OO-La-la! Spooky Jenna Ortega ruffles more than some feathers in a frilly dress in Paris.
The US star wore the brown frock for the French premiere of the second series of Netflix hit Wednesday, directed by Tim Burton.
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Jenna Ortega at the Paris premiere of the second series of Netflix hit WednesdayCredit: Getty
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With Tim Burton, who directs the Netflix smashCredit: Shutterstock Editorial
The show, based on the daughter from The Addams Family, will return next week after the original run became a ratings hit following its release in 2022.
On the reception to the first series, Jenna, 22, said: “I’m still very appreciative and grateful.
“We didn’t know that anyone was going to watch the show.
“You do these things and you don’t know what’s to come, so it was very overwhelming.”
A former child star, Jenna was catapulted into the A list when Wednesday – viewed 252 million times and counting – launched in 2022.
And by her own refreshingly candid admission, that rapid rise to the top was overwhelming.
“To be quite frank, after the show and trying to figure everything out, I was an unhappy person,” she told Harper’s Bazaar in May.
“After the pressure, the attention – as somebody who’s quite introverted, that was so intense and so scary.”
The eight-month shoot inRomaniahad been challenging, with Jenna revealing: “I was alone. Never had any hot water. The boilers in two of my apartments were broken, so I always took cold showers.”
At least she’ll be getting a warm welcome from Wednesday fans as the show returns to their screens.
Game of Thrones star looks worlds away from Westeros after glam transformation for Netflix’s Addams Family spin-off
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Jenna as Wednesday in the Netflix hitCredit: VLAD CIOPLEA/NETFLIX
British tourists heading over to one of the most popular cities in Europe have been warned over sly tactics many restaurants use to make foreigners spend more money
A new investigation has exposed France’s sneaky tactics to charge tourists more(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
UK holidaymakers have been urged to watch out for sneaky fees that could end up wreaking havoc on their finances. Last year, a whopping 48.7 million tourists flocked to the French city of Paris and its surrounding areas – marking a two per cent increase compared to 2023. Unable to resist the charm of strolling along the Seine, watching the Eiffel Tower sparkle, and eating their body weight in pastries and cheese – the iconic city is expecting an even stronger tourism rebound this year.
As romantic and enchanting as Paris may be, there’s no denying it’s an expensive city – one that can easily break the bank if you’re not careful. Of course, avoiding fancy restaurants and luxury hotels may help keep the price down.
Eating out in Paris may cost more than you think – especially if you’re not French(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
However, there’s also a secret tourist tax that’s recently been unearthed. It comes after one local pretended to be a visitor from the United States to see whether dining out is really a set price for all.
Local media outlet Le Parisien sent two journalists to a well-known eatery in the city to see whether they’d be charged the same for their identical order. It comes after the publication spotted a slew of complaints from international tourists online, arguing that waiters use sly tactics to get them to pay more.
Writer Mathiew Hennequin was disguised as an American tourist, donned in a baseball cap and an Eiffel Tower t-shirt, while Marc (who uses the alias Radin Malin, pretended to be a domestic tourist. The pair requested the same order: a lasagna, soda, and water.
The ‘American tourist’ was offered Coke in ‘Medium’ or ‘Large’ size, but after choosing ‘Medium’ was given a huge pint of Coke for €9.50. He was also charged €6 for a bottle of water. However, the French guinea pig received a can of Coke for just €6.50 and was provided with a free carafe of water, paying €9.50 less than the fake Yankee.
One reporter, disguised as an American tourist, was charged 50 per cent more than the French customer(Image: Getty Images)
In the same restaurant, the server offered the reporters ‘garlic bread’ without specifying that it was extra – but ended up charging the American €6 for the privilege. In another restaurant, the ‘American’ was told that service wasn’t included as part of the bill – which Franck Trouet of hotel and restaurant group GHR claims is ‘obviously false’.
The boss branded the findings a ‘disgrace’, adding: “You can’t even call these people waiters. You should know that in France, water and bread are free. One can refuse a bottle of water. The tip is to express thanks for the service if one is very satisfied: above all, it is not compulsory. This is not the United States.”
In both cases, the bill for the fake American tourist was 50 per cent more than that of the French customer. While this investigation didn’t use any reporters pretending to be British, it’s worth being careful when ordering food and drinks in the city to make sure you’re not being overcharged.
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A Syrian official tells Al Jazeera Damascus emphasises the unity and sovereignty of Syria are nonnegotiable.
Syrian and Israeli officials have held talks in Paris mediated by the United States, according to a Syrian official, in the wake of an eruption of sectarian violence compounded by Israeli military intervention in southern Syria.
The meeting on Saturday was held to address recent security developments around the southern Druze-majority city of Suwayda, which has been the scene of fierce fighting in recent weeks between Bedouins and Druze fighters.
Israel intervened in the conflict, striking government buildings in Damascus and government soldiers in Suwayda province, saying it was doing so to protect the Druze.
The Syrian official told Al Jazeera Arabic that Damascus’s delegation at the Paris meeting emphasised that the unity and sovereignty of Syria are nonnegotiable and Suwayda and its people are an integral part of Syria. It also rejected any attempt to exploit segments of Syrian society for partition, the official said.
The source said the Syrian delegation held Israel responsible for the recent escalation and demanded the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from the points they had recently advanced to during the unrest.
‘Honest and responsible’
Syria’s state-run Ekhbariya TV, quoting its own diplomatic source, reported that the meeting did not result in any final agreements but the parties had agreed to continue talks aimed at maintaining stability.
