fourth leg of the Olympic Torch Relay has made another stop in the Bouches-du-Rhône. After the arrival of the Olympic Torch and the first stage in Marseille, other key sites in the region were highlighted on the way to Arles, the host city of the stage.

The third day of the Olympic Torch Relay on French roads gave a taste of the art of living in Provence. The route took in Moustiers-Sainte-Marie, Sisteron, Digne-les-Bains, Forcalquier and Barcelonnette. Alain Boghossian, Odiah Sidibé and Adeline Bilal were some of the celebrities born and bred in Provence who carried the Olympic torch.

From Saint-Raphael to Toulon, from the coast to the hinterland, the second leg of the Olympic Torch Relay in the Var region, was a love letter to the Mediterranean. It was a stage full of action, with a focus on culture, rugby and the group organised in partnership with the French Federation for Disabled Sports.

On Europe Day, and the second on French soil for the Paris 2024 flame after a 12-day-long boat journey from Greece, Mariia Vysochanska participated in the relay through the coastal city’s streets to begin an 11-week parade across France before lighting the Olympic cauldron on 26 July.

After disembarking in Marseille from Olympia,Greece this Wednesday, 8 May, the Olympic flame will travel throughout France, including overseas territories, for 80 days until arriving in Paris for the opening ceremony of the Games on 26 July.

The Paris 2024 Olympics cauldron design for the Torch Relay has been unveiled. Designed by Mathieu Lehanneur, it will be lit at each stopover city in France by the last Torchbearer of the day.

The Olympic flame set sail from the Greek port of Piraeus today to France where the Olympic Torch Relay will continue its epic journey. Crossing the Mediterranean on board the Belem, the flame is scheduled to reach Marseille on 8 May. 

From the Acropolis, Greece's most emblematic monument, the Olympic flame sends its timeless messages of peace and truce to the entire planet. The altar was lit by Olympic athlete Periklis Iakovakis, who received the light in the Propylaea from swimming champion Andreas Vazaios, as reported the Hellenic Olympic Committee (HOC).