The Place de la Concorde, close to the Champs-Élysées and facing the Eiffel Tower diagonally, as if it were eyeing it with suspicion, was to be the epicentre of Paris 2024's most extraordinary message: "There are no limits that cannot be overcome for the fighters of life, those who revolutionise the established and teach us that with effort, dedication, love and empathy, everything is possible".

What would happen during the opening ceremony was a closely guarded secret in the days leading up to the event. The secret was revealed just as the Paralympic Games began.

A message of equality and the spirit of competition, beyond the importance of winning, was what Thomas Jolly wanted to convey from the outset. He called for a fusion of celebration and politics.

In line with the IPC's guidelines, Jolly had said beforehand, "I hope to teach and provoke thought", and that is exactly what was evident from the start - a new way of looking at things.

French President Emmanuel Macron, Brazilian IPC President Andrew Parsons, Tony Estanguet, organiser of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, and Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo were all smiling in the official box at the start of the ceremony.

The seventeenth Paralympic Games in history were officially opened in Place Louis XV, which later became Place de la Révolution and is now Place de la Concorde.

On the improvised stage, around 150 performers and several grand pianos mingled with a ballet of artists with white flags and people with special abilities, moving 30,000 spectators in the stands.

Suddenly, "Welcome to Paris" was heard as smoke in the colours of the French flag filled the air, with the Obelisk in the centre and hundreds of artists waving flags, representing all the different disciplines that will be present in Paris, according to the abilities of each Para-athlete.

As the minutes ticked by, the artists representing the Para-athletes took centre stage, eventually converging in a mix of restraint and creativity, as different musical styles merged into one, accompanied by the beauty of eight aeroplanes adorning the Paris sunset, heralding the start of the delegations' parade down the Champs-Élysées.

More than 30,000 people watched 4,400 Paralympians from 168 National Paralympic Committees parade through the centre of Paris, with their flags as their distinguishing elements, but united by the shared smile of brotherhood.

Volunteers, vital but often overlooked, added a spectacular touch with impromptu dances and smiles as the athletes passed the Arc de Triomphe and entered Place de la Concorde.

Like the Opening Ceremony of the thirty-third modern Olympic Games, held on Friday 26th July in an open space where the imagination is not confined by a stadium,this ceremony was no different.

The Para-athletes were on a "Path to Concord", using the route from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, as if to send a message, not only in the Parisian afternoon, when the sky gradually turned orange before nightfall.

Without the Seine as the protagonist, but with iconic French landmarks as a backdrop and, of course, the public filling the paid and free stands.

Some 15,000 people watched the parade of athletes in a free area at the bottom of the Champs-Élysées, while another 30,000 watched the final part of the ceremony, the lighting of the cauldron near the Louvre Museum.

The internationally renowned Swedish choreographer Alexander Ekman was the main choreographer for the ceremony. With more than 50 creations and collaborations with the Paris Opera Ballet and the Boston Ballet, he gave a special touch to the first Paralympic Games in history to be held in France.

Some 15,000 members of the security forces were deployed to ensure the safety of the Opening Ceremony and surrounding areas, and they performed almost flawlessly under the watchful eye and instructions of the French Minister of the Interior, Gérald Darmanin.

The Path of Concord, as if sending a message in the Parisian afternoon, gradually turned the sky orange before nightfall.

The delegation with the largest number of participants, France, arrived singing and greeting to the rhythm of "Aux Champs-Élysées", much to the delight of all present, who joined in the singing of the local para-athletes.

After the arrival of the French delegation and the record-breaking parade of participants, the symphony began to play its violins, caressing the Paris sky under the emotional gaze of those present.

Even more moving were the videos shown on the Place de la Concorde and broadcast around the world, featuring various athletes with unique and hopeful messages. "My body is my friend," said one of them, stressing the importance of not dwelling on what you cannot do because of your limitations, but rather enjoying what you can do.

"I kiss my children because I have no hands to touch them, but there are other ways," said Lucia Retail, who moved many to tears with her resilience and beautiful message.

There was also time in the video for a message about "what will they say" or "what are they looking at" from those who stare at people with different abilities. "When people look at me, I take it as an advantage because everyone pays attention to me," said Martin Petit, another person who was seen delivering messages to the world through the mini-documentary.

After the emotional video, Lucky Love performed "My Ability" with artists surrounding them on stage. The dancers of "Strict Society" performed alongside a choir, dancing to the rhythm of inclusion that the Paralympic spirit promotes, in a beautiful show of brotherhood and emotion, where it was clear that boundaries are set by those who fail to understand that we are all different and equal at the same time.

