A majestic three-mast ship carried the Olympic flame into Marseille’s famed Old Port at sunset as the French national anthem, La Marseillaise, echoed from the embankment.

An Air Force fly-over marked the ship’s arrival, with planes drawing the five Olympic rings and then the red-blue-white colours of the French flag.

Tens of thousands cheered the arrival at the cordoned-off stage area on the shore, while thousands of others waved from balconies and windows overlooking the festivities.

Marseille-born rapper Jul lit the Olympic cauldron after the torch was brought to land by Florent Manaudou, France’s 2012 Olympic men’s 50 metres freestyle swimming champion.

The flame’s transfer onshore marks the start of a 12,000-kilometre (7,500-mile) torch relay across France and its far-flung overseas territories.

Arriving in Marseille, President Emmanuel Macron met with the French Olympic athletes who have sailed on the Belem, the 19th-century ship carrying the torch.

“With the arrival of the flame, the country enters the Games,” Macron said at Olympic Marina in Marseille, a port city founded by Greek merchants.

Organisers are hoping the first public spectacle – just 79 days from the start of the Games – will help build excitement after a damaging row about ticket prices and concerns about security.

“It’s something we’ve been waiting for for a very long time,” chief organiser Tony Estanguet said Monday, referring to the 100 years since Paris last staged the Games. “The Games are coming home.”

Source: France 24