Six Paris Metro stations got new names this week—at least briefly—to mark the handover of the Olympic and Paralympic Games to Los Angeles, the host for 2028.
The change won’t last, but there will be at least the brief opportunity for people to take souvenir pictures at Santa Monica (Saint-Michel), Malibu (Malesherbes), Melrose (L’Hay-les-Roses), Hollywood Boulevard (Grands Boulevards) and Beverly Hills (Belleville). Olympiades, for now, has become Olympiades-Los Angeles.
In Los Angeles, meanwhile, Downtown Santa Monica became Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Chatsworth was renamed Champs-Elysées, Watts Tower became Eiffel Tower, Mariachi Plaza was renamed Macaron Plaza (No, not Macron) and Monrovia was renamed Montmartre.
Paris’s RATP transit operator is an old hand at these subterraneann temporary name changes (the signs at street level aren’t changed). Past examples have included swapping Elizabeth II for George V for her Jubilee, and several Olympic-themed jokes on April Fools this year, including Dumarathon for Dumas and Surferino for Solferino.
