By Julien Pretot
PARIS (Reuters) – While every tourist since 1889 has marvelled at the Eiffel Tower, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo wants Olympic visitors to look beyond the city’s most famous landmark and immerse themselves in the lifestyle of the capital, which has undergone a transformation over the last few years.
Under 65-year-old Hidalgo, who was elected in 2014 and re-elected four years ago, hundreds of kilometres of bicycle lanes have been created around Paris and more than 100,000 trees have been planted since 2020.
Last week, Hidalgo bathed in the Seine after pledging to clean it up so that Parisians can enjoy it in the summer after the Olympics.
“When I arrived in Paris, I enjoyed the anonymous side of a big city, nobody would be looking at what time I would come back home at night,” Hidalgo told reporters over lunch at the City Hall on Tuesday.
“But there’s so much to it. Paris is a city where you have a bakery every five minutes (walk), you know your shopkeeper and your shopkeeper knows you.
“The first time you come to Paris, you come to see the landmarks, the Eiffel Tower etc. The second time, you want to experience the Parisian life and that’s what I want the people who come to the Olympics to experience,” Hidalgo added.
After COVID-19, restaurant and bar owners have been allowed to extend their terraces to the sidewalks and some parking spaces from April to October until 10pm at night to compensate for the money lost during the pandemic.
For the Olympics, those 3,000 terraces will be allowed to open until midnight.
“It’s such a great idea. Tonight I was completely swamped with customers, a lot of foreigners, more than usual,” Etienne, a wine bar owner in central Paris, told Reuters.
“My only regret is that I have to go on holidays in a couple of days and will miss out on the Games. But the bar will stay open, definitely.”
For President Emmanuel Macron’s entourage, the Games are also an opportunity to showcase what they say is a new, modernised global metropolis, far from the cliches of a museum city that were becoming prevalent a decade ago.
“People will see a city that’s innovative and modern, not just a pretty postcard,” a person close to Macron said.
Macron’s advisers have said the Paris of 2024 has a tech scene that’s challenging London, has won a battle among continental capitals to attract post-Brexit bankers, and is beaming with extravagant fashion shows and art exhibitions fuelled by billionaires.
The Olympic Games officially start on Friday with an opening ceremony on the River Seine and will conclude on Aug. 11.
(Reporting by Julien Pretot; Additional reporting by Michel Rose; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
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