The TV source described the dialogue as “honest and responsible” in the first confirmation from the Syrian side that talks had taken place.
On Friday, US envoy Tom Barrack said officials from both countries spoke about de-escalating the situation in Syria during talks on Thursday.
Hundreds of people have been reported killed in the fighting in Suwayda, which also drew in government forces. Israel, which carried out air strikes, during this month’s violence, has regularly struck Syria and launched incursions into its territory since longtime former President Bashar al-Assad was toppled in December.
Last week’s fighting underlined the challenges interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa faces in stabilising Syria and maintaining centralised rule.
Syria’s government announced a week ago that Bedouin fighters had been cleared out of Suwayda and government forces were deployed to oversee their exit from the entire province.
The announcement came after al-Sharaa ordered a new ceasefire between Bedouin and Druze groups after a separate US-brokered deal to avert further Israeli military attacks on Syria.
The diplomatic source, who spoke to Ekhbariya TV, said the meeting on Saturday involved initial consultations aimed at “reducing tensions and opening channels of communication amid an ongoing escalation since early December”.
He said: “It’s hard to let it go because it is something I enjoy. When I am around boxing it makes me miss it more. I try to only train three times a week now but it’s hard . . . very hard.
“And when people see me at the shows they assume I am coming back anyway, so it’s hard to walk away.
“I have had ground-breaking offers and everyone knows that I do not work for cheap pay.
“My eldest lad just did his first six-mile run with me and I am very proud of him because, before that, he couldn’t manage only two miles. So he is coming on well.”
Usyk and the 27-year-old Londoner Dubois managed to sell out the home of football, but even their two-bout rivalry would be dwarfed by the fantasy fight between Fury and 35-year-old AJ.
Fury’s larger-than-life persona — be it hosting daily workouts on Instagram during lockdown or starring in the WWE — has made him the sort of crossover star that boxing needs.
And he reckons there is still a desperate lack of superheroes left in the sport who can offer fight fans a 12-round escape from reality.
Tyson Fury spotted running after Oleksandr Usyk vs Daniel Dubois as he posts X-rated message to rival
Fury explained: “It’s not just a problem in heavyweight boxing, it’s a problem for all of boxing.
“I don’t want to insult anyone but boxing is entertainment and it is also showbusiness. People come home from working hard at their 9-5 job — which they don’t even like — and they want to put their feet up on a Saturday.
“They want to have a couple of beers, invite a few of their friends around and be entertained.
“But when you turn the TV on and see two boring characters who just stand there and don’t say s**t, they will think, ‘What am I watching?’
“If I went to an event and it was total s**t, I would never go back again or switch it on again.
“But if something is good, I’ll book and go again. And it is the same in boxing.
Dream match imminent?
“There’s always a lack of charisma and characters. Every era has a couple of great characters and there are always a few great fighters who nobody remembers because they weren’t colourful enough characters.”
When the Fury and Joshua fight finally happens, Britain will stand still and everyone will pick a side.
The media events and face-to- face interviews will be worth the pay- per-view fee alone, even before a punch is thrown.
With the Saudis backing both men, it would generate hundreds of millions of pounds and would probably be a double header at Wembley and Riyadh.
And — following years of failed negotiations and rows over pulling power and value — Fury says they will be able to thrash out a fair deal.
He joked: “I would accept 90 per cent of the purse considering he’s coming back off a devastating knockout loss and I am coming off of two s**t losses!
Support from Paris
“But, honestly, the business side is irrelevant. If we do the fight it will be a level playing field of 50-50. I wouldn’t want to take advantage of him.”
And what about Fury’s long-suffering wife Paris, who tragically lost a baby boy six months into her pregnancy in the week building up to the first Usyk loss last year?
The Gypsy King revealed: “I have spoken to Paris in depth about it and she has said that she will support me with whatever I want to do.
“But that might just be because she is sick of me and wants me out of the way!
“Or it’s because we have been the real Bonnie and Clyde since 2005 and she will support me with whatever I want to do. She’s my ride or die.
“If we die, we die. And if we live, we live — that’s our sort of behaviour.”
Believe it or not, France has had a form of social security since the 1600s, and its modern system began in earnest in 1910, when the world’s life expectancy was just 32 years old. Today the average human makes it to 75 and for the French, it’s 83, among the highest in Europe.
Great news for French people, bad news for their pensions.
Because people are living longer, the math to fund pensions in France is no longer mathing, and now the country’s debt is nearly 114% of its GDP. Remember it was just a couple of years ago when protesters set parts of Paris on fire because President Emmanuel Macron proposed raising the age of legal retirement from 62 to 64. Well, now Prime Minister Francois Bayrou has proposed eliminating two national holidays, in an attempt to address the country’s debt.
In 2023, before Paris was burning, roughly 50,000 people in Denmark gathered outside of Parliament to express their anger over ditching one of the country’s national holidays. The roots of Great Prayer Day date all the way back to the 1600s. Eliminating it — with the hopes of increasing production and tax revenue — brought together the unions, opposing political parties and churches in a rare trifecta. That explains why a number of schools and businesses closed for the holiday in 2024 in defiance of the official change.
This week, Bayrou proposed eliminating France’s Easter Monday and Victory Day holidays, the latter marking the defeat of Nazi Germany. In a Reuters poll, 70% of respondents didn’t like the idea, so we’ll see if Paris starts burning again. Or maybe citizens will take a cue from the Danes and just not work on those days, even if the government decides to continue business as usual.
