Ah, Roland Garros! Where cannon fodder is fed to Rafael Nadal like offerings to a god on a deep red clay surface that makes you think of Mars.
But late on Tuesday night, one emerged from the bowels of French tennis' colosseum and everything you assumed about the place from afar bore no resemblance to reality.
In the middle of the arena where a net traditionally cuts its way across the centre stood a boxing ring bathed in the purple haze that has become the theme of Paris 2024. An awe-inspiring sight and arguably the best venue yet and that's saying something.
And the racket? Nothing to do with tennis. Just walls of fans rising up right up to the closed roof, Irish tricolours prominent across the venue.
These Olympics had already been historic for Team Ireland. Six medals won - seven guaranteed - and three golds to match the previous high-water mark from 1996.
But here was a golden opportunity to set a number of records. For Kellie Harrington, the showpiece of the night at Roland Garros rested the possibility of becoming the first Irish female athlete to win back-to-back Olympic titles and by doing so she would take Ireland's gold medal tally to four, which would be the best figure ever in 100 years of the nation participating at the Games.
From miles away on the spider web that is the Parisian metro, green was in evidence and when you closed your eyes, you would be forgiven for thinking that you were on the Luas or the DART such was the preponderance of Irish accents within the carriages.
Arriving at the stop nearest to Roland Garros and the most common flags to see were the Irish tricolour and Algeria's with the 10-minute walk to the venue reminiscent of the march that one makes to the Aviva Stadium on a day or night of international soccer or rugby. The jerseys people chose to wear only underlined that sense of deja vu.
Past security and into the 'campus' so to speak and it was a carnival atmosphere with Irish fans popping up in all corners.
The aforementioned fans of Algeria were arguably the most numerous and they would make the loudest noise two fights before Harrington entered the fray, when Imane Khelif, who has been in the eye of the storm during these Olympics, brought joy to her followers by winning her semi-final against Janjaem Suwannapheng by unanimous decision.
The noise the Algerian supports generated was immense but many of them filtered out of the arena in the aftermath of Khelif's win and it almost felt like a lock-in by the time Harrington and her Chinese opponent Wenlu Yang were brought forth as the gladiators into the colosseum.
Yang had her support base there. Indeed, both in the Arena Paris Nord and Tuesday night at Roland Garros a small horn section would loudly trumpet at intervals whenever a Chinese fighter was in action.
But they were not as noticeable this time because the Irish fans turned up the decibel levels and as Harrington was confirmed as the winner of the opening two rounds, 4-1 each, the din only reached new heights with the expectation that she would go on and deliver from there.
The 34-year-old may have lost the last round but she won the battle and the release of emotion from the Dubliner was simbiotic with the expression of joy that cascaded down from the arena. The cheer was one that got down to the bones.
Just like the three previous occasions when Amhrán na bhFiann was played at Paris 2024, you had to remind yourself that these are heady times and this has not always been the way at Olympics to hear your national anthem so often.
The flagpole game that had been a nice sideshow whilst attending the rowing was playable again and seeing the Irish tricolour above all others on its way up during the anthems felt as fresh as the first one here.
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The second loudest cheer from Irish fans? That came later at a nearby metro stop as green-clad supporters and this writer tried to make their way back into the centre of Paris.
Standing on the platform there was collective rush of confusion as everyone assumed the late train was coming from the other side, only to realise that was the wrong one and the incoming choo-choo was in fact where everyone had been in the first place. Cue loud ironic cheers and ole, ole, ole being belted out by all and sundry.
It was packed so no attempts at a conga line but in a quiet moment of reflection on the ride back, a couple of middle-aged Frenchmen speaking in their own language - I believe it's called le francais - hopped on halfway through the journey and were chattering among themselves and admiring the Irish fans, making a few comments about boxing, passionate support and past experiences they'd had before witnessing sports fans from Ireland good-naturedly enjoying what Paris had to offer.
At the end of the line, it didn't feel like France because everywhere you looked was just Irish people milling around in the centre of a city that suddenly felt like home, all brought together by history and Harrington.
I actually need to sleep now by the way. As those French fellas on the metro might say, bonne nuit. And it was a good night to say the least!
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