If you land at Charles De Gaulle, the next stop by train down from the airport is Parc des Expositions.
It brings you to an expanse designed for conventions and dotted with pavilions and, to the side, a building with its corrugated inner ceiling that goes by the name of Arena Paris Nord and it is there that the boxers at this summer's Olympics will either take flight towards medal bouts at Roland Garros or be on an early flight home.
Team Ireland travelled to Paris with high hopes - there almost always are high expectations where Irish boxing and the Olympics is concerned - and a 10-strong contingent including two previous medal winners, Kellie Harrington and Aidan Walsh, who took home gold and bronze respectively from Tokyo three years ago.
But since the boxing competitions had started on Saturday, it had proved tough going for Zaur Antia's team of fighters with Dean Clancy, Aidan Walsh and Gráinne Walsh all suffering split decision defeats in their last-32 matches.
Nought-for-three and suddenly there was pressure on Jack Marley to breathe life back into Irish hopes in Sunday's evening bout.
Seeded seventh, the 22-year-old was coming up against a rangier opponent in the shape of Poland's Mateusz Bereznicki in his 92kg last-16 bout but was the aggressor from the off.
After claiming the first round 4-1, he continued to be persistent where his opponent was tentative and if anyone needed evidence that it was going Marley's way beyond the judges' cards, the 'Ole, ole, ole' chants that began bursting from the arena underlined the direction of momentum.
A tricolour emblazoned with Monkstown BC was draped over the hoardings on the far side of the arena and their delight was palpable when Marley's hand was raised aloft and an Irish win in the ring at Paris 2024 was finally confirmed at the fourth attempt.
The fight that followed it was intriguing with the 92kg division's second seed, Davlat Boltaev of Tajikistan, troubled at times by Georgia's Georgii Kushitashvili.
But the favourite prevailed, albeit narrowly by split decision, and an aggressive approach may well be what gives Marley a fighting chance when they meet in the quarter-final on Thursday.
His victory brought a palpable sense of relief after how things panned out earlier, first for Aidan Walsh in Sunday's morning session.
The Belfast man had battled through his own challenges, both physical and psychological, in the years between Tokyo and Paris.
But by June, the softly spoken southpaw came across as a man at peace having reaped the benefits of speaking to sports psychologists and overcoming the litany of injury issues that had plagued him during a 14-month absence from his sport.
While he was arriving in the French capital rejuvenated, when he walked out into the arena, he would have known he wasn't just fighting his opponent but also the partisan crowd which had the venue quaking underfoot such was the noise, fervour and foot stamping generated from the stands for Traore who had made his ring-walk first.
And yet it was Walsh who showed the craft of an Olympic medal winner in the first round, which he clearly won on all the judges' cards.
However, the tide would turn in the second which was more even, although Traore got the rub of the green when it came to the scores, on all but one card.
From RTÉ boxing analyst Eric Donovan's vantage point high up in the arena, he felt Walsh was unfortunate to see that second round go against him.
🥊 @ericdonovanbox speaks to @RafDLeitrim about where it went wrong for Aidan Walsh in his last-32 fight this morning at #Paris2024 and previews the opening @TeamIreland fights to come this evening for Grainne Walsh and Jack Marley #rtesport #olympics
— RTÉ Sport (@RTEsport) July 28, 2024
📝 Report:… pic.twitter.com/FUqVJiGXjm
"I thought he continued his great work from the first round into the second round and landed some brilliant counter-punching shots, great evasive and elusive skills, making his opponent miss," said the Kildare man.
"Traore landed one big punch in the midways of the second round which gave him a lot of hope and momentum, he landed on the chin of Aidan Walsh.
"But I still thought all of the good work that Aidan did was enough to secure that. But it wasn't. The judges favoured Traore's work and you could see that the pattern of the fight was changing and in the last round, Traore went in with all of the momentum."
A crucial final round awaited but Walsh was on the back foot immediately as he was struck flush with a powerful right hand that put Traore in control and the decisive moment came when a point deduction for holding was incurred.
When the bell rang at the end, Walsh was typically sporting in raising his opponent's arm aloft and, armed with the peace-of-mind he has found, was philosophical in his comments to RTÉ Sport afterwards.
"Regardless of win, lose or draw, it is what it is. I'm healthy, I’m happy," he said.
He will now do what his sister Michaela did for him at Tokyo three years in cheering her on ringside when she begins her second Olympics with a last-16 bout against Bulgaria's Svetlana Kamenova Staneva in the 57kg ranks on Friday.
For Gráinne Walsh, the outcome was similar as she suffered a split decision loss 4-1 in a fight in which she tried to battle gamely against an opponent who looked to fight at close quarters and make a scrap of it.
The Tullamore fighter had her moments but her Hungarian adversary Anna Luca Hamori's win on all five cards during the second round proved decisive and left Walsh chasing in the final round which she narrowly lost.
Offaly jerseys had been out in force in the arena during the bout and after she made her way to the dressing room before her media duties, her closely knit support base gathered by the south-west stand afterwards to commiserate amongst themselves.
As they exited stage left a few minutes after the dust had settled, Hamori could be seen bounding to the right into the arms of her coach and family to celebrate in a nearby enclave in the stands, highlighting the vast swing in emotions that the Olympics elicit.
Certainly, Walsh did not look to sugar-coat her feelings about how the biggest day in her career had panned out.
"I wasn't just coming here to make up the numbers and I know I'm miles better than that," she said.
"I feel like I was probably not let show my best, just sloppy, but look, I have to roll with the punches as the saying goes and I'll come back."
Hopes of a second Irish win here will now rest on Kellie Harrington on Monday as she begins the defence of Olympic gold from Tokyo when she goes up against Italy's Alessia Messiano in a 60kg round-of-16 fight.
Along with Aoife O'Rourke, who has European title-winning experience and was steadfastly backed for success by Beijing 2008 silver medalist Kenneth Egan, expectation will now intensify after the disappointing start - Marley aside - that the first 48 hours in the Arena Paris Nord has laid down for the Irish so far.
Watch the 2024 Olympic Games with 14 hours of televised action on RTÉ2 and RTÉ Player each day. Listen to extensive radio coverage on RTÉ Radio 1 and 2fm's Game On and follow each moment from Paris on RTÉ.ie, the RTÉ News app and all RTÉ digital platforms. Listen to the daily RTÉ Sport Olympics Podcast.
