To go or not to go? The fate of the bouquinistes on the quays of the Seine seems uncertain: in the summer of 2023, the Paris Prefecture of Police announced its intention to have the bouquinistes' boxes installed on the quays of the Seine dismantled and moved during the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The reason given: the safety of spectators and athletes.
The decision provoked anger not only among professionals, but also among heritage conservationists. " It's like pulling teeth! All that for four hours of ceremony! What the wars couldn't do, the Olympics are going to do: make us disappear ," enraged Michel Bouetard, General Secretary of the Association des bouquinistes, whose comments were picked up by AFP and reported by France 3.
This temporary disappearance was gradually being prepared: at the end of 2023, Paris City Hall had carried out tests to dismantle the boxes. A total of 428 boxes had to be moved for the Games, i.e. almost half of the 932 boxes installed on the quays.
A turn of events on February 13, 2024: after several months of anguish, booksellers should be able to rest assured. The Élysée Palace told AFP that " The President of the Republic has asked the Minister of the Interior and the Prefect of the Paris Police Department to ensure that all bookshops are preserved, and thatnone of them will be forced to move for the opening ceremony of the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games. Noting that no consensual and reassuring solution has been identified with these players, he expresses his attention to them, considering that this is a living heritage of the capital ", according to information shared by Le Parisien.
The Élysée also indicates that the security arrangements will have to be adapted accordingly, as the public will not be able to gather on these quays, near the boxes, to watch the opening ceremony of the Games.
During the Paris Games, tourists will be flocking to the capital in large numbers, and this should enable booksellers to benefit from this attraction for a few weeks.
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