PARIS (AP) — A special Iron Curtain fell over central Paris on Thursday, setting up an Olympic anti-terrorism perimeter along the Seine River and sealing off an area of several kilometers (miles) to Parisians and tourists who hadn’t applied for passes in advance.
The word on many people’s lips was “QR code” – an access pass through the snaking metal barriers that separate security zones set up to protect humans. Olympic Games’ Opening ceremony on July 26th.
“I didn’t know it was starting today,” said Emmanuelle Witt, a 35-year-old freelancer who was stopped by police near the Alma Bridge while cycling across town. She frantically filled out an online form on her phone to get a QR code, but Review Process This may take several days.
Those with the valuable code – stored on their mobile phones or printed on paper – easily passed through police checkpoints set up in gaps in the fence higher than most people.
Most people who didn’t have them were turned away, and no matter how much they complained or tried to persuade the police, they wouldn’t budge.
“It’s too much, too much, the whole thing is too much work,” complained Nassim Benamou, a delivery man. Notre Dame Cathedral Ride a scooter.
“The GPS is messed up too and I have no idea how to do my job today,” he added.
Officials introduced the code system last year. Meeting with local residents It took months for the restrictions to be explained, but not everyone knew about them. Officials patiently explained to visitors without passes how to get to Paris’ iconic landmarks without going through restricted areas.
“I didn’t know you needed a QR code,” said Takao Sakamoto, 55, after being denied entry to the Eiffel Tower near the Bir Hakeim metro station. Mr. Sakamoto, visiting from Japan with his wife, took photos of the tower from a distance from behind a fence and a police car. “This is enough,” he said in despair.
Meanwhile, tourists who were lucky enough to come across police officers who generously allowed them through without a QR code, or were equipped with one, were treated to a scene that saw the normally busy riverside thoroughfare all but empty.
“There’s no one around!” sang a joyous cyclist as he had the street all to himself. “Leave your money and your phone on the table, there will be no thieves around!” quipped another man walking past a riverside cafe that was less crowded than usual, despite police appearing to be everywhere.
“It doesn’t seem real, it feels like we’re really the only ones here,” said Sarah Bartnica from Canada, 29, who was out for a morning jog with friends when she captured the moment on the deserted Pont d’Iena for a selfie with a police officer.
Paris is repeatedly suffered deadly attacks by militantsThis was most evident in 2015, when up to 45,000 police and gendarmes were deployed. 10,000 soldiers Deployed for security at the Olympics.
“I understand why they do this,” said Carla Money, a 64-year-old American who managed to get through the barrier with her family.
Some business owners in the restricted areas complained that a sudden drop in customer numbers was hurting their profits.
“They locked me up like a prisoner,” said Raymond Pignol, whose restaurant, L’Auberge Café, is just inside the metal fence near the Pont Neuf over the Seine.
The border will be in place from early Thursday morning until the ceremony, with the exception of Paris, which decided to hold the opening ceremony of its first Olympics in a century on the river rather than in a stadium as in previous host cities. Most of the security measures on the river will be lifted after the ceremony.
Police had been instructed to be polite and patient as workers and others on their way to work dealt with the borders and passes for the first time, but Paris police chief Laurent Nunez said that after the first 24 hours of accommodative behavior, officers would enforce the rules more strictly and no longer turn a blind eye to people without QR codes.
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See AP’s Olympics coverage here https://apnews.com/hub/2024-Paris-Olympic-Games