Tears of emotion, smiles and a song for life took over Paris 2024 until "La Marseillaise", the French national anthem, was played. Officially recognised on 11 June 2010, it was written by Rouget de Lisle in 1792.

Victor Le Masne, composer of the anthem for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, sang the emblematic song of the host country in front of thousands of spectators, accompanied by a magnificent orchestra, with the Eiffel Tower in the background and the obelisk on the Place de la Concorde lit up in the blue, white and red of the French flag.

Frenchman Tony Estanguet, President of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee, then delivered an emotional speech that was greeted with applause. "Dear athletes, welcome to the country of love and revolution. This is the most beautiful of all revolutions, the Paralympic revolution."

"Tonight the revolutionaries are you, dear athletes, just like our ancestors. Like all revolutionaries, you have the courage. Your weapons are your achievements, your unique stories, your lives. You lived and grew up with people telling you what you couldn't do, until you joined a club and, like all athletes, you tried, failed and tried again until you became the great champions we see here tonight," said Estanguet, who, as with the Olympics, more than delivered, not only in the organisation but also in his speeches.

"What's really revolutionary about you is that you've done what they said was impossible. Tonight you are teaching us and inviting everyone to change perspectives, change attitudes, to give people opportunities," continued the triple gold medallist in slalom canoeing.

"Your power is immense. Thank you, because behind the emotion of each one of you, we can carry a message that must never be forgotten: There are no limits, stop putting limits on yourself. It is an individual revolution, but with a universal reach," concluded the Frenchman to the applause of the crowd, before handing over to Brazilian Andrew Parsons, the IPC's highest authority.

"Welcome to the greatest event of transformation, the Paris 2024 Paralympics. (...) We celebrate being different; it's wonderful to be different," began the Rio de Janeiro native.

"Every person with a disability deserves to live without limits, in freedom, equality and fraternity," exclaimed a smiling and enthusiastic Parsons.

"Through the power of sport, we can show world leaders that unity is possible, that we can be together and in peace under common rules," concluded the man who was elected IPC President in September 2017, succeeding Sir Philip Craven.

The Brazilian then gave the floor to the President of the French Republic, Emmanuel Macron, who said in a short speech: "I declare the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games open", officially opened the first Paralympic Games to be held on French soil.

After a new ballet scene and to the beautiful sound of the piano and the praiseworthy voice of Luan Pommier, who sang the Paralympic anthem created in 1996 entitled "Hymn of the Future", British doctor and former Paralympic athlete John McFall appeared.

The silver medallist in Adapted Athletics also made history by becoming the first person with a disability to join the European Space Agency, delivering a profound message that there are no limits or barriers that can stop people as long as there is the will to overcome them and the effort to achieve them, reaching places unimaginable for any mortal, such as space.

After the customary oath, a solemn promise to uphold the spirit of the Games, came the moment of the torch and the re-enactment of its arrival in France in a visual retrospective of the Paralympic Torch Relay, which began in Stoke Mandeville on 24 August. 

On entering France, the torch was divided into 12 groups, symbolising the duration of the Games and representing regional inclusion and disability awareness across the host country.

Six men and six women were responsible for carrying the torch in a relay, while a hundred dancers with torches performed to the tune of "Boléro Ravel" (composed by Maurice Ravel in 1928), until they lit the final cauldron in the Jardin des Tuileries, the same place where the Olympic flame was lit, uniting the two in a single inclusive spirit under the Paris sky in the now legendary Olympic globe.

After the cauldron was lit, a spectacular show of fireworks illuminated the night over Paris, while 35,000 people enjoyed the final minutes of the Ceremony with the sound of the pianos reverberating in the atmosphere.

Sixty days of rehearsals were not in vain; the Paralympic Opening Ceremony was truly spectacular, leaving no doubt about the message of inclusion and the revolution of our minds in pursuit of a better world.

The work of Jolly, who was closely watched by his critics, was commendable, as was the work of everyone involved in a celebration that lasted three hours and 3.40 minutes and was well received by all.

There was no room for controversy or anything considered disrespectful by the world's major religions, as had happened during the Olympic Games. 

This time, the opening ceremony of the Paris Paralympic Games was brilliant, leaving no room for ambiguity and perfectly in line with what was being presented - the seventeenth Paralympic Games in history.