A sport-loving Brit family, who swapped a dull British Sunday for a sun-kissed trip to the Olympic Games, say “it was worth every penny”.
Spontaneous Paula and Ivan Holm took their 15-year-old son, Jonah, to Paris to spend the day watching hockey and table tennis.
After bagging some tickets on re-sale, the whole trip cost them £125 each.
And they even managed to squeeze in some sightseeing.
Paula said: “I was gripped with Olympic fever.
“And couldn’t quite cope with the thought of the Olympics taking place so close and not being a part of it.”
She added: “Tickets to British Summertime Hyde Park, Premier League football, and West End shows in London cost in the region of £100 per person.
“That is before a £30 train fare into the capital,” Paula, an estate agent, of Baldock, Hertfordshire, told Luxury Travel Daily.
“For a once in a four-year experience, it was worth every penny.
“With just days to go until the opening ceremony, I looked to see if there were flights and bingo! There it was.
“I went onto the official Olympic re-sale platform and managed to get three tickets sitting together for two different events.
“So, we had a 3:30am alarm to be at the airport for 4:30am, ready for a 6:05am flight from Luton to Paris, Charles de Gaulle.”
Travelling with EasyJet on 28 July, the flights cost a total of £108 for the three of them.
After watching Team GB thrash Spain in the hockey 4-0, they raced over to the Paris Arena Sud to catch the quarter-finals of the mixed doubles in table tennis.
The family even had time to visit the iconic Eiffel Tower before enjoying a leisurely evening stroll along the Seine and heading back to the airport.
Paula said: “I love the camaraderie between fans of all nations, adorned with their different flags and face paints, each proud of their own nation while supporting the great sport.
“I love learning about and getting super involved in sports that I would never usually follow.
“The dedication and commitment of each individual to train for, be selected for and represent their country at the highest of levels is utterly inspiring.
“For flights, transport around Paris and three and a half hours of hockey and two hours of table tennis, we paid £125 per person.”
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