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PARIS 2024 OLYMPICS

The Olympics will ‘erase’ a symbol of Paris, say booksellers

Booksellers along the river Seine in Paris continue to hit back at plans to remove them during the 2024 Olympics opening ceremony.

Published: 30 July 2023 17:23 CEST

The Olympics will 'erase' a symbol of Paris, say booksellers

The riverside book stalls are a famous symbol of Paris. (Photo by Ludovic MARIN / AFP)

Riverside Paris booksellers have told city authorities they threaten to erase a symbol of Paris, if they shut their stalls for the Olympics.

The 200 “bouquinistes“, who make up the largest open-air book market in Europe, were up in arms over a letter sent to them on Thursday by the Paris police authority.

Following the move, president of the Paris booksellers association, Jerome Callais, said their boxes on the riverbank are as important as the most iconic landmarks of the city.

“People come to see us like they come to see the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, (but) they want to hide us during a ceremony that is supposed to represent Paris,” said Callais on Saturday.

“We’re going to erase, we’re going to deny this major symbol that has been present in Paris for 450 years.

“We’re going to hide it throughout the ceremony, which is supposed to enhance Paris,” he added.

The organisers of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games are expecting at least 600,000 people to attend the opening ceremony, which is scheduled to take place on the Seine.

MAP: Where events will be held for 2024 Paris Olympics

Nearly 570 stalls will be dismantled, representing almost 60 percent of the bouquinistes boxes.

The police want a perimeter where “access and movement of persons are regulated” to ensure the security of a “place or event exposed to a risk of acts of terrorism”.

City authorities are offering to pay for the removal and reinstallation of the boxes, as well as paying to repair any that are damaged in the process.

Other solutions include offering book dealers the opportunity to take part in a Village des bouquinistes in a literary district near the Seine.

Jérôme Callais said that the location proposed, Place de la Bastille, was not a viable solution however, and that no compensation had been provided.

“No one is going to go to this village”, he said.

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France bids final farewell to Olympics with Champs-Elysees parade

The final event of an acclaimed summer of sport saw tens of thousands of fans gather on the French capital’s most famous avenue to applaud and cheer the nation’s new sporting heroes.

Around 70,000 people gathered for the parade featuring athletes, volunteers and public sector workers, which was followed by a multi-artist concert on a spectacular stage around the Arc de Triomphe.

“Saying thanks, not just to the athletes but to everyone who made these games magic, I think it’s fabulous,” said France’s most-decorated track athlete, Marie-Jose Perec, who lit the cauldron at the start of the Games on July 26.

“It’s a beautiful way of saying goodbye because everything must come to an end and tonight it will all be over,” the visibly emotional 200m and 400m triple gold medallist told reporters as she arrived.

Around 4,000 police were called out for a final test, having won almost almost unanimous praise for the way they kept around 12 million ticket holders for the Olympics and Paralympics safe.

After months of gloom and self-doubt in the run-up to the start of the Olympics, Parisians and the country at large threw themselves into the spirit of the Games once the sport began.

They embraced new champions such as triple gold medal-winning swimmer Leon Marchand while finding fresh reasons to celebrate veterans such as judoka Teddy Riner who won his fourth Olympic title.

“Thank you, thank you, it’s been incredible!” Riner shouted to the cheering crowd.

He, Marchand and Rugby Sevens star Antoine Dupont were among more than 100 French medal winners who were awarded the Legion d’Honneur, France’s highest civilian award, in a ceremony at the foot of the Arc de Triomphe led by French President Emmanuel Macron.

The French team finished the Olympics with a record medals haul of 64, including 16 golds, securing fifth place on the international table.

The Paralympic Games from August 28-September 8 were hailed as “the most spectacular ever” by the head of the International Paralympic Committee, Andrew Parsons.

Escapism

Analysts say the Games served as a form of escapism for many French people worried about the direction of the country as well as generating a rare form of national union and pride.

“Everything worked, everything functioned and French people rediscovered the virtues of national cohesion,” the head of the French Olympic Committee, David Lappartient, told reporters.

Macron is seeking to take advantage of this more positive mood, having faced widespread criticism for his decision to call snap parliamentary elections in June which blindsided Paris 2024 organisers.

The vote resulted in a hung parliament and historic gains for the far-right National Rally party.

Instead of making a speech, he recorded a poetic voiceover over images of the Olympics and Paralympics, saying it was “a summer that had already become part of French sporting legend.”

The 46-year-old was the main instigator of Saturday’s event, which was not originally part of the Olympic or Paralympic programme.

The centrist has also announced his intention to create an Olympics-inspired “national day of sport” every year on September 14.

“We need to spend time together at a day of sport, which would take place in the street, schools, in dedicated sports centres,” he told the Parisien.

Saturday night’s concert featured singer Chris, formerly of Christine & the Queens, who performed at the Paralympics opening ceremony, as well as blind Malian duo Amadou & Mariam among others.

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