With flags, song, pride
A young man sprayed a fire extinguisher on the crowd on a late hot afternoon.
Hundreds of police in riot gear were discretely lined up on side streets to monitor revelers. Typically, celebrations in France end up with some broken shop windows and other destruction, and Sunday was no exception. Tear gas was lobbed at one point on the Champs-Elysees. About 4,000 police watched over the fan zone — packed to its 90,000 capacity — during the match, then moved to the Champs-Elysees and neighboring streets.
As night fell, The Eiffel Tower flashed 1998-2018 to mark France's two World Cup titles.
The Arc de Triomph was awash in the national colors, lit with the rooster, the faces of the winning team and the words "Proud to be Blue," or French.
The celebrations were spread across the nation.
For all the crazy antics — and some revelers who got out of control — a sense of patriotism and unity was almost visceral.
Antoine Griezmann, the France striker who scored one of the goal's Sunday, told a news conference two days before the final, televised on BFM TV, that pride in country is in short supply.
"We say it so little ... We should be proud to be French," Griezmann said.
