Letter from Paris: July 24, 2024 News Digest
The Opening Ceremony of the Summer Olympics is just two days away. Areas of the Seine have been sealed off in advance of the event. To access the area, you’ll need a QR code to show at the police checkpoints. To quote France 24: “A special kind of iron curtain came down across central Paris on Thursday, with the beginning of an Olympic anti-terrorism perimeter along the banks of the River Seine sealing off a kilometers-long (miles-long) area to Parisians and tourists who hadn’t applied in advance for a pass.”
Le Monde notes that it’s a “hugely complex” Opening Ceremony, taking place as a parade along six kilometers of the Seine. It’s a huge security headache for police, soldiers, and private security agents. “Many central métro stations will also be closed until the day after the opening ceremony.” Ten million spectators are expected for the Olympics.
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In case you missed it, Mayor Anne Hidalgo went for a dip in the Seine last week to prove that the river is swimmable after an enormous (and expensive) cleanup project. Triathlon events will be staged in the river. Previously there had been concerns about elevated E.coli bacteria levels which could pose a health risk to the athletes. What was once a highly polluted river will be open next year in the summer for swimming in three designated areas— part of the city’s plan to help mitigate the effects of global warming.
Hidalgo wasn’t the first; American adventurer- journalist Joel Stratte-McClure jumped in on July 4th. And we’ve got an interview with him here!
Meanwhile wealthy travelers are avoiding Paris during the Olympics, and the luxury hotels are suffering as a result. Bloomberg reports that these visitors are “concerned about difficulties in navigating the city by car.” This drop in demand means that bookings are down from 20-50% over the previous year. To quote Bloomberg: “‘In 24 years I’ve never seen this,’ said Laurence Bloch, deputy general manager at the Plaza Athénée on Avenue Montaigne, where guests pay €2,500 or more for chic rooms a stone’s throw from Chanel and Christian Dior stores.”
Airlines have also been affected. Travelers are avoiding Paris during the Olympics and instead planning trips elsewhere. As reported by NBC News, “Delta says the Olympics will cost it $100 million as travelers skip Paris. The airline has the most service of any U.S. carrier to Paris and has a joint venture with Air France.”
Eiffel Suite at the Hotel Plaza Athénée. Photo credit: Eric Laignel
Tadej Pogačar, the star 25-year-old Slovenian cyclist, won the Tour de France on Sunday. He ousted rival Jonas Vingegaard, the defending champion from Denmark. This is Pogačar’s third Tour de France victory. As reported by the Associated Press, “[he] became the first cyclist to secure the Giro d’Italia and Tour de France in the same year since the late Marco Pantani in 1998.” The race concluded on a gorgeous stretch of the French Riviera from Monaco to Nice, instead of the Champs-Élysées in Paris, because of the Olympics.
Remember when we told you that Krispy Kreme had arrived in Paris? An instant hit, the store inside the Forum des Halles mall routinely gets lines stretching outside. Now we’ve learned that Krispy Kreme has released special Paris-themed doughnuts so that Francophiles around the world can celebrate the Olympics with “French flavors.” There’s the Crème Brûlée Doughnut— complete with a “caramelized sugar crunch topping”— and the Double Chocolate Éclair Doughnut, not to mention the Raspberry & Vanilla Crème Doughnut (what’s so French about that?) Read more about the “Passport to Paris” doughnut collection here.
Lead photo credit : View over the Seine in Paris. Photo: Daniela Kloth / Wikimedia commons
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