Here at home, President Trump has also floated the idea of eliminating one of the national holidays. However, because he floated the idea on Juneteenth — via a social media post about “too many non-working holidays” — I’m going to assume tax revenue wasn’t the sole motivation for his comments that day. You know, given his crusade against corporate and government diversity efforts; his refusal to apologize for calling for the death penalty for five innocent boys of color; and his approval of Alligator Alcatraz. However, while I find myself at odds with the president’s 2025 remarks about the holiday, I do agree with what he said about Juneteenth when he was president in 2020: “It’s actually an important event, an important time.”
Indeed.
While the institution of slavery enabled this country to quickly become a global power, studies show the largest economic gains in the history of the country came from slavery’s ending — otherwise known as Juneteenth. Two economists have found that the economic payoff from freeing enslaved people was “bigger than the introduction of railroads, by some estimates, and worth 7 to 60 years of technological innovation in the latter half of the 19th century,” according to the University of Chicago. Why? Because the final calculations revealed the cost to enslave people for centuries was far greater than the economic benefit of their freedom.
In 1492, when Christopher Columbus “discovered America,” civilizations had been thriving on this land for millennia. The colonizers introduced slavery to these shores two years before the first “Thanksgiving” in 1621. That was more than 50 years before King Louis XIV started France’s first pension; 60 years before King Christian V approved Great Prayer Day; and 157 years before the 13 colonies declared independence from Britain on July 4, 1776.
Of all the national holidays around the Western world, it would appear Juneteenth is among the most significant historically. Yet it gained federal recognition just four years ago, and it remains vulnerable. The transatlantic slave trade transformed the global economy, but the numbers show it was Juneteenth that lifted America to the top. Which tells you the president’s hint at its elimination has little to do with our greatness and everything to do with the worldview of an elected official who was endorsed by the newspaper of the Ku Klux Klan.
If it does get to the point where we — like France and Denmark — end up seriously considering cutting a holiday, my vote is for Thanksgiving. The retail industry treats it like a speed bump between Halloween and Christmas, and when history retells its origins, it’s not a holiday worth protesting to keep.
The following AI-generated content is powered by Perplexity. The Los Angeles Times editorial staff does not create or edit the content.
Ideas expressed in the piece
LZ Granderson advocates for eliminating national holidays but argues this should start with historically problematic ones, highlighting Thanksgiving’s origins in colonialism and slavery as a prime candidate for removal.
The author criticizes President Trump’s suggestion to reduce holidays—made on Juneteenth—as racially motivated, given Trump’s past controversies involving race and his endorsement by a KKK-linked newspaper.
Granderson defends Juneteenth as economically transformative, citing research that ending slavery spurred unprecedented U.S. growth, and condemns any effort to revoke this holiday.
He supports holiday reduction for fiscal reasons, citing France and Denmark as models, but emphasizes that the choice must prioritize justice over convenience.
Different views on the topic
French Prime Minister François Bayrou proposed cutting Easter Monday and WWII Victory Day to boost economic output and tax revenue, framing it as essential to reducing France’s debt (114% of GDP) and funding defense needs[1][2][4].
The plan faced immediate backlash: 70% of French citizens opposed it in polls, unions condemned it, and the far-right National Rally—Parliament’s largest party—rejected it[2].
Historical precedent warns against such moves; France’s 2003 attempt to scrap Pentecost Monday caused widespread confusion, protests, and enduring public resentment[3].
Denmark’s elimination of Great Prayer Day in 2023 triggered mass defiance, with schools and businesses closing anyway—illustrating deep cultural attachment to holidays.
Unlike Granderson’s focus on racial justice, macroeconomic arguments dominate overseas: Bayrou asserted cutting “holy cheese” holiday clusters would streamline productivity without targeting specific historical narratives[1][2][4].
Social News Assistant Editor Samantha Bartlett took her toddler to Disneyland, Paris, and didn’t expect that she’d have to fork out so much cash for some bubbles
11:00, 15 Jul 2025Updated 11:12, 15 Jul 2025
Samantha Bartlett is an Assistant Editor of Social News across all Reach Plc titles. She frequently covers viral and lifestyle topics such as driving, money, cleaning, gardening, parenting, shopping and travel. Previously she has written for Daily Star.
I recently took my toddler to Disneyland, Paris(Image: Samantha Bartlett)
Taking your child to Disneyland, Paris, is something most parent dreams of when they have kids. However, if you’re planning to take your little one to Disney anytime soon, then I suggest you start saving up for the trip now.
Of course, we all know the accessories on sale at Disneyland aren’t going to be cheap, but I was left a little startled by just how expensive a few things were when I went there with my toddler last week. Getting prepared, I ordered us some mouse ears online before we went there as I knew my three-year-old would want some and they would be expensive in the theme park. However, when I went to pack, I had completely misplaced his ears – something I knew would be a costly mistake.
Of course, as soon as we started walking up to the park and he saw everyone wearing mouse ears, he had to have some. I offered him mine but then when he saw the other sparkly versions on sale, he decided he wanted to pick his own. These will set you back €25 (£22) each, so they don’t come cheap – especially if you have more than one child.
He was happy with his ears, however once he saw some other kids with the Disney bubbles he just had to have those too. He is madly into Spider-Man at the moment and had his heart set on those bubbles, which were again another €25, plus another €2 (£1.70) for a bubble refill.
