With the River Oise as a witness, the torch relay included the cities and communes of Pontoise, Saint-Prix, Cergy, Sarcelles, Argenteuil, Enghien-les-bains with its beautiful lake and Auvers-sur-Oise, a town famous for the artists who lived and worked there, among them the Dutch genius Vincent van Gogh, who died there in July 1890.
At the Enghien-Soisy racecourse, the lighting of the cauldron took place in the late afternoon, led by the three-time world judo champion in the 80s, Brigitte Deydier.
More than a hundred people carried the flame in the Oise Valley, which represented stage 61 of its 12 thousand kilometer journey through French soil.
The flame will be in the coming days in the departments of the Paris Region of Seine and Marne, Marne Valley, Essonne, Yvelines, Haut-Seine and Saint Denis. On July 26, the torch will arrive in Paris near the Seine for the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games.
The way the cauldron will be lit in the City of Light and the name of the last torch relay remain the best kept secrets of the organizers.
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