‘Like keeping up Christmas decorations up all year’
The Eiffel Tower is set to permanently put the Olympic rings up on display following on from the Olympic games in Paris.
It comes as a decision from the mayor of the city, Anne Hidalgo, to keep the famous symbol because the games made the French fall “in love” with Paris again.
She added that she wants the two to “remain married”.
However, the decision will not be as simple as leaving the rings as they are, as the city will need to hide the symbol when the tower pays tribute to causes that do not follow a policy of neutrality as set by the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
Hidalgo claimed that following the games, “Paris will never be the same again”.
However, Paris locals have already joked about the idea, comparing the notion to keeping Christmas decorations up all year round.
There have even been accusations that the mayor is “clinging on to the good vibes of the games.”
As reported by French newspaper, Sud-Ouest, Hidalgo said that the roads leading to the Eiffel Tower will remain pedestrianised and car-free areas after the end of the Paralympic games.
This will concern the Place de Varsovie and the Pont d’Iena.
This will see the the fulfilment of plans drawn up last year to add in cycle paths and fully remove cars from the area.
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The Olympic memorabilia doesn’t end with the rings, as Hidalgo wants to keep statues of female figures and the Olympic flame cauldron from the opening ceremony, having lodged a request to French President Emmanuel Macron to retain it in the gardens.
Ironically enough, despite being located in the city of Paris, the Jardin des Tuileries, where the cauldron is located, is in fact state property and therefore needs permission from the government to keep it in place.
However, not everyone is so keen on holding onto the memories of a games now gone.
Taking to social media many expressed their opposition to such an idea.
One person said on X: “The Eiffel Tower is a beautiful sculpture of art and engineering.
“The Olympic rings do not in any way fit into that design and instead look like someone put an ad on it (which is exactly what it was—an ad for the Olympic games).”
Another user wrote: “This time the French dilemma is about the Eiffel Tower with the current Maire of Paris controversially vowing to keep the Olympic Rings on this unique historic innovatively conceived & constructed iconic structure; a beacon symbolising a proud city.
“It needs no embellishments.”
Meanwhile another person simply put: “Paris keeping the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower is deranged.”