My little one had his heart set on the Spider-Man bubbles(Image: Samantha Bartlett)
As he chomped his way through an €8 (£7) popcorn and a €4.50 (£4) ice cream, things were starting to add up.
It was then onto lunch and my little one and his dad had hotdogs, which were €10 (£9) each and then €3.59 (£3) for fries and a €3.49 50cl drink. Meanwhile, I opted for a vegan chilli, which was €8 (£7), but was very tasty.
We also treated ourselves to some chocolate-covered waffles later in the day, which I think were around €5 (£4.30) each.
The only other thing we spent out on were some fast passes for one of the rides. You can pay €90 (£80) to get you on all of the rides quicker, however we didn’t bother with that, considering our toddler couldn’t go on everything and that’s nearly the same price our ticket cost. Instead, you can also buy individual fast track passes for a ride of your choice, which we did for Orbitron, which cost us €5 (£4.30) for both adults.
A Disney ice cream will set you back €4.50 (£4) (Image: Samantha Bartlett)
So all in all, we did spend quite a lot, however, having only one child, it did make things a bit cheaper. I didn’t actually know that Disneyland also allows you to bring in your own food into the park, so if you’re prepared, you might want to pack lunch and snacks if you want to save a bit of cash there.
Those who are planning to take a toddler may want to do what we did and take them just before their third birthday as they get in for free up until they’re three. My little man managed to stay awake the whole time we were there from 10:30am to 6:30pm at night and enjoy himself on the rides, but if he was any younger I do think he would have struggled a bit with the long day and would have had to have a nap.
As well as Disneyland, he also travelled on the Eurostar free, which they can do up until they’re four.
So am I a bit sore about paying £22 for bubbles? Well yes, it wasn’t ideal. But to be fair, they made his day and brought him joy, and as parents, we know that’s priceless!
France is celebrating Bastille Day with nationwide festivities commemorating the 1789 storming of the Bastille prison, a pivotal moment in the French Revolution.
In Paris, the celebration features 7,000 participants marching along the Champs-Elysees, including troops and armoured vehicles, followed by fighter jet flyovers and a spectacular drone light show at the Eiffel Tower.
The holiday showcases revolutionary spirit and military prowess. The parade beneath the Arc de Triomphe began with President Emmanuel Macron reviewing troops and relighting the eternal flame. Each uniform carries symbolic elements, particularly the distinctive French Foreign Legion contingent with their bearded troops wearing leather aprons and carrying axes.
In his Bastille Day speech, Macron highlighted growing global threats and announced increased military spending.
Indonesia’s President Prabowo Subianto was the guest of honour this year as 200 Indonesian drummers joined the parade. The visit is expected to yield agreements on French military equipment purchases, including Rafale jets. Finnish, Belgian, and Luxembourg troops also participated, reflecting the event’s increasingly international character.
Special guests included Fousseynou Samba Cisse, a French man who received a personal invitation from Macron after rescuing two babies from a burning apartment. The holiday period also featured prestigious awards, with this year’s Legion of Honour recipients including Gisele Pelicot, who became a symbol for sexual violence victims during a high-profile trial.
Beyond Paris, the holiday brings family gatherings, firefighters’ balls, and rural festivals throughout France.
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Cole Palmer scored twice and fed João Pedro for a goal as Chelsea overwhelmed Paris Saint-Germain in the first half and beat the European champions 3-0 on Sunday in the final of the first expanded FIFA Club World Cup.
Palmer had almost identical left-footed goals from just inside the penalty area in the 22nd and 30th minutes, then sent a through pass that enabled João Pedro to chip goalkeeper Gianluigi Donnarumma in the 43d for his third goal in two starts with the Blues.
A 23-year-old who joined Chelsea from Manchester City two years ago, Palmer scored 18 goals this season.
PSG finished a man short after João Neves was given a red card in the 84th minute for pulling down Marc Cucurella by his hair. After a testy final few minutes, the teams needed to be separated as PSG coach Luis Enrique and Donnarumma pushed João Pedro near the center circle.
A heavy favorite who had outscored opponents 16-1, PSG had been looking to complete a quadruple after winning Ligue 1, the Coupe de France and its first Champions League title.
Before a tournament-high crowd of 81,188 at MetLife Stadium that included U.S. President Donald Trump, Chelsea showed the energy of a fourth day of rest after its semifinal, one more than PSG.
Chelsea players celebrate after winning the FIFA Club World Cup on Sunday.
(Adam Hunger / Associated Press)
Chelsea had finished fourth in the Premier League and won the third-tier UEFA Conference League. The Blues took the world title for the second time after 2021, when it was an seven-team event. The Blues earned $128,435,000 to $153,815,000 in prize money, the amount depending on a participation fee FIFA has not disclosed.
PSG had not lost by three goals since a 4-1 Champions League defeat at Newcastle in October 2023.
But that hasn’t stopped his name — Dennis Rodman — from coming up during coverage of the prestigious tennis tournament, which she has been attending in support of her boyfriend, Ben Shelton.
On Monday, after Shelton defeated Italy’s Lorenzo Sonego 3-6, 6-1, 7-6 (1), 7-5 to advance to the Wimbledon quarterfinals for the first time, Rodman took to her Instagram Story to express her frustration about the matter.
