The Paris Olympic Games inaugural ceremony kicked off promptly on Friday, with a threat of rain, and featured a video starring the legendary footballer Zinedine Zidane.

In the video, Zidane is seen traversing Paris with a torch handed to him by comedian Jamel Debbouze. Debbouze finds the Stade de France empty because, for the first time, the ceremony is being held in the streets.

Zidane takes the flame into the metro, passing it on to children who then travel by boat through the subterranean canals of Paris. The children, accompanied by a hooded figure, appear live on the Austerlitz Bridge.

French President Emmanuel Macron arrived at the Trocadero, where he was greeted by a hundred heads of state, government leaders, and international organization officials.

Central Paris came to a standstill to create several security rings around the Seine. There was no traffic, no pedestrians, no public transportation, and all hospitality and retail establishments had been closed for hours.