Paris is making a myriad of changes to accommodate the Olympics this summer, from new Metro lines and sports facilities and street rules, but not all the changes are big, and two of the latest are aimed at nightlife, both outdoor and… ahem… indoor.
The first is an extension in the hours that bars and cafes can take up extra space on sidewalks and streets, allowing them to serve until midnight instead of 10 pm. These extensions, first permitted during Covid, are in addition to the usual sidewalk cafe spaces. Although popular with cafe owners and customers, they’ve drawn criticism from upstairs residents over noise.
The second bit of summer prep belongs (hopefully) to indoors: the city is ready to distribute an extra 220,000 condoms, mainly to the participating athletes. It’s a change from the last few Olympics where Covid has led to advice to avoid all unnecessary contact, and a return to a tradition that started with the 1988 Seoul Olympics. The distribution comes as Europe, and France, have been seeing rising rates of sexually-transmitted diseases.