“For Ben’s matches he has his family there as his support system, which includes his dad,” wrote Rodman, who is often shown on the broadcast sitting in the stands with Shelton’s parents and his sister, Emma. “my dads not even in MY life no need to bring him up during HIS matches when I don’t even want him talked about during mine. It’s him and his loved ones’ moment. Thank you.”
Named the NWSL rookie of the year in 2021, Rodman helped the Washington Spirit win its first league championship the same season. She also has made a name for herself with the U.S. women’s national team, scoring three goals during the squad’s run to Olympic gold last year in Paris.
Rodman has made no secret of the fact that her father — a five-time NBA champion and basketball Hall of Famer — has not been a constant presence in her life. She spoke before the Olympics about his pattern of showing up occasionally — as he did for a 2021 NWSL playoff game — and then disappearing once again from her everyday life.
“Like I’ve said before, I’ve gotten closure with it all,” Rodman said at the time. “I know he’s proud of me. I truly do. He has his own things to deal with, but at the end of the day, he’s communicated to me that he knows I was going to be here, and that’s all I need.”
In December, Rodman spoke more about her complicated relationship with her father and the “anger” she often feels toward him.
“He’s not a dad,” Rodman said. “Maybe by blood but nothing else.”
1 of 6 | Paris officials spent $1.6 billion to clean up the Seine in time for last year’s 2024 Olympics, but despite the cash infusion, some races had to be postponed because of water quality issues. File Photo by Paul Hanna/UPI | License Photo
July 5 (UPI) — The famed Seine river in Paris opened to the public for swimming on Saturday for the first time in over a 100 years, a key victory for outgoing mayor Anne Hidalgo.
The waterway was last swimmable in 1923, with a ban in place since that year because high levels of bacteria made it unsafe for people.
In a show of confidence, Hidalgo herself famously took to the water ahead of the Olympics for a swim to prove the river was swimmable.
“Swimming in the Seine, some have dreamed of it, many have doubted it, and we have done it,” she said on Facebook at the time. “After a 100-year ban, athletes will take their turn in a few days during the Games! It will be next summer for Parisians.”
Hidalgo’s prediction came true on a seasonal basis. Three designated swimming areas opened Saturday morning, each with lounging areas, outdoor furniture, showers and changing facilities, while lifeguards patrol the river.
One of the swimming areas is not far from the Eiffel Tower, while a second is close to the Notre Dame Cathedral, which re-opened last year after a devastating fire. The third is in the eastern part of Paris.
The mayor, who was elected in 2014 and will leave office next year after a failed bid at the presidency, has spent her time in office pushing green initiatives in the city.
Water quality in the Seine has gradually improved over the last 20 years. At its lowest point, people swimming in the river would get sick because of the high bacteria count.
Plans to re-open the Seine to public swimming have been circulating since former French President and then-Paris Mayor Jacques René Chirac campaigned on the promise in 1988.
A planned race across the city was canceled in 2012 because the water was “manifestly insufficient quality for swimming.”
The iconic River Seine has reopened to swimmers in Paris, allowing people to take a dip in the French capital’s waterway for the first time in at least a century after a more than billion-euro cleanup project that made it suitable for Olympic competitions last year.
A few dozen people arrived ahead of the 8am (06:00 GMT) opening on Saturday at the Bras Marie zone in the city’s historic centre, diving into the water for the long-awaited moment under the watchful eyes of lifeguards wearing fluorescent yellow T-shirts and carrying whistles.
It was also a welcome respite from the scorching heat enveloping the city this week. Parisians and tourists alike, looking to cool off this summer, can dive in – weather permitting – at three bathing sites: one close to Paris’s Notre-Dame cathedral, another near the Eiffel Tower and a third in eastern Paris.
The swimming zones are equipped with changing rooms, showers and beach-style furniture, offering space for 150 to 300 swimmers.
The seasonal opening of the Seine for swimming is seen as a key legacy of the Paris 2024 Olympics, when open-water swimmers and triathletes competed in its waters, which were specially cleaned for the event.
“It’s a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine,” said Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo, who visited the bras Marie site on Saturday morning.
But officials reminded swimmers of potential dangers, including strong currents, boat traffic and an average depth of 3.5 metres (11 feet).
“The Seine remains a dangerous environment,” said local official Elise Lavielle earlier this week.
To mitigate that risk, lifeguards will assess visitors’ swimming abilities before allowing independent access, while a decree issued in late June introduced fines for anyone swimming outside designated areas.
The promise to lift the swimming ban dates back to 1988, when then-mayor of Paris and future President Jacques Chirac first advocated for its reversal, about 65 years after the practice was banned in 1923.
“One of my predecessors (Chirac), then mayor of Paris, dreamed of a Seine where everyone could swim,” President Emmanuel Macron wrote on X, describing the move as the result of a “collective effort” and a moment of “pride” for France.
L’un de mes prédécesseurs, alors Maire de Paris, a rêvé d’une Seine où chacun pourrait nager. Demain sa promesse sera tenue.
C’est un héritage des Jeux olympiques et paralympiques de Paris après 100 ans d’interdiction, un travail collectif, une fierté pour le pays.
Ahead of the Olympic Games, authorities invested approximately 1.4 billion euros ($1.6bn) to improve the Seine’s water quality.
Since then, work carried out upstream, including 2,000 new connections to the sewage system, promises even better water quality – with an unappetising catch.
On rainy days, the mid-19th-century Parisian sewage system often overflows, causing rain and wastewater to pour into the river.
