When the Games reconcile Paris and Parisians | EUROtoday
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Por many Parisians, it’s a divine shock. With the Olympic Games, they had been promised hell with crowded public transport, visitors jams… But Paris has by no means been so nice to reside in. A clear metropolis, fluid transport, in brief a metropolis the place life is sweet. This has not escaped the Wall Street Journalwho makes enjoyable of it in an article titled “The biggest surprise of the Paris Olympic Games: even the French have nothing to complain about.”
On social media, as within the streets of Paris, there’s a earlier than and after the opening ceremony. “With the opening ceremony, the entire center was barricaded, the atmosphere was gloomy, it didn't bode well for the future. Today, we have large crowds, especially in the evening, and people are partying. It's really cool,” notes Philippe, a waiter for twenty years in Paris.
No extra grime and insecurity?
Despite the crowds, the “Terrace of the Games”, put in on the forecourt of the city corridor, stays clear. “You can really see the difference,” enthuses Laura, an engineer and volunteer for the Olympic Games. I reside within the Marais, which is a reasonably clear and nice neighborhood to reside in usually, however right here it's evening and day in Paris.” The young woman is also delighted with the facilities. “If there's one factor that ought to keep after the Games, it's the water fountains. They're sensible, ecological and what's extra, they're actually good!”
For Matthias Dandois, nine-time BMX freestyle world champion, it's simple: in Paris, it's “la dolce vita!” The city has been transformed and is shining, “unprecedented […] The folks on the road are tremendous good, the cops are cracking jokes, the Olympic venues are packed.
Gone are the criticisms of the grime and insecurity. Met within the queue to see the Olympic cauldron within the Tuileries Gardens, Kaïto, a Japanese vacationer who got here to see the archery occasions, confided: “I really like Paris, I come here often and for the first time I'm not afraid.” During the Games, 30,000 law enforcement officials and gendarmes are deployed on daily basis within the French capital, which supplies Parisians and vacationers this sense of safety.
Around the Eiffel Tower, the road distributors have disappeared. Alexandre (title modified), a police officer assigned to the world year-round, explains: “We chased them away with a much more active presence. We received very clear instructions to make them leave.”
Jeannine, 92, who has spent greater than forty years within the very posh Champ-de-Mars district, slips into the dialog to thank Alexandre: “Thank you for being here, it's a joy to be able to enjoy our district again without these people who are ruining our lives here.” But for the nonagenarian, “they will come back as soon as the police leave again like before the Games.”
And the metro turned nice once more
A significant concern for residents of the Paris area is that public transport is in the end making a giant contribution to the Olympic Games. “It's fluid, the giant signs are really well done, especially with the symbols of the competition venues.” For Léo, a pupil who stayed in Paris to work as a waiter in the course of the Games, dwelling in Paris this summer time is “ultimately pleasant, much more so than the rest of the year.”
The identical remark was made by the retired couple sitting reverse Léo within the metro, who had come to observe a rugby 7s match on the Stade de France: “Our friends had told us that the metro was dirty, that it was dangerous with lots of pickpockets and, above all, that it was always late.” Surprised, the couple famous that “the metro is pleasant and very clean” and that, regardless of the hour and a half to get to the Stade de France from the south of Paris the place their resort is situated, “it's a good experience.” Especially since hosts greet the general public at every metro entrance close to the Olympic and vacationer websites to information and clean the circulate.
“We would like it to always be like this,” hopes Lucas, a pupil in Paris. If the town of Paris has been remodeled for the Games, the absence of Parisians, who’ve gone on trip or fled the capital, could have one thing to do with it. The actual check will most likely be in the course of the Paralympic Games, when the varsity yr begins once more. One factor is definite: Parisians will know learn how to grumble if the state of affairs in the course of the Games is barely a parenthesis.
https://www.lepoint.fr/societe/la-dolce-vita-quand-les-jeux-reconcilient-paris-et-les-parisiens-04-08-2024-2567134_23.php