Perhaps I'm a bit overexcited. Can a street-track-based championship pulling off a race in the middle of a city really be a candidate for 'modern motorsport's greatest achievement'?
I could be stretching the point. But I'm convinced Formula E's inaugural Paris ePrix is a big deal. Not just because of the history it made, but because of the blueprint it offers the series, and perhaps even motorsport, for the future.
City-to-city races involving the French capital were a staple of the dangerous pioneering days of motorsport, but a real street race has always seemed like fantasy. Formula E made it a reality on Saturday, but gauging the excitement for that achievement away from the event isn't easy.
On-site, it was palpable. As you walked towards the pitlane, Les Invalides was bold as brass to your left, the Grand Palais was visible to the right and poking out above the buildings directly opposite, barely a mile from the paddock, was the Eiffel Tower.
Communicating that sense of place to the outside world is tougher, although it did appear more in mainstream media than regular races, and that means the same for the excitement and significance of the event as well.
One of the reasons Formula 1 street races have such an allure is they are uncommon. In FE it's the rule, not the exception. So to those not particularly invested in the series, the events can blur into one.
The significance of racing in Paris shouldn't be underestimated. FE made history by bringing racing cars to the city-centre streets of one of the world's most iconic locations for the first time - and it's worth stressing that this really was in the heart of the city.
The event engaged its host like no other this season. Only Miami and Moscow in season one seemed to have the same resonance in terms of smashing the city's population in the face with the championship's electric-vehicle message - Miami is now gone, and this year's Moscow race may yet be cancelled.
Loic Duval hit the nail on the head on Friday when he said traditional motorsport has become progressively "more secretive", a process that alienates existing fans but also makes it tougher for new followers as well.
Duval's comment was uttered standing outside the Dragon Racing awning, with a stream of traffic passing by just feet away - the road that would make up the pitlane on Saturday was still in regular use until Friday afternoon.
There were issues for some fans, particularly those who complained of rough stewarding, and several are understood to have been critical of vantage points away from the grandstands. From a media perspective, inconsistent and unclear policing – such as stewards attempting to stop journalists entering the paddock after the race – was also problematic.
Problems are to be expected for the first go at an event like this, and all FE can do is ensure the next experience is better. Compromises aside, this race really was one of the most striking examples of taking motorsport to the people you could hope to see.
But its significance is rooted more in what it means for the future than what it did to validate fairly obvious 'introduce new people to the sport as a whole' credentials.
First, an important digression. Racing around Les Invalides was never Formula E's original plan.
Conversations over a Parisian round of the all-electric single-seater championship began with the city's previous mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, but his term ended in April 2014. The office of his successor, Anne Hidalgo, pushed for the race to take place in the city centre – Formula E's first pitch had been to have it on the outskirts.
"We wouldn't have dared to present that," series sporting manager Benoit Dupont says of the eventual location. "The mayor said it was within the project for promotion of electro-mobility and here is where we want you to do it. We were amazed by this."
Political support is a must for a street race and in Paris there was cohesion the championship hasn't really enjoyed elsewhere.
"Point number one is to have local political support to make things happen," says Dupont. "Honestly it was something we were lacking in Miami and it was one of the reasons we didn't go back. When everyone is pushing in the right direction everything is way easier.
"The mayor of Paris and the mayor of the area are not on the same political side but they agreed it's good for the city and the district."
Compare that to the warring parties that make up Wandsworth Council, which meant the future of London's Formula E race, in Battersea Park, has been up for debate since the end of last June's 2014/15 season finale.
Why does this change of venue matter? Because Formula E now has the perfect template. Paris must form the precedent for future calendar discussions so Formula E can continue to pull off races in locations of real significance, and not be shoehorned into a park or an industrial estate.
Series CEO Alejandro Agag believes taking the championship into the heart of the French city is his series' "coming of age" moment.
"Even by FE's standards this is pretty amazing," he says. "This is the best one so far. This is like the demonstration that it can really bring racing to the heart of a city like this. It's a turning point – the whole world is going to see the images of the cars, the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides.
"It shows the power and potential of FE. This is what we need to use as a showcase. To say, 'This is what we can do; if you want the same, you have to do it in the city centre'.
"It's huge. I can't believe it myself. I walk around and say, 'Have we really done this?' It's an incredible achievement.
"Four years ago when we started we would never have dreamed of this. It's a sign of how quickly big things are coming."
