So that's where we leave it for the Opening Ceremony!

What a wonderful celebration, so good to see the Aussies on the Champs-Élysées and the Place de la Concorde.

Congratulations to flag-bearers Brenden Hall and Madison de Rozario, for leading the team in the ceremony.

With the formalities done and dusted, however, we are just hours away from the start of competition in Paris!

We will be bringing you the action in our sporting blog, starting in a bit under nine hours!

Keep checking in on this site, and we will keep you posted with the latest news and results from the Paralympics.

In the meantime, thank you to everyone who has joined us on the blog for the Opening, I hope you enjoyed it.

As I say, my colleagues will be back later in the day, but for now, this is Andrew McGarry saying goodbye and I wish you a great morning!   

Aside from the athletes, who are the stars of every Paralympics Opening Ceremony, you have to say that in footy terms, Paris was best-on-ground tonight!

The City of Lights lived up to its billing, with stunning backdrops everywhere you looked.

The beat ramps up, now the formalities are out of the way, it's time to party in Paris!

Christine and the Queens is back again to play one of the most famous french dance tunes, Patrick Hernandez's "Born To Be Alive".

It's a fabulously appropriate choice!

She is being accompanied by a brass section, and electric guitar.

The drums are going crazy in the Place de la Concorde, as a group of wheelchair dancers use their chairs to paint on the stage.

The song finishes, the fireworks go off, the crowd goes crazy, and the Opening Ceremony is complete!

 Now it's the new generation, French flag-bearers  Alexis Hanquinquant (para-triathlon) and para-athlete Nantenin Keïta.

Charles-Antoine Kouakou, Elodie Lorandi, Fabien Lamorault all take the torch. They turn and touch their torches to the balloon cauldron in the middle of the Jardin de Tuileries.

The flame is lit!

The balloon slowly rises, as an orchestral backing gently plays.

The crowd cheers, and we are begun!

Markus Rehm goes off stage, and begins to run with the torch through the Place de la Concorde, heading for the Jardin de Tuileries, where the cauldron is glowing in the distance.

Crowds are gathered along the way to watch him and the torch advance. He hands the flame off to Assia El Hannouni, France's most successful female athlete with eight gold medals.

You can see her jog along with the torch, and she hands the baton to the most successful male French athlete, Christian Lachaud (10 gold), who moves through the Jardin and hands off to French para-swimming great Beatrice Hess who has won 26 Paralympic medals, including a starring role in Sydney 24 years ago.

One of the most famous pieces of classical music by a French composer begins to play.

The Bolero was written by Maurice Ravel - and there is another link with the (Winter) Olympics, as Jayne Torvill and Christopher Dean won gold in Sarajevo with a famous figure skating performance.

Here in the Place de la Concorde, Michaël Jérémiasz passes the torch to Italian fencing superstar Bebe Vio as the dancers sway on stage.

Vio has a HUGE smile on her face, and why not? She was the star of the documentary Rising Phoenix from a couple of years back.

She now hands the torch to Oksana Masters, American Paralympic star (born in Ukraine), who has won a host of medals including five gold in both Summer and Winter Games.

Masters walks through the Place de la Concorde and takes her place as a choir sings the Bolero and a stream of dancers carrying the flame form the Agitos symbol of the Paralympics.

The torch now goes to German star long jumper Markus Rehm, who is targeting a fourth gold medal in Paris.

The music builds to a crescendo and finishes with a flurry of golden fireworks!

The Paralympic flame was lit late last week at Stoke Mandeville, the hospital in England where the precursor of the Paralympics began in 1948.

The flame then went across the Channel with a section underwater, before arriving in France for a series of trips around the host nation.

We now get a video wrapping up the flame's journey.

Now the flame enters the Place de la Concorde, and French artist Sébastien Tellier takes the stage on his piano, playing his song "La Ritournelle". It sounds great with the backing of Ensemble Matheus.

Fun fact — Tellier represented France at the Eurovision Song Contest in 2008 with his song "Divine".

In the background, 150 dancers carrying flames enter the Place de la Concord to meet the next torchbearer - French Olympic swimmer Florent Manaudou — as the relay nears its end.

He runs down the Champs-Élysées and passes it to French wheelchair tennis star Michaël Jérémiasz. He holds the flame aloft.

The Paralympic flag comes on stage, brought by John McFall, Beijing Paralympian and the first astronaut with a disability to have joined the European Space Agency.

The Paralympic anthem is performed in a stunning rendition by vision-impaired performer Luan Pommier. Her voice is incredible. Good grief, I have goosebumps again.

The anthem is also known as the "anthem of the future".

Ripples of applause are flowing through the Place de la Concorde, and the beat is shifting.

There are videos of people running and competing in the background.

We have a crew of dancers, including a string of wheelchair dancers and a number who are coming out now using handcycles.

The music is getting more insistent, as the handcyclists push around the parade route into the Place.

There are people running around the periphery of the stage waving huge white flags. It's a cross between the Opening Ceremony and an old-school U2 concert, representing a new society of inclusion where the two groups come together.

Visually, it's a sea of white! The crowd cheers as the flag-wavers run off the stage.

The beat is back, after the speeches we are into performance.

It's like a big choreographed show.

The two groups we've seen, "the Creatives" and "the Strict Society" meet again, with movement and dance, teamwork and creating new sports.

Whistles sound, as a single referee runs around from side to side, while dozens and dozens of performers / athletes move around the stage.

South African dancer and leg amputee Musa Motha takes centre stage, leading the ensemble in a dramatic dance.

He's been a finalist on America's Got Talent, now he's front and centre in one of the other biggest shows on Earth!