Flags will inform bathers about pollution levels in the water every day, and if it rains, the sites will likely close the day after, said Paris city official Pierre Rabadan.
The presence of the faecal bacteria Escherichia coli (E coli) and enterococci in the Seine will be assessed daily using live sensors and samples.
A refuge from the hot weather
Varying weather conditions will be a critical factor. Swimmers may be in luck this year, though, with temperatures predicted to be drier than the record rainfall during the games, which had led to the cancellation of six of the 11 competitions held on the river.
With record-breaking heat hitting Europe, including France’s second warmest June since records began in 1900, authorities said they expect Parisians to embrace the relief of a refreshing swim.
Some scepticism about the water quality remains, however.
Dan Angelescu, founder and CEO of Fluidion, a Paris and Los Angeles-based water monitoring tech company, has routinely and independently tested bacterial levels in the Seine for several years. Despite being in line with current regulations, the official water-testing methodology has limitations and undercounts the bacteria, he said.
“What we see is that the water quality in the Seine is highly variable,” Angelescu said. “There are only a few days in a swimming season where I would say water quality is acceptable for swimming.”
Some Parisians are also hesitant about the idea of swimming in the Seine. The feeling is often reinforced by the water’s murky colour, floating litter and multiple tourist boats in some places.
Hidalgo, who took an inaugural swim last year, said that cleaning up the Seine for the Olympics was not the final goal but part of a broader effort to adapt the city to climate change and enhance quality of life.
The swimming spots will be open for free until August 31 at scheduled times to anyone with a minimum age of 10 or 14 years, depending on the location.
Disneyland Paris has iconic rides, attractions and plenty of fun for the whole family – but there’s one little-known pass that could help you skip the queue
There’s a little-known pass you can use at Disneyland Paris (Image: Disneyland Paris)
Disneyland Paris is on most families’ bucket lists thanks to its iconic rides (Peter Pan or It’s A Small World, anyone?), incredible fireworks shows and of course those all-important character meet and greets.
Like most theme parks, during the peak school holidays there can be busy queues at Mickey Mouse‘s Parisian home. There are ways you can cut down wait times for example by buying fast passes – dubbed Premier Access – but if you’re on a tight budget these aren’t always the way to go.
However, there’s one little-known Disneyland Pass that not only lets you skip the queues for rides and characters, but also gets you easier access to some of the best spots for seeing the fireworks shows and parades. Dubbed the ‘Bambi pass’ by those in the know, it’s completely FREE of charge. Another perk? Those who hold it can bring up to FOUR people along to the front of the queue too.
The only catch? You’ll need to be pregnant if you want to use it. The ‘Pregnant Woman bracelet’ (we prefer the name Bambi Pass) is a band that you can collect at the information desks, and they’ll give you Priority Access to the majority of what the parks have to offer.
You could get quicker access to rides and attractions (Image: Disneyland Paris)
The pass isn’t actually a secret – in fact, if you know where to look you can find all the details on the Disneyland Paris website. However, it’s one that often gets overlooked by expectant mums who just assume they can’t join in on the fun.
Not only can they join in the fun, but they can bring their family with them – four people on rides, and two for shows or parade viewing spots.
Of course it’s worth noting that there are some rides which you won’t be able to go on if you’re pregnant, so if you are thinking of going, it’s worth checking the theme park website to check exactly which rides and attractions you’d want to do, to avoid disappointment. Still, it could prove useful if you’re thinking of taking your toddlers or older kids to Disneyland before their new sibling arrives – and means you can all still enjoy the bulk of the magic together.
A guide to the pass on the Disneyland Paris website explains: “Collect this bracelet on presentation of a medical certificate dated less than 3 months (French or English) at the dedicated counters at the entrance to Disneyland Park and Walt Disney Studios, at hotel concierge services or at City Hall and Studio Services.
“The Pregnant Woman bracelet allows priority but not immediate access to attractions, shows and meetings with Disney Characters, as well as to the cash desks of our restaurants and shops. Contact our Cast Members.
“You can be accompanied by 4 attendants for the attractions and indoors shows, and 2 attendants for the parades and outdoors shows.
“Please consult the Accessibility Maps for details of how to access our attractions.”
An enormous shadow hovers over the characters in “Jurassic World: Rebirth,” and it’s the same one that has been dogging composer Alexandre Desplat ever since he was a teenager in Paris.
That shadow? The music of John Williams.
“He’s such a legend for all of us,” says Desplat, 63, on a Zoom call from London, where he’s been burning the midnight oil on the score for Guillermo del Toro’s upcoming “Frankenstein.” “He’s just the only one to follow.”
Like Williams, Desplat is now a grizzled (though painterly handsome) veteran himself, with hundreds of films to his name. He’s already completed three scores this year alone — for the French-Swedish Palme d’Or nominee “Eagles of the Republic,” Wes Anderson’s “The Phoenician Scheme” and this week’s “Jurassic” heavyweight.
He’s also making his North American conducting debut on July 15 in a grand survey of his film career at the Hollywood Bowl, a fitting, if overdue, coronation of his two-decade reign as an A-list composer in America.
When Desplat began scoring Hollywood films in the early 2000s, his music swept in like a breath of fresh French air — elegant, restrained, melodic, idiosyncratic — and the list of filmmakers who sought him out reads like a sizable section of the Criterion Closet: Terrence Malick, Ang Lee, Kathryn Bigelow, David Fincher, Jonathan Glazer, Greta Gerwig.