FE leaned heavily on the FIA, whose Place de la Concorde headquarters are a stone's throw from the Paris ePrix paddock, FIA president Jean Todt and four-time Formula 1 world champion and Renault e.dams senior manager Alain Prost to give the project as much "credibility" as possible.
When the city authority came on board, that gave it the momentum it needed.
Without such significant backing (FE also needed approval from the district authority and the military body that looks after Les Invalides) the event would not have been possible.
But it would have got nowhere near those sorts of discussions if it were not an electric-racing series.
"We were able to justify it because the message is fundamentally different," Todt said in the build-up to the event of how the Formula E race was possible but a Formula 1 grand prix was not when he was part of a delegation trying to make it happen three decades ago.
FE's EV niche has allowed it to pull off a succession of minor miracles – people forget that getting the series off the ground in the first place was a significant achievement. There are 40-odd cars shipped to every event, the technology is new, every race is on a street track and almost all the venues are built from scratch.
The radical nature of FE took it to the brink financially a year ago but now, Agag insists, things have stabilised.
He also says it would not have been at the Paris negotiating table at all were it not using electric technology and promoting the use of EVs.
So there's a wider lesson here in the direction motorsport as a whole may want to seriously consider taking.
What motorsport views as fuel will change sooner or later because it has to move with the rest of the world and retain its relevance, and that means electricity shifts from niche to mainstream.
Why can't FE be the blueprint for that?
It has established itself as a serious racing championship, one of the toughest in the world from a driver's perspective, and its season-three calendar could feature races in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Hong Kong, to name a few.
Nothing else, not even F1, is capable of making that happen.
There are still those who look down at FE as a bit of a sideshow, or something not to be taken seriously because of the redundant complaint that the cars aren't quick enough.
And ultimately that makes it easy to miss the significance of the Paris race altogether.
FE's latest street race was not just another street race. It's right to view it as a springboard to secure greater venues, better visibility for itself and more awareness of the message it's promoting.
Hopefully the gravity of the achievement, and the images the event generated, give sceptics of the series and the place EVs have in motorsport something to think about as well.
If nothing else, what FE has pulled off should get the recognition it deserves.
Perhaps I'm a bit overexcited. Can a street-track-based championship pulling off a race in the middle of a city really be a candidate for 'modern motorsport's greatest achievement'?
I could be stretching the point. But I'm convinced Formula E's inaugural Paris ePrix is a big deal. Not just because of the history it made, but because of the blueprint it offers the series, and perhaps even motorsport, for the future.
City-to-city races involving the French capital were a staple of the dangerous pioneering days of motorsport, but a real street race has always seemed like fantasy. Formula E made it a reality on Saturday, but gauging the excitement for that achievement away from the event isn't easy.
On-site, it was palpable. As you walked towards the pitlane, Les Invalides was bold as brass to your left, the Grand Palais was visible to the right and poking out above the buildings directly opposite, barely a mile from the paddock, was the Eiffel Tower.
Communicating that sense of place to the outside world is tougher, although it did appear more in mainstream media than regular races, and that means the same for the excitement and significance of the event as well.
One of the reasons Formula 1 street races have such an allure is they are uncommon. In FE it's the rule, not the exception. So to those not particularly invested in the series, the events can blur into one.
The significance of racing in Paris shouldn't be underestimated. FE made history by bringing racing cars to the city-centre streets of one of the world's most iconic locations for the first time - and it's worth stressing that this really was in the heart of the city.
The event engaged its host like no other this season. Only Miami and Moscow in season one seemed to have the same resonance in terms of smashing the city's population in the face with the championship's electric-vehicle message - Miami is now gone, and this year's Moscow race may yet be cancelled.
Loic Duval hit the nail on the head on Friday when he said traditional motorsport has become progressively "more secretive", a process that alienates existing fans but also makes it tougher for new followers as well.
Duval's comment was uttered standing outside the Dragon Racing awning, with a stream of traffic passing by just feet away - the road that would make up the pitlane on Saturday was still in regular use until Friday afternoon.
There were issues for some fans, particularly those who complained of rough stewarding, and several are understood to have been critical of vantage points away from the grandstands. From a media perspective, inconsistent and unclear policing – such as stewards attempting to stop journalists entering the paddock after the race – was also problematic.
Problems are to be expected for the first go at an event like this, and all FE can do is ensure the next experience is better. Compromises aside, this race really was one of the most striking examples of taking motorsport to the people you could hope to see.