He is now alone on stage, as a haunting theme plays, and he is producing a mesmerising series of movements, with him and his crutches cutting through the Paris night.

And now he's joined again, as the ensemble "learns" the dance.

I am loving every moment of this.

This video is showing people with disabilities speaking emotionally about the way people's views and behaviour changed once they had a physical change.

"It's important to show people how normal I am", says one woman. Amen to that.

After a couple of extensive speeches, Emmanuel Macron makes it short and sweet.

He declares the Games open - we are officially underway!

The crowd at the Place de la Concorde cheers wildly.

We are here, in the world's most beautiful city, at one of the most critical times in our recent history. At a time of growing global conflict, increasing hate, and rising exclusion, let sport be the social glue that brings us together.

11 days of sensational sport to enjoy together, as families, with friends, with loved ones. A once- in-a-lifetime opportunity to champion your country's rich diversity, applaud awe-inspiring athletes and celebrate the very best of Paris, France.

As we prepare for Games wide open, let us open our minds wide. For what you witness from Paralympic athletes are abilities and skills that surprise you. Levels of resilience and determination that energise you. And camaraderie that will inspire you.

Paralympic athletes are not here to participate, no, sir. They are not playing games. They are here to compete, win and smash world records!

But Paralympians are also here to achieve something far greater than personal glory. They want equality and inclusion for themselves and for the world's 1.3 billion persons with disabilities. Through their performances, Paralympic athletes will challenge stigma, alter attitudes and redefine the limits of what you think is possible.

These are pretty decent speeches!

Through the power of sport, let usshow world leaders that unity IS possible, that we CAN come togetheras rivals in peace. Play by therules and positively impact society.... (SINGING) Marchand. Vive le France.... Merci beacoup. Thank you very much!

Even though your life stories are your own, you haveoften been given a list of the things you couldn't do. Until oneday, you walked into a sports club.

That day, you knew that sport would set no limits for you. That day, you knew that it wouldn't confine you. Like all athletes, you trained, sweated, you failed, and you got back up. And you became the incredible champions who honour us here this evening.

This evening, you invite us to change our perspectives, to change our attitudes, to change society and finally give a place to everyone.

Because when the sport starts we won't see women and men with disabilities; we will see you, we will see champions. With you, we will experience the most beautiful aspects of sport. We will be like kids, when you are on the startline. We will be like coaches when the match ball arrives.

We will go wild when you cross the finish line. Like the Olympic athletes, with each of your victories, the whole country will be proud together. With each of your victories, thanks to you, theworld will progress. Because each of the emotions you make us feel will carry a message that will never fade. You have no limits, so let's stop putting limits on you. That's the Paralympic revolution.

You are 4,400 Paralympians here in Paris. You represent 168 delegations. You are the best para-athletes on the planet. You inspire us. Yes. But inspiration means action. So like you, we are determined to give everything, our heart, our soul, and the very best of France, breathtaking venues, unprecedented ceremonies, and an atmosphere as crazy as your collective achievements.

We have the best team. The Paris 2024 has been working for years to welcome you. We have the best volunteers.

And they are ready, they are ready to make this the most fun and revolution that France has ever seen. We have even the best weather tonight! And above all, you will find an entire country in love with the Games, which is so proud to host you for the very first time.

Here come Tony Estanguet, the president of the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Organising Committee, and Andrew Parsons, the IPC president.

First, Monsieur Estanguet:

Dear athletes, dear lovers of the Games in France and all over the world, welcome to the country of love and revolution. I assure you this evening, no storming of the Bastille, no guillotine. This evening begins the most beautiful of revolutions, the Paralympic revolution.

This evening, revolutionaries are you, dear athletes. Like our ancestors, you have flair and audacity. Like revolutionaries from around the world, you have courage and determination. Like them, you fight for a cause that is greater than yourselves.

But your weapons are yourselves. But your weapons are your performances. Your weapons are your performances. Your weapons are your records. Your weapons are the emotions of sport.

Here it is, every time I hear this version beginning with a single flute, I get emotional.

Victor le Masne has done a fabulous job of this interpretation.

It is performed by Ensemble Matheus.

The red white and blue is superimposed on the Luxor Obelisk as the French flag is raised.

The Eiffel Tower is glittering gold in the background.

The trumpets sound as the anthem builds, then a bit of glockenspiel (because why not?) and we get to the finale as the crowd watches ... and roars their applause!

This is pretty hard to top.

Dramatic music plays, and vision of Paralympic action shows the effort, and the emotion, the reaction of fans, the Paralympic flame and then we are ba ck at the Place de la Concorde.

This section begins with a video of interviews with people with disabilities. They talk about dealing with physical change to pride and acceptance.

This is part of the work of sending the message that people with disabilities are just PEOPLE.

Some are athletes, some are not. It doesn't matter.

Now artist Lucky Love is playing a new song called "My Ability", while performers move around him on stage.

The start is a beautiful piano and strings backing as the spotlights shine on the stage at the Place de la Concorde.

The lyrics drive home the message:

What's the difference / What's the difference / I can move as I do

I can move as I do / And I feel as I do / And I feel as I do / Watch me take it baby / Watch me take it baby / Do I kiss as you do / Do I kiss as you do / Do I move as you do / Do I move as you do

This is stunning.

Laura,

The Australian uniforms are always different, because they are different Games.

Some think wrongly that Paralympics stands for Para-Olympics, but it's a totally different organisation and event.

I think both uniforms are/were terrific!

Victor Le Masne's magic music is back for the finale, it's thumping and the orchestra is getting into it.

There is joy on athletes' faces and the atmosphere is going OFF.

The crowd gives a massive cheer as the announcer declares ALL the athletes for the 2024 Paralympic Games!