Paris Olympics Opening Ceremony Preparations Not Making Privacy-Loving Parisians Too Happy

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Paris, Jul 23: Less than 48 hours before the Paris Olympics opening ceremony along the River Seine, the scenes are not exactly positive in many ways. On Friday, the city will come to a standstill, literally. While sports lovers are happy about this, the intrusion into the privacy of the lives of Parisians is not welcome.

There are all kinds of caustic comments on social media as to how the original people living in Paris have been driven to despair. Indeed, security is a nightmare, but necessary. Special Paris Olympics Page

Russia versus Ukraine, Israel versus Palestine, plus internal turmoil in France, President Emmanuel Macron is putting on a brave face. But the Prez also knows all is not hunky dory, his own people at home are annoyed.

As a city that loves fashion, perfumes, a great dress sense, and all things relating to luxury, layers of security are a bummer. That is why hotels and air flights are not peaking or soaring. People living in France are worried as to how the economy will cope with the costs. If you go by what IOC President Thomas Bach says, the Olympics is fun. But then, the IOC does not pay, France pays.

Over the last few editions, the Olympics have been loss-making, in a financial sense. This time, revenue generation will be low and the hospitality sector is not booming. AirBnB and many more platforms still show bookings are available. Then again, how many tickets have been sold is not clear. Online, it's all sold for marquee events. However, people say fans can still try for last-minute tickets. How that will happen is not clear.

Paris is a city which hosted the Olympics in 1924 but in these many years, so much of change has taken place. Look at in the context of history and geography, an Olympic host city occupies prime space in everyone's minds. Yes, France and Paris are ready but the soul of the city seems unhappy. People living inside Paris want to go away, which is shocking. There is a feeling of being uprooted in the name of security.

All the venues are decked up. Some are near the city and some are not. Low costs and keeping a tab on inflation is the order of the day. Freebies are ruled out, even travel from Paris to the shooting venue is not free. The people with tickets to shooting or passes have to pay for it.

Restaurants have been barricaded and coffee parlours fear more isolation. The big day is Thursday, a day when traffic will come to a standstill. Imagine, the riverfront will be hijacked and locals will have no access. That's what is annoying the people who were born here. Some are quiet and some are vocal. Even London 2012 faced the same problems of being isolated.

At the other end of the spectrum, is climate change. Paris has promised zero carbon emissions, which can never be achieved. The Games Village beds are also not the best and offer "less privacy" of sorts to athletes. Why? When was privacy in a Summer Games restricted? This is not like Tokyo, when the Covid pandemic was raging, say many.

Love has always been in the air during an Olympics, why is Paris killing it? Social media handles are buzzing, and Paris is not being natural. All this does matter to all. Athletes are the soul of the Games, do not restrict them anyway. Lastly, cost-cutting means athletes are unhappy with some facilities. For example, the Americans have brought air conditioners, and that's crazy. If Paris wanted to stop all this, why did it not do it to Americans?

Russia and Belarus are out and last week's hacking online has many worried. The Games software is vital. Any glitch and it can leave France red-faced. Last, how can one avoid Russia, a country hared by West Europe? Politics is going to peak during the Olympics like it or not.

Good luck to France and good luck to Emanuel Macron. Both need it!