Stadiums are packed. Crowds are going wild, chanting, applauding, supporting the home team. And the French are also tuning in by the millions to watch the Games on TV. After months of doom and gloom, Olympic fever has caught on in France.

"My God. It's crazy," Manon Apithy-Brunet said of the fan support after winning gold in the women's sabre individual competition at the Grand Palais, in the heart of Paris.

"I was like, 'OK, take it in, because it's crazy. Just enjoy,'" she said after a spontaneous rendition of "La Marseillaise," the national anthem, broke out among the crowd.