Most of the athletes competing today will have likely been told by their coaches to look forward and keep their eyes on the prize. Today, I encourage you to do the opposite. Before watching the women's final of the air rifle in the morning or the men's canoe single final later in the afternoon, why not venture beyond the Olympic venues and the fan zones in the city: Instead of looking up and focusing on the prize of one particular destination, try looking down at the capital's cobbly, narrow, awkward streets. Some local artists like K.releuses might have left some surprises for you there…

The French tip

Point médian.

But what does K.releuses mean? I asked the anonymous artist collective, who told me that the name reflects what they do: paving tiles. Located in the northeastern Paris suburb of Pantin, K.releuses design tiles to fill in holes in the city's streets. The name is a play on the feminine word for being a "tiler," which is carreleuse (K becomes a "kah" sound in French).

Words in French often change to reflect the gender of the subject. For instance, I'm a journalist, but I'm not un journalist, I'm une journaliste. To make French texts more inclusive, a point médian can be added to gendered nouns, for example: un∙une carreleur∙euse.

The sports tip

It's the men's skateboarding street final today at 5 pm, and some of Team USA have already been getting their practice in at some of Paris' many skateparks.

The non-Olympics tip

If you find yourself exiting the Club France at the Parc de la Villette, northeast of Paris, walk a little further up the Canal de l'Ourcq and you'll soon be in Pantin. With its newly-created bike lanes as part of Mayor Anne Hidalgo's vision to make the capital city greener, it's never been easier to explore the city and its suburbs on two wheels. Le Monde even put together a bike route that'll take you from the center of the city to the leafy Buttes-Chaumont park, not far from Pantin.

Once in the suburb, now's the time to look to the ground and "open your eyes," as K.releuses hope you will do. With the collective's tiles, the "idea is to open up a new way of looking at what surrounds us, a form of wonder, and to inject a little poetry" into everyday life, they told me.

K.releuses have humble beginnings: They found a ceramic kiln that belonged to one member of the collective's grandmothers, and soon began practicing with different tools. Now, they are "laying one [tile] a week," with around 150 to 200 already placed. Featuring the architecture of a building, a plant that's flattened out and barely visible, or even "sometimes pests, spiders that scare us, but are ultimately part of the living chain," the small ceramic stones showcase "spontaneous little scenes" that K.releuses hope will "arouse a little benevolent attention to what surrounds us on a daily basis, to take better care of it."

Watch the short video below to hear more from K.releuses and see some of their tiles.

The secret tip

Some of K.releuses' tiles feature buildings like Pantin's public swimming pool, cultural institutions like the Centre national de la danse and public spaces like the banks of the canal. So if you're in Pantin – remember, the Olympics are not only about Paris, many venues and the Olympic Village are located in the northeastern underprivileged suburb of Seine-Saint-Denis, which Pantin is a part of – and spot one of the tiles, take a closer look and let them guide you to your next spot.

The practical tip

To get to Pantin, or La Villette, you can also take the métro line 7. And the doors on this one are a little different from the doors on most lines: they're not automatic. If I had a metro ticket for every time I saw a tourist waiting for the doors to open only to miss their stop, I wouldn't have to pay for transport for the rest of the year. But that's not how the RATP, Paris' regional transport authority, works, so here's a little guide on how to open the doors on non-automatic lines:

Lines 7, 7bis and 8: Simple. You push the big button.

Lines 3, 6, 10, 11: If you're taking the old trains on lines 6 and 11, and any of the trains for the other lines, you'll need to grab the metal hook and pull it up. Don't be gentle – they can be quite stiff.

The readers' tip

We'd love to hear about your experience of the Games. Reach out to us by email (writetous@lemonde.fr) or on our social media accounts: Instagram, X, Facebook, TikTok. We may publish your photos or comments in one of our daily guides.