By Humberto Viera
29 Jul 2024, 15:45 PM EDT
Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo said Monday she wanted three key elements of the Olympic opening ceremony to be preserved in the city: the cauldron of the Olympic flame placed in a hot-air balloon at the Tuileries, the rings of the Eiffel Tower and the statues of historic women that emerged from the Seine.
“There are three symbols that we must study so that they can continue to be part of our heritage,” said the mayor in an interview with public broadcaster France Bleu, pointing out that the decision on the fate of these works is not exclusively hers.
Hidalgo considers these three elements to be “magnificent” and “iconic” of the Olympic Games, which began last Friday and will close on August 11. For this reason, the City Council will work to ensure that they remain in Paris as a “legacy” of the Games.
For some of these elements, such as the statues that emerged on the banks of the Seine in homage to women such as Simone Veil or Alice Milliat, Hidalgo already has ideas for locations, suggesting moving them to the city’s 18th arrondissement, where the Montmartre hill is located.
Regarding the cauldron, which pays homage to the Montgolfier brothers, inventors of the hot-air balloon, Hidalgo said that it is in a “magnificent” place, at the entrance to the Tuileries Gardens that connects these gardens with the Arc de Triomphe du Carrousel and the courtyards of the Louvre. This cauldron has generated great excitement among tourists and curious people, although all the tickets to see it up close are sold out.
Regarding the Olympic rings on the Eiffel Tower, located just above the first floor, where Canadian singer Celine Dion made a triumphant appearance during the ceremony, Hidalgo did not mention whether they would remain in their current place.
“I cannot say today whether they will remain,” said the mayor regarding these three elements, since it is necessary to analyze issues of heritage and feasibility. However, she assured that she is working to make this happen.
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