SecondAmerican riders may need to learn to be nice, few consider the Seine swimmable, and breakdancing on the Place de la Concorde isn’t for everyone — but with the opening ceremony just two weeks away, Parisians are starting to look forward to their Olympics.
“You know what? I think they might actually be pretty cool,” said recruitment consultant Cécile Bizet, adding that she was particularly excited about “the bars under the huge glass roof of the Grand Palais.” It’s going to be spectacular.
Corentin Charbonneau, a retired civil engineer, said “it would be a relief to focus on other things” after the country’s political pain. take a break. Enjoy sports and Paris in the summer. It might even be good for us.
The city’s Socialist mayor Anne Hidalgo said this week she was “very relieved” not to join the Prime Minister of the National Rally (RN) in welcoming the Olympic delegation after the far-right party, which was the most popular before the vote, was elected. Ranked third in early elections.
The four-party left-wing coalition New Popular Front (NFP) won the most seats, followed by President Emmanuel Macron’s centrist bloc, but the result left France with a hung parliament without a clear majority to form a new parliament.
Hidalgo said it was “a very good thing” that outgoing Prime Minister Gabriel Attal remained in office “to deal with day-to-day matters during the Olympics.” Interior Minister Gérald Darmanin “has also done a good job in terms of security,” she said.
Valérie Pécresse, the right-wing president of the Île-de-France region, also said it would be better to wait before forming a new government. “We need a transitional government for the Olympics,” she said. “Three billion people will be watching us.”
Although there were many complaints before and after the opening ceremony about the digital security passes required to move around the heart of central Paris, including the Tuileries Gardens, the Ile de la Cité and the banks of the Seine, most people who needed them had already applied for them .
Mass transit network RATP said Parisians were also stocking up on supplies a lot of Buy a metro ticket or buy a tourist card to avoid the huge price increases during the Olympics: between July 20 and September 8, ticket prices will change from 2.15 euros to 4 euros.
The tourism industry is less happy, fearing that French and foreign holidaymakers will avoid the capital before and during the Olympics because of cost and congestion, a loss that will not be fully compensated by the 15 million visitors during the Olympic and Paralympic Games.
Air France said it expects turnover this year to be 160 million to 180 million euros lower than in 2023 due to “significant avoidance behavior” by international passengers, while Galeries Lafayette expects its revenue to fall by 10%.
However, Parisians who decided to stay and watch all or part of the world’s biggest sporting event seemed surprisingly optimistic. “I started getting really excited, surprisingly,” said Fateha, a 38-year-old call center worker. “You only have one life, don’t you?”
the problem still exists. The city said on Friday that water quality in the Seine met standards “on 11 out of the last 12 days” due to hosting triathlons and open-water swimming events, adding that it had “no worries at all”. Hidalgo promised to test it in person on July 17.
The political situation may still have an impact: the far-left CGT union this week called for mass protests and possible strikes during the Olympics to force Macron to “respect the election results” and allow the NFP to form a government.
“At this stage we are not planning to go on strike during the Olympics,” said group leader Sophie Binet. “But if Macron continues to add fuel to the fire…” The more moderate CFDT union also refused to rule out the possibility of strikes in certain sectors “if social dialogue breaks down”, although it said it had no intention of stopping the Olympics.
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With around two-thirds of routes scheduled to be diverted during the Olympics, Paris’ notoriously grumpy bus drivers are getting a crash course in how to treat passengers, including tourists and spectators, according to BFMTV.
“The goal is to replace the recorded announcements with real words from the driver,” stand-up comedian and corporate trainer JC Mulier told the station. “We want to provide passengers with a more positive, personalized experience to make their journey more enjoyable.”
To the fury of City Hall, electric air taxis will also be trialled during the Olympics. The floating platform near Austerlitz station will accommodate VoloCity aircraft, which will take off from four airports and airfields around the capital.
The air taxis, which can only carry one passenger, cannot operate commercially as they have not yet received permission to operate from the European Union, but their operators hope that 900 flights due in the coming months will demonstrate their usefulness.
David Belliard, the deputy mayor of Paris, was unconvinced and said the city might appeal the government’s decision. “The entire committee voted against air taxis,” he said. “They’re anti-environmental, super expensive and for the super rich.”
But the fact that so many Olympic events will be held in the heart of Paris, with famous landmarks like the Eiffel Tower as a backdrop, seems to be attracting at least some locals – despite the inevitable inconveniences.
On the Place de la Concorde, surrounding the majestic Luxor Obelisk, there is a temporary 17,000m2 The city park, which is nearing completion, will host skateboarding, BMX, break dancing and some basketball games, with a capacity of 25,000 spectators per day.
The venue is one of seven temporary structures for the Paris Olympics, allowing competitors and spectators to see the Grand Palais, the French Parliament, the Eiffel Tower and the Arc de Triomphe.
“This is really the incarnation of Paris 2024,” Aurélie Merle, director of Olympic sports competitions, told reporters during a recent visit. “The idea of moving sports from traditional venues to urban centers. It really works. It’s going to be amazing.