“He’s the last tycoon of American movie music,” Desplat said in 2010 of his idol John Williams. “He drew a line and we just have to be brave and strong enough to try and challenge this line. With humility, but with desire. It’s a kind of battle.”
(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
His ride-or-die partner is Anderson, who first employed him on “Fantastic Mr. Fox” in 2007 and who teed up Desplat’s first Oscar win with “The Grand Budapest Hotel.” (He’s been nominated eleven times.) May’s “The Phoenician Scheme” marked their seventh collaboration.
“As I started being a film composer, I had my idols in sight — of course Hitchcock and Herrmann, David Lean and [Maurice] Jarre, [François] Truffaut and Georges Delerue,” Desplat told me in 2014. “All these duets were strong and they showed how important the intimacy between a director and a composer would be for both of them. It’s not only good for the film, it’s good for the composers, because these composers actually developed their own style by doing several movies with the same director.”
In a town too often filled with generic, factory-farmed scores, his were like a gourmet French meal, even though he grew up on the same diet of American movies and their iconic scores. The young Desplat was obsessed with U.S. culture — listening to jazz, watching baseball and the Oscars — and he decided he wanted to score movies after he heard “Star Wars” in 1977. Emblazoned on the cover of that iconic black album were the words “Composed and Conducted by John Williams.”
“That,” Desplat told his friend at the time, “is what I want to do.”
It’s fitting and kind of funny that two decades after charming audiences with a delicate, waltzing score for the 2003 Scarlett Johansson prestige picture “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” the composer is now promoting a stomping monster score for a blockbuster behemoth starring Johanssson and a bunch of CGI dinosaurs — and tampering with John Williams’ sacred musical DNA.
“Jurassic World: Rebirth” isn’t the first time he’s had to brave the T-rex-sized footprints of his hero: Desplat scored the final two films in the “Harry Potter” series, and he was also the first composer on “Rogue One: A Star Wars Story.” He left the latter when Tony Gilroy took over the project from original director Gareth Edwards, and before composing any notes.
“I went as far as the change of directors and change of plans,” Desplat explains, “and the weeks passing by, and then I had to move on because I wanted to work with Luc Besson” (on 2017’s “Star Wars”-esque “Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets”).
“I dreamed of writing for symphonic scores,” Desplat says, “but for many years there was no way I could do it in French cinema, because the movies didn’t offer that, or the producer didn’t offer that. I had to learn how to sound big with very little amount of musicians.”
(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
Much like his work on “Harry Potter,” Desplat’s odes to Williams in “Rebirth” are more whispers than shouts — though there are a handful of overt declarations of both the iconic anthem and hymn for Steven Spielberg’s 1993 dino-masterpiece. More subtle homages arrive in his use of solo piano and ghostly choir, and in the opening three notes of his motif for the team led by Johansson’s character — a tune that almost begins like Williams’ “Jurassic” hymn.
“So there’s a connection,” Desplat says. “I take the baton and I move away from it.”
He composed new leitmotifs for wonder, for adventure, for danger. His score, much like the original, is an amusement park ride full of sudden drops, humor and family-friendly terror, with a few moments of cathartic, introspective relief.
Mostly, Edwards kept pushing him for more hummable motifs.
“When I was tempted to go back to something more abstract — you know, French movie,” Desplat says, winking — “he would just ask me to go back towards John Williams’ inspiration of writing great motifs that you can remember and are catchy.”
Desplat worries this is becoming an extinct art in Hollywood. “I don’t hear much of that in many movies that I watch,” he says. “It’s kind of an ambient texture — which is the easiest thing to create.”
In college, he would listen to the “Raiders of the Lost Ark” score on a loop, and as his own scoring career developed, he was paying keen attention to John Williams’ more intimate chamber scores like “The Accidental Tourist” and “Presumed Innocent” — as well as juggernauts like “Jurassic Park.” Besides the music itself seeping in, he learned that it was important to score every kind of film, no matter how big or small. Williams’ work also taught him “that I could have something elegant, classical, but with some seeds of jazz in the chords or in the way the melody evolves.”
Whenever he hears someone talking dismissively about Williams, Desplat gets defensive. “I want to punch them,” he says, only half kidding.
“He’s the master, what can I say?” Desplat told me in 2010. “He’s the man. He’s the last tycoon of American movie music. So that’s everything said there. He drew a line and we just have to be brave and strong enough to try and challenge this line. With humility, but with desire. It’s a kind of battle.”
Jonathan Bailey and Scarlett Johansson in the movie “Jurassic World Rebirth.”
(Jasin Boland / Universal Pictures )
When Desplat received his first Academy Award nomination, for “The Queen” in 2007, the one person who called from Los Angeles to congratulate him was Maurice Jarre, composer of “Lawrence of Arabia” and “Doctor Zhivago.”
Desplat had met the French legend a few times over the years, including an early invitation to a mixing session for the 1990 film, “After Dark, My Sweet.” Desplat was aghast when he saw director James Foley taking away Jarre’s melody and all the various musical elements on the mixing board, save for a simple electronic thump.
The young composer expressed his dismay and Jarre calmly said: “It’s his film. I have to accept that.”
“That’s a lesson that I learned very early on,” Desplat says. “I’ve never forgotten that, because it’s still the same,” he laughs.
He was also warmly received as a young man by Georges Delerue, the great serenader of the French New Wave in films like “Jules and Jim” and “Contempt.” “They were so kind,” Desplat says, “such sweet men, both of them.” (Michel Legrand? Not so much, Desplat says: “He said awful things about me in books.”)
