Security around the Olympic Games is paramount. Security measures for the opening ceremony will be deployed from 1 p.m. in certain areas.
“We are ready,” Emmanuel Macron assured four days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games. Security is one of the main sources of concern, as more than 15 million tourists are expected in Paris during the Games. More than 30,000 police officers and gendarmes, 20,000 security agents and 10,000 soldiers from Operation Sentinelle have been deployed to ensure the safety of visitors and Parisians, reports France 24. Security measures have been affecting the lives of people in Paris for several days. Car traffic is heavily impacted, with streets and bridges blocked. The most difficult thing sometimes is crossing the Seine without the famous QR code. Only five bridges can be crossed on foot without this sesame.
Conditions of access to the opening ceremony
The Games will kick off with the opening ceremony on July 26th starting at 7:30 p.m. It will be even more difficult to get around Paris, especially from one bank to the other, during the day. First of all, it is recommended not to use your car this Friday. Some bridges will be open to motorized vehicles in the morning, until 1 p.m., recalls The Parisian. These are the bridges of Invalides, Sully, Notre-Dame, the bridges downstream from the Iéna bridge and upstream from Austerlitz. After 1 p.m., you will have to go through the bridges outside Paris intra-muros.
For people who have to go to the gray zone, whether to attend the ceremony, go home, to the hotel or to the restaurant, the security measures are particularly strict.
According to the site anticipategames.gouv.fr, those lucky enough to attend the opening ceremony will not need a QR code. Their ticket and ID will be enough to enter the grey zone. However, these people must arrive as early as possible, from 3:30 p.m. until the entrances close at 6:30 p.m. Permanent residents will have to present their usual QR code to enter their homes. People residing in the zone in holiday rentals will have to present a QR code as well as their ID and the invitation letter from their host, and are invited to arrive before 3 p.m. For visitors with a reservation at a hotel, bar or restaurant, they will have to present their QR code as well as their ID and the reservation for that specific day. Permanent workers in the zone will have to present their QR code and their employment certificate.
Public transport traffic will also be disrupted. On the metro, the terminus of line 8 will be moved forward to La Motte-Picquet-Grenelle, that of line 7 to Palais-Royal (North) and Jussieu (South), and that of line 9 to Miromesnil (East) and Porte de Saint-Cloud (West). Many stations will also be closed, such as Cité, Quai de la Rapée or Concorde. Line 6 will be completely closed between 6 p.m. and 9:30 p.m. However, the three automatic metro lines (1, 4 and 14) will be open all night. Regarding buses, the same restrictions as for cars will apply. It will therefore be impossible to cross the Seine from 1 p.m.