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Parisian expedition
Even if Paris has not been marked through terrorist attacks, protective the opening ceremony, which will on the Seine, is a primary challenge.
By Catherine Porter
Catherine Porter cycled and walked through the Paris security zone, with her QR code, to report this article.
Helicopters flew overhead. The police require a QR code and proof of identity in order to pass. Metal fences block the streets. And an army brigade, marching in formation, with guns raised over their chests.
That’s what it felt like to arrive at the door of my building those last few nights.
It’s a moment in Paris, on the eve of the Olympics and their unusual opening ceremony. The city centre has been remodelled into a fortress, with steel barricades and checkpoints, closed metro stations, 45,000 police officers (about 10 times more than the generals), plus 10,000 soldiers, search dogs, bomb squads and tactical teams, as well as helicopters.
The banks and bridges of the Seine, regularly populated by humans, are suddenly empty. An exquisite calm has set in.
The reason: after all its postponement of plan B, Paris is fulfilling its dangerous and glorious task of floating the Opening Ceremony – with the athletes in the world – on the Seine, through the center of the ancient city and in front More than 400,000 spectators crowded into the stands and looked out of the windows.
Although Paris has not been affected by terrorist attacks, protecting all those people is an obvious (and serious) security challenge.
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