The word 'mirage' derives from French and needless to say has latin roots.
So it felt an apt word to keep in the shade of one's mind whilst entering the arena erected for the equestrian events at Versailles for the final day of eventing action.
After the strobe-light dimpled darkness of the Arena Paris Nord for Sunday's boxing where the lights stayed sheathed but Jack Marley shone brightly, Monday's sun was a blur of shock to the system - unrelenting, shackled free of any cloud cover and hovering bright and white in an all too warm embrace of capri blue.
Below it stood the many-layered bleachers on three sides at the venue, full to the brim with eager supporters of the various nations - Irish tricolours also in evidence - but from the viewpoint of the central western stand, looking beyond into the east, something grand shimmered ominously in the distance early on in the day.
And then as the team eventing competition got under way, the haze slowly began to dissolve and like a mirage, a pale golden expanse began to emerge on the horizon.
The grand Palace of Versailles had announced itself with the green of its vast gardens unrolling slowly to the eye towards the land of gravel and obstacles where the show jumping phase of the eventing was already in full swing.
The vantage point for this writer was right behind the white picket fence, close enough for flecks of muck to land on one's garments as horse and riders galloped past.
After Saturday's dressage phase and an impressive cross-country performance, Team Ireland came into the day ninth in team eventing standings rather than eighth due to a 20-point penalty imposed because of an injury-enforced withdrawal for Sarah Ennis's horse Action Lady M.
Her replacement, Aoife Clark, would be the first of the Irish eventers into the arena, 20th on the running order, and when she did emerge she was very much at home on Freelance, an appropriate name in the circumstances due to the need to step in at short notice.
A decent performance with four faults, which was then matched later by Ireland's second jumper Susie Berry aboard Wellfields Lincoln.
Most of the anticipation though lay on the shoulders of four-time Olympian Austin O'Connor, the Corkman a veteran of Sydney, Beijing and Tokyo.
This Games is the closest to home that he has been able to participate in and under the blue sky and on top of Colorado Blue, he was the one Irish eventer in contention to reach the individual jumping final.
He was 14th going into Monday's action, knowing that a top-25 place would be enough.
However, eight faults followed during his team jumping event which doubled up as a qualifier for the afternoon's individual final, but his performance was enough to take 21st.
A small hiatus would await following confirmation that Ireland would finish ninth in the team stakes and enough time to find some shade before seeking out a certain RTÉ rugby analyst.
Bernard Jackman was appointed Horse Sport Ireland's acting head of high performance last November with the Olympics in mind.
And shaded by his cap in the minutes before O'Connor's individual jumping, he shared some thoughts on the excitement of being at a Games - especially at a spot like Versailles' gardens but also where he feels the Irish equestrian team has been at so far with a long way still to go at Paris 2024.
"We would have hoped to finish top eight. I think we performed very well and I think what cost us when you look at the final leaderboard is the 20-point penalty for having to withdraw a horse," he said.
"Sarah Ennis had an amazing cross country yesterday but just after she competed we found the horse to be slightly lame and we had to make that substitution and there was a 20-point penalty for that and when you look at the table that would bring us up to around the fourth or fifth mark.
"So that's the sport and I think we've had a lot of highlights, particularly the cross country day was outstanding, Austin O'Connor going clear, Susie Berry with a very good round. Maybe a little bit disappointed with our dressage score and some of our jumping today but overall we've had a phenomenal preparation and I think it's a really good stepping stone towards the next cycle with some very good young eventers coming through our pathways."
After Jackman set off gratefully for the shade to continue his work prior to O'Connor's individual jumping round, it was time to return to the arena and this time to see the Corkman leave his best till last with a clear round that lifted him up to 17th overall.
A solid showing from Ireland over the three days but with more to come from the equestrian side of things later this week, with Abigail Lyle making her Olympics debut in dressage and an in-form show jumping trio of Cian O'Connor, Daniel Coyle and Shane Sweetnam primed to go for a medal push.
If the shimmer of gold, silver or bronze does emerge, it certainly won't be a mirage.
