Paris: May 25, 2024

 

I made a quick visit to Paris. It was my first visit there in about five years.

I found that the city was in the Olympic boom.

The opening ceremony will be held at Palais de Chaillot near the Eiffel Tower. Temporary audience seats were built there.

 

Sene River will be used for the opening ceremony and other occasions. People will see the athletes from the world from the river banks.

Temporary seats were also built in Place de la Concorde. The competitions of breaking dance will be held there. (See the 3rd photo)

 

Pare of Parc de Champ de Mars in front of the Eiffel Tower was closed to the public for the works. Beach volleyball games will be held here. (See the 2nd photo)

 

The building of Paris City was covered with posters of Olympic Games.

 

Temporary seats were also set in front of Notre-Dame Cathedral in the Cite Island. It is under reconstruction from the fire disaster in 2019. (See also the top photo)

 

Panels were displayed on the walls around the working site.

 

I found more people were using bicycles than they had been five years ago. The bicycle zones increased in the roads.

Many people were riding bicycles on Avenue de la Champs-Elyses.

The number of electric vehicles increased dramatically.

 

This is a photo of wind generators taken in the northern France from the Eurostar train. I saw various eco-friendly actions in many places.

 

The city was crowded with tourist from the world as five years ago. I saw many people enjoying boat tour in the Seine.

The city is continuously renovated and the Olympic Games accelerate such developments -- I got such impression.

The news stories report difficult issues such as immigration and the rise of extreme right. I did not find scenes related to such issues on the street corners today. The number of homeless people seemed fewer that it had been five years ago. It may just be temporary controlled.