What other date than July 14, National Day, for the arrival of the Olympic flame in Paris? Ten days after the presentation of the course at the national level, the town hall of Paris lifted the veil on Monday on what is planned precisely in the host city of these 2024 Olympics. It is therefore the 14th, 12 days from the ceremony of opening, that the flame will enter the capital, via the Champs-Elysées. It will then sail through the heart of Paris, via its most famous places – National Assembly, Luxembourg Gardens, Pantheon, Sorbonne, Notre-Dame, Bastille, République, Louvre – before ending its race at the Hôtel de Ville.
The next day, place in the districts, in the districts from 11 to 20, “to share with the whole world what makes our capital”, boasted the mayor Anne Hidalgo. The flame will pass through the Porte de la Chapelle, the Butte Montmartre, Belleville, the Place de la Catalunya or the Butte-aux-Cailles. “Paris is first and foremost a city where we live. We want to share the Games with the populations of the districts, to do them with them and not next to them”, continued the city councilor.
For two days, all the arrondissements of Paris will therefore be visited. “It will be two days to reveal who we are, to highlight our history, our personalities [Victor Hugo notamment], our daily life,” Hidalgo said. “We have been convinced since day one that this city is made to host the Games, now will be the time to show it,” added the president of the Organizing Committee Tony Estanguet, present at his side.
“Bringing our country together in the current context is a complicated challenge”
The names of the torch bearers are not yet known. A priori, a hundred will take turns on each of the two days. After the 15th, the flame will leave the Paris region for a time, before returning there on the 26th, the day of the opening ceremony. No details at this stage on the route before the torch goes to ignite the famous basin. We just know that it will begin its last journey from the Bassin de la Villette.
In the current explosive social context, the elected officials of the city of Paris present this Monday morning at the Carnavalet Museum carried a message of national unity in the perspective of the Olympic Games. “Bringing our country together in the current context is a complicated challenge, but the Games are an extraordinary opportunity for our country, to say who we are, with our faults – we have many -, our qualities – we still have a few – headlines – and our history, underlined Anne Hidalgo. In a world that is not going well, in a country that is showing worrying signs, this flame is a great opportunity to bring hope. »
As for the security aspect, his Sports Assistant Pierre Rabadan assured that it was “the first priority” of the City, while asking that the speeches not revolve only around this problem. “A well-organized event is a well-secured event. We think about it all the time, he said. But that shouldn’t constantly take precedence over the rest, over the enthusiasm that accompanies the organization of these Games. “A speech surely not very audible in the current chaos, but which still has a few months to infuse.