Letter from Paris: April 16, 2025 News Digest

Runners took to the city’s rues and boulevards last Sunday for the annual Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris. One of the world’s biggest marathons in terms of performance and field size (a record 56,950 participants this year), the annual event is fabulously scenic, passing beautiful monuments like the Eiffel Tower, Place Vendôme and the Opéra Garnier. The winners this year: the Kenyan Benard Biwott (2h5’25’’) for the men’s competition, and the Ethiopian Bedatu Hirpa (2h20’45’) for the women.

In other sports news, Dutch cyclist Mathieu Van der Poel won the infamous Paris-Roubaix race, AKA the “Hell of the North,” after getting a bottle thrown in his face. As reported by The Guardian, he also overcame “a puncture and a fierce challenge by the world champion, Tadej Pogacar, to claim his third straight victory in the Queen of the Classics.”

European airline groups are feeling the effects of Donald Trump’s trade war, says The Independent, and Air France is slashing economy ticket prices on transatlantic flights because of the weakening demand. “While the airline hasn’t yet adjusted its flight capacity, Ben Smith expressed concern about the potential impact of a broader economic downturn… He noted that the travel industry is often among the first to feel the effects of economic downturns, describing the current situation as ‘uncharted territory.’ The price cuts appear to be a strategic move to maintain full planes despite the softening demand.”

The BBC reports that the “Trump era leaves US tourists in Paris feeling shame.” Following the new tariffs, as “the world struggles with the implications of Donald Trump’s see-sawing quest to upend the global trading system,” tourism is taking a big hit, particularly as Europeans cancel their trips to the US. Americans aren’t any less welcome in France, but some are feeling embarrassed.

Dedicated to the history of Paris, the Musée Carnavalet is one of our favorite museums in the city. Not only does it house incredible permanent collections inside a splendid Marais mansion, but it also stages fascinating temporary exhibits. Case in point: The latest showcasing the post-war photography of iconic filmmaker Agnès Varda. To quote The Guardian’s Agnès Poirier: “The elf-looking gamine with her eternal short bob and soft melodious voice showed through her life a formidable determination, imposing herself in a man’s world. Today, Varda is a French monument. So much so that her work is now exhibited for the first time in one of Paris’s most iconic and historic museums, the Musée Carnavalet, dedicated to the history of the French capital.”

Pollution in the Paris region has been cut in half since 2005, according to a report by Airparif, an organization which tracks air quality in the capital. This is a major victory for the city of Paris as it works to limit air pollution and create a greener, more sustainable metropolis. From the new “urban forests” sprouting in Paris to the reduced car traffic, City Hall has been on a mission. Now it’s celebrating 10 years of the Paris Climate Agreement.

The Washington Post reports, “The change shows how ambitious policymaking can directly improve health in large cities. Air pollution is often described by health experts as a silent killer. Both PM 2.5 and nitrogen dioxide have been linked to major health problems, including heart attacks, lung cancer, bronchitis and asthma.” The mayor’s green policies haven’t been without pushback ” — from right-leaning politicians, a car owners’ association and suburban commuters, who say that targeting cars makes their lives more difficult. But last month, Parisians voted in a referendum to turn an additional 500 streets over to pedestrians.” Read the full article here.

France is banning the use of mobile phones in middle schools in September. Students aged 11 to 15 must leave their devices in a locker or pouch for the entire school day. This is a tightening of a previous rule. Speaking to the senate, the education minister Élisabeth Borne said: “At a time when the use of screens is being widely questioned because of its many harmful effects, this measure is essential for our children’s wellbeing and success at school.”

News from the Élysée Palace. President Emmanuel Macron’s chief of staff, 52-year-old Alexis Kohler, is leaving his post to join French banking giant Société Générale as executive vice president. “Kohler bids emotional adieu to Macron,” says the France24 headline. “For more than a decade, he was Emmanuel Macron’s most trusted adviser, helping the former economy minister stage an improbable coup and ascend the throne of the French presidency, and later, to implement one of the country’s most contested reforms in decades.”