But its significance is rooted more in what it means for the future than what it did to validate fairly obvious 'introduce new people to the sport as a whole' credentials.
First, an important digression. Racing around Les Invalides was never Formula E's original plan.
Conversations over a Parisian round of the all-electric single-seater championship began with the city's previous mayor, Bertrand Delanoe, but his term ended in April 2014. The office of his successor, Anne Hidalgo, pushed for the race to take place in the city centre – Formula E's first pitch had been to have it on the outskirts.
"We wouldn't have dared to present that," series sporting manager Benoit Dupont says of the eventual location. "The mayor said it was within the project for promotion of electro-mobility and here is where we want you to do it. We were amazed by this."
Political support is a must for a street race and in Paris there was cohesion the championship hasn't really enjoyed elsewhere.
"Point number one is to have local political support to make things happen," says Dupont. "Honestly it was something we were lacking in Miami and it was one of the reasons we didn't go back. When everyone is pushing in the right direction everything is way easier.
"The mayor of Paris and the mayor of the area are not on the same political side but they agreed it's good for the city and the district."
Compare that to the warring parties that make up Wandsworth Council, which meant the future of London's Formula E race, in Battersea Park, has been up for debate since the end of last June's 2014/15 season finale.
Why does this change of venue matter? Because Formula E now has the perfect template. Paris must form the precedent for future calendar discussions so Formula E can continue to pull off races in locations of real significance, and not be shoehorned into a park or an industrial estate.
Series CEO Alejandro Agag believes taking the championship into the heart of the French city is his series' "coming of age" moment.
"Even by FE's standards this is pretty amazing," he says. "This is the best one so far. This is like the demonstration that it can really bring racing to the heart of a city like this. It's a turning point – the whole world is going to see the images of the cars, the Eiffel Tower, Les Invalides.
"It shows the power and potential of FE. This is what we need to use as a showcase. To say, 'This is what we can do; if you want the same, you have to do it in the city centre'.
"It's huge. I can't believe it myself. I walk around and say, 'Have we really done this?' It's an incredible achievement.
"Four years ago when we started we would never have dreamed of this. It's a sign of how quickly big things are coming."
FE leaned heavily on the FIA, whose Place de la Concorde headquarters are a stone's throw from the Paris ePrix paddock, FIA president Jean Todt and four-time Formula 1 world champion and Renault e.dams senior manager Alain Prost to give the project as much "credibility" as possible.
When the city authority came on board, that gave it the momentum it needed.
Without such significant backing (FE also needed approval from the district authority and the military body that looks after Les Invalides) the event would not have been possible.
But it would have got nowhere near those sorts of discussions if it were not an electric-racing series.
"We were able to justify it because the message is fundamentally different," Todt said in the build-up to the event of how the Formula E race was possible but a Formula 1 grand prix was not when he was part of a delegation trying to make it happen three decades ago.
FE's EV niche has allowed it to pull off a succession of minor miracles – people forget that getting the series off the ground in the first place was a significant achievement. There are 40-odd cars shipped to every event, the technology is new, every race is on a street track and almost all the venues are built from scratch.
The radical nature of FE took it to the brink financially a year ago but now, Agag insists, things have stabilised.
He also says it would not have been at the Paris negotiating table at all were it not using electric technology and promoting the use of EVs.
So there's a wider lesson here in the direction motorsport as a whole may want to seriously consider taking.
What motorsport views as fuel will change sooner or later because it has to move with the rest of the world and retain its relevance, and that means electricity shifts from niche to mainstream.
Why can't FE be the blueprint for that?
It has established itself as a serious racing championship, one of the toughest in the world from a driver's perspective, and its season-three calendar could feature races in London, Paris, Berlin, New York and Hong Kong, to name a few.
Nothing else, not even F1, is capable of making that happen.
There are still those who look down at FE as a bit of a sideshow, or something not to be taken seriously because of the redundant complaint that the cars aren't quick enough.
And ultimately that makes it easy to miss the significance of the Paris race altogether.
FE's latest street race was not just another street race. It's right to view it as a springboard to secure greater venues, better visibility for itself and more awareness of the message it's promoting.
Hopefully the gravity of the achievement, and the images the event generated, give sceptics of the series and the place EVs have in motorsport something to think about as well.
If nothing else, what FE has pulled off should get the recognition it deserves.
