The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics
The 2024 Paris Summer Olympics… it’s the big news in Paris, along with political upheavals. Paris is among only Los Angelas and London to host the summer Olympic Games three times: in 1900, in 1924, and one hundred years later in 2024.
The current games will begin July 26 and end August 11.
Paris has been preparing for years to ready the City of Lights for the big games…and the big crowds. Three million visitors are expected, along with the usual 10 million people who live in Paris and its suburbs. It’s not the best time to visit Paris unless you hold tickets for the games. (You can get these online at the official Paris Olympics website, along with other news leading up to the date.)
Are you going to Paris soon? Here’s the resource you Must Have! (click or see below)
Preparing for les JO (Les Jeux Olympiques)
It goes without saying that hotels, restaurants, and infrastructures have adapted and improved as needed to accommodate the influx of visitors. Every city that hosts the Olympic Games seems to undergo a facelift!
Some renovations had begun years earlier, such as the Grand Palais and the Stravinsky Fountain. These might have been scheduled anyway, without the games, but they’re ready now. One place that won’t be ready, unfortunately, is the Notre Dame Cathedral, damaged in 2019. It was scheduled to be open and complete by the summer, but the date has been pushed back to December.
The Seine River
The Seine River has been in the news a lot as the date of the games approaches. The last time athletes swam in the Seine River was 1900. For the last 70 years, swimming has been banned, due to pollution from sewage and city runoff. Jacque Chirac once claimed he’d make the Seine swimmable during his time in office, but he didn’t succeed. It was the vow of the current Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, that is making that dream a reality. Or hopes to.
For the last few years, the city has spent over a billion euros on making the Seine swimmable (as part of a push toward a greener city), including an expensive storage basin containing wastewater. The goal wasn’t merely to host the summer Olympic games in the famed river and make history. The stormwater and sewage system was cutting edge for its time but needed an overhaul. The vision for this massive project is not only to keep dirty water where it belonged but also to enable Paris residents and visitors to swim in the Seine in three swimming areas planned for use by 2025. Imagine that! Currently, you can swim on the Seine, though not in it, at the Josephine Baker swimming pool in the 13th district. It’s open all year and floats on top of the Seine River. (Not quite the same as being in the Seine, but lots of fun, all the same!)
Paris is ready for the Olympics!
In Time for the Games?
Will the Seine be swimmable in time for the summer Olympic Games? That’s the question. The opening ceremonies will launch on that very river, with boats full of delegates floating along in a fluvial parade. Two events, the triathlon, and marathon swimming, are planned for the river. Yet the waters are being tested daily. Some days, the water passes the test. Other days, it doesn’t. More rain will worsen, not improve, the problem. The events can be postponed a few days if needed. Otherwise, the backup plan is to drop the swimming component of the triathlon and hold the open swimming event in the Marne River, to the east of Paris.
Where will events be held?
There are 24 venues for the Olympic Games of 2024. Many of these are the iconic landmarks you’d visit during a tourist trip but have been specially adapted for the games. For
example, Le Grand Palais in the west of Paris will host fencing and taekwondo. Its glass vaulted roof will showcase these events perfectly. Then volleyball at the Eiffel Tower, archery and para-archery along with road cycling at Les Invalides, with archery contested on its esplanade. The Chateau of Versailles is being outfitted for the equestrian events. Other venues are more predictable: The Roland Garros for tennis events, and Le State de France for track and field events. A few events will be well outside the city limits as well, such as the stadium of Yves-du-Manoir, which hosted the 1924 Olympic field events.
All this provides viewers in other parts of the world with an additional advantage: seeing footage of beautiful Paris from your living room!
Note: After this Summer Olympics News, Oliver’s France will return to the theme of Provence! Stay tuned!
A must-have resource for travelers to Paris:
Magical Paris: Over 100 Things to Do Across Paris. (click for more info)
A reader review:
Magical Paris is just that. Traveling in Paris is like magic when the bulk of your itinerary is planned for you. That’s what this book does. I plan to follow the suggested guides for visiting all 20 arrondissements, or districts, which will ensure I get through to them all in the most efficient manner possible, especially since that is my goal.
The author also includes what’s worth seeing, as well as her favorites. Magical Paris covers it all … lots of practical information, language and pronunciation, vocabulary. And also how to navigate non-touristy areas the way the natives enjoy them. This book is so easy to take with you everywhere as it does not add bulk or weight to your daily load. You will not be disappointed, I assure you. I can’t wait to use it for my upcoming trip.
