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CULTURE

What the Eiffel Tower will look like in 2024

Ahead of the 2024 Olympic Games, Paris' Eiffel Tower is getting a facelift - here's what the famous Champ-de-Mars is set to look like, and why the revamp has sparked protests.

Published: 4 May 2022 16:57 CEST
What the Eiffel Tower will look like in 2024
The Esplanade du Trocadero near the Eiffel tower (Photo by LUDOVIC MARIN / AFP)

After concern over plans to cut down the 42 trees lining the Eiffel Tower in order to build tourist facilities, Paris’ Mayor’s office has agreed to revise plans for the renovation of Champs-de-Mars. 

But the Eiffel Tower and the whole of the Champ-de-Mars area are still expected to be completely transformed ahead of the 2024 Olympics.

Here is what it’s set to look like:

The tower will be painted gold

For its latest paint job, the famous Iron Lady will be returned to the “yellow-brown” colour Gustave Eiffel intended for it in 1907. The tower was originally painted red when it was first presented during the 1889 World’s Fair, and it has sported 20 different shades over the years. The “yellow-brown” colour is intended to be a nod to the colour of Olympic medals.

READ MORE: Plan to fell trees near Eiffel Tower causes backlash from residents in French capital

“It will give the Eiffel Tower a more ‘golden’ look during the Olympics compared to the colour we used to have,” explained Patrick Branco Ruivo, general manager of the Sete, the operating company of the Parisian monument to AFP. 

Rope access technicians repaint the Eiffel Tower on February 1, 2021 in Paris. (Photo by Martin BUREAU / AFP)
 

The Pont d’Iéna will become pedestrian only

The bridge connecting the Eiffel Tower on rive gauche to Trocadéro on rive droite will soon become no-car zone, lined with trees and greenery. Only public transport and emergency vehicles will use the lanes that have been built in place of the current sidewalks.

“It was time to make it easier for pedestrians to get around,” explained the Mayor’s office to French daily Le Parisien.

 

A walkable area under the Tower

The space under the Eiffel Tower will be revitalised with walking paths and grass. 

 
 
A new, green amphitheatre at Trocadero
 
There will no longer be a traffic circle around the statue of Marshal Foch. Instead, cars will circulate in two directions on the outside side. New tiered seating will be built onto the Place de Trocadero, offering over 12,000 seats and a lovely view of the tower. 

A green promenade on the quai Branly

The Quai Branly will also become green and walkable, with hedges and shrubs planted along the roadway to protect pedestrians from traffic. The number of lanes for cars will be reduced from four to two, and a maximum speed of 20 kilometers per hour will be implemented to give pedestrians the priority.

READ MORE: Anne Hidalgo’s eco-friendly plans for Paris: Speed limits, parking spaces and bikes

Not everyone is too pleased with these plans, particularly those living in the immediate vicinity.

Danièle Giazzi, mayor of the 16th arrondisement, told Paris daily Le Parisien that he fears the “risk of blockage in the whole sector” and that he “does not like the fact that one can no longer go from the left bank to the right bank and vice versa, except by scooter.”

To visualise the change in traffic patterns, Le Parisien created this infographic. 

La fontaine de Varsovie

The walkways on the east and west sides of the Warsaw Fountain will be redesigned to be more accessible for families and for those with mobile disabilities. Lawned steps and terraces, covered with grass, will be used for festive events.

The majority of the Warsaw Square will be reserved for pedestrians, and eventually it will be used for other festive events. 

Paris’ own ‘Central Park’

When all of the work has been completed, this Champ-de-Mars gardens will extend all the way to the École Militaire. This will become a promenade of more than 1.5 kilometers, or 50 hectares, the equivalent of about 70 soccer fields.

Speaking of the new ‘lungs’ for the city, Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said: “We’re going to have an extraordinary garden to hear the birds sing again.”

Member comments

  2. This kind of reflex anti-car stuff is one reason Hidalgo did so badly in the election. Nothing is thought thru, and there are no alternatives for those who, for various reasons, need cars. Not everyone is a super-fit cyclist of 30 with nothing to carry.

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CULTURE

Keep-fit in the Louvre: Museum offers Olympic sessions among masterpieces

The Louvre museum in Paris announced plans to organise yoga and sport sessions in its galleries as part of a city-wide cultural programme ahead of the Olympics.

Published: 24 April 2024 09:11 CEST
Keep-fit in the Louvre: Museum offers Olympic sessions among masterpieces

The world’s biggest museum is to offer visitors the chance to take part in dance, yoga and work-out sessions while gazing upon its world-renowned paintings and sculptures.

The announcement was one of several on Tuesday aimed at whipping up Olympic enthusiasm ahead of the start of the Games in Paris on July 26th.

“The Louvre is physically in the centre of Paris. It will be physically at the centre of the Olympic Games,” museum chief Laurence des Cars told reporters.

Details of the special sessions and the museum’s new Olympics-themed exhibition are available on its website.

The opening ceremony is set to take place on the river Seine which runs past the Louvre. A temporary stadium to host the skateboarding and breakdancing is being built on the nearby Place de la Concorde. The Olympic flame is also set to burn in the neighbouring Tuileries gardens, a security source told AFP.

Four other art destinations, including the Musee d’Orsay, the home of impressionist masterpieces, are also set to put on Olympic-related sports or cultural activities.

Paris City Hall unveiled plans for public sports facilities, concerts and open-air fan areas around the City of the Light for the duration of the Olympics and Paralympics.

A total of 26 fanzones will be created around the capital, in addition to two special celebration areas in central and northeastern Paris, where medal winners will be encouraged to greet the public.

“For the first time in the history of the Games, the host city is aiming to create a people’s Games where Olympic enthusiasm can be shared at both the event sites but also outside of the stadiums, in the heart of the city, in each district,” the mayor’s office said in a statement.

A new Olympic transport mobile phone application was also made available for the first time on Tuesday by the regional transport authority.

Visitors to Paris will be encouraged to use the “Transport public Paris 2024” app, which will guide them to Olympic destinations using real-time information on traffic and user numbers.

The developers said that suggested routes would not necessarily be, “the shortest or the quickest”, but would be the most suitable and ensure that travellers have a choice of different transport options.

Overcrowding on the Paris underground train network is a particular concern ahead of the Games, while local politicians have urged Parisians to walk or use bikes.

The first Olympics in Paris in 100 years are set to take place from July 26th to August 11th followed by the Paralympics from August 28th to September 8th.

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