Paris: Famed Book Stalls in ‘The City of Love’ to be Dismantled During 2024 Olympics – News18

Booksellers along the River Seine say the Olympics are erasing a symbol of Paris, after they were informed by the local authorities that they will be required to remove their stalls during the Olympic Games in 2024.

Setting up his riverside stall on Saturday (July 29), “bouquiniste” Albert Abid said he was angered by the decision. “There will be a party in Paris, and we are joyous for this party, but we feel like the bouquinistes are unwanted, and they want to exclude us from this party,” he said.

Around 570 of the historic stalls that line the river Seine in Paris will be dismantled during the Olympic Games, representing almost 60% of booksellers in the city, according to the city authorities.

The Paris police authorities told the booksellers that their stalls are located within the perimeter of protection for the Games opening ceremony and need to be removed for “obvious security reasons,” the Paris police said in a statement.

Paris 2024 organisers are expecting at least 600,000 to attend the Summer Olympics opening ceremony on the Seine as athletes and delegations will sail along the river to kick off the Games.

Abid, a bookseller of 10 years, said he was worried that his 100-year old stall would get damaged in the process.

Bookseller association president Jerome Callais said he deplored the decision that may lead to booksellers not being able to earn a living for months, as installing the containers back could take a long time.

The Paris authorities met with the booksellers earlier this month and offered to pay for the costs of removing the stalls and to pay for any repair work in the case of damages, it said in a statement.

“This renovation is part of the Games’ heritage and will help support the application to have the Seine booksellers recognised as immaterial cultural heritage by UNESCO,” it the statement.

The booksellers have been invited by the city authorities to move to a specially created “bookseller village” in a “literary neighbourhood near the Seine” for the duration of the Games.

Many Parisians and tourists echoed booksellers’ sentiments, saying they did not understand why the stalls should be removed.

“It’s part of the Paris experience, right? You come to Paris, you want to experience what Paris is… so I don’t even see why they would do it,” Brazilian tourist Sarita Mello said.

(This story has not been edited by News18 staff and is published from a syndicated news agency feed – Reuters)