The 2024 Paris Olympics ’ opening ceremony will be held on the famed River Seine, taking place outside of a sports venue for the first time in the Games’ history. But for the booksellers who have found a centuries-old sanctuary on the river banks, that day is all but ceremonious.
The city of Paris vowed to deliver an extraordinary grand opening on July 26 next year which is expected to draw about 600,000 spectators. As a result, the Paris police prefecture has ordered the removal a day before the ceremony of 570 “stationary boxes” — street stands out of which booksellers have operated for decades on the quays of the Seine.
