No JO

{JO = Jeux Olympiques, which = Olympic Games, of course.}
The above image was on stickers put up all over town
by the anti-Olympic committee.

As you know, Annecy didn't get the 2018 Winter Games.

Judging from the general lack of interest and support here in town,

not to mention the much-mocked disorganization 

of the Annecy Olympic bid committee,

I wasn't very surprised.

Even though it was 99.9% sure 

that there was absolutely no way we would win,

Anna & I still wandered down to the Pâquier,

the great big lawn in the centre of town next to the lake

to watch Annecy lose the Olympic bid on the big-screen 

 yesterday afternoon.

I'd be lying if I told you there were 

crowds,

tears 

or the type of tension you could cut with a knife.

Nope.

However, there were 

lots of families, 

people wearing blue {the official bid colour}, 

a bit of half-hearted flag-waving

& then the announcement everyone was expecting.

Oh well.

You win some... you lose some, n'est-ce pas?

Monsieur Flag {the red one is the official emblem of Savoy, this region of France}

Stage?  Check.  Big-screen?  Check.  Crowds?  No comment.

Waiting to hear who the winner is...

Feeling blue...

I guess those Annecy 2018 shirts will go to the back of their closets...

Even the sky knew about the colour scheme.

Somehow our names weren't on the list for the Annecy 2018 VIP Lounge... pffft.

And the "Bungee Fun Run" didn't really appeal to us...

So we posed for a flag-waving photo...

... or two...

And then checked out the line-up at the official souvenir boutique.

Hats off to you, Pyeongchang!