What they all have in common — besides a penchant for composing beautiful music — is the defiant, transatlantic leap from the French film industry where they started to the highest perch in Hollywood. Jarre left Paris in the early 1960s after the enormous success of “Lawrence” and never looked back, forging meaningful partnerships with directors like Peter Weir and Adrian Lyne. Delerue uprooted from Paris to the Hollywood Hills after winning his first Oscar in 1980 and scored a few hits including “Steel Magnolias” and “Beaches.”
“I really think that people who work a lot are lazy,” says Desplat, who has already completed three scores this year. “That’s why they work a lot — otherwise they wouldn’t work at all.”
(Jennifer McCord / For The Times)
Desplat started professionally in France in 1985 and wrote roughly 50 scores before “Girl with a Pearl Earring,” the English-language film that put him on Hollywood’s radar. He continues to do French films amid the summer blockbusters and American art house pictures.
“I dreamed of writing for symphonic scores,” Desplat says, “but for many years there was no way I could do it in French cinema, because the movies didn’t offer that, or the producer didn’t offer that. I had to learn how to sound big with very little amount of musicians.”
He enjoys the freedom of a big-budget project. “To be able to have a studio say, ‘Go, write what you need to write.’ The director, he wants an orchestra, he wants 95 musicians. Great! They don’t even say anything. You just go and you record. They book the studio. They book the musicians.”
Still, the limitations he trained under gave Desplat some of his greatest strengths: creativity, resourcefulness, speed. He had to orchestrate everything himself, which means his music bears a distinctive fingerprint. And composing for small, sometimes unorthodox ensembles gave his music a clean, transparent signature as opposed to the all-too-typical wall of mud.
He can’t say much about his 100-minute score for “Frankenstein,” which he just finished recording with a giant orchestra and choir at both Abbey Road and AIR Studios, and which comes out on Netflix in November. The reason he does so many films, Desplat proposes, is because he’s lazy.
“I really think that people who work a lot are lazy. That’s why they work a lot — otherwise they wouldn’t work at all.”
EUROSTAR passengers were stuck for up to seven hours yesterday after two people were hit by trains.
The operator warned that delays and disruptions will continue into this morning.
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A Eurostar train at London’s St. Pancras StationCredit: Getty
Trains in both directions between London St Pancras International and Gare Du Nord in Paris were either cancelled or delayed for hours.
It followed two separate fatalities, the first between Lille and Paris and around 5pm.
The second person was hit between Lille and Arras, according to local media.
Eurostar posted on X this morning to say trains will be running, but there area a “few cancellations” and “a lot of passengers travelling”.
“So the situation might still be difficult.”
Yesterday, there were massive queues at both the UK and French railway stations.
Many furious passengers who were stuck for hours took to social media to demand compensation.
One train, due to leave London at 2.31pm, was supposed to arrive at 5.57pm.
But it was delayed for four hours and didn’t get in until nearly 10pm.
Another frustrated passenger said they were on a train from London to Paris but they were stuck on it for seven hours.
Naomi Sanger, from Snodland, told KentOnline she boarded the 4.31pm at Gare Du Nord but it never left and she was left stranded at the station.
She posted on X that the food and drinks supply was running out, and the air con was not working.
In a statement on X, Eurostar said: “Due to a person struck by a train near Lille Europe, we are expecting delays and cancellations to our services this evening.
“We advise changing your journey for a different travel date.”
On Wednesday, Eurostar travellers were also hit by delays after a person was hit on the rails in France.
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Eurostar trains pictured at St. Pancras InternationalCredit: Alamy
“I was in shock,” the veteran winger said. “It’s very beautiful here. I like it very much. One day we [went] bowling. And played mini golf. I was thinking when I finish football, to come to live.”
Then there’s the soccer, where not all the memories have been good ones.
After contributing two assists to a win in PSG’s tournament opener, Kvaratskhelia was unable to get any of his game-high five shots past goalkeeper John Victor in Thursday’s 1-0 loss to Brazilian club Botafogo before an announced crowd of 53,699 at the Rose Bowl.
The upset, the tournament’s most shocking result so far, snapped PSG’s win streak at six games in all competition, marked the first time it has been held scoreless since March 5 and leaves in doubt the team’s spot in the second round. Botafogo (2-0) leads the four-team group with PSG and Atlético Madrid (both 1-1) tied for second with a game remaining. With just two teams moving on, PSG will need a victory over the Sounders on Monday in Seattle to advance.
A draw would also send it through if Atlético Madrid loses its final group-stage match with Botafogo.
It wasn’t supposed to be this hard for PSG, the reigning French and European champion and a heavy pre-tournament favorite. Botafogo, which won last year’s Copa Libertadores, is the reigning South American champion, but it is just eighth in Brazil’s 20-team Serie A 11 matches into the current season.
Whether Thursday’s upset helps the struggling Club World Cup find an audience, it’s far too early to tell. But it can’t hurt, especially since Inter Miami also made history Thursday with a second-half goal from Lionel Messi in a 2-1 win over FC Porto, marking the first victory by an MLS club over a European rival in a competitive match.
Igor Jesus of Botafogo celebrates after scoring against Paris Saint-Germain in FIFA Club World Cup group play Thursday.
(Jam Media / Getty Images)
The Club World Cup is the largest and most lucrative global club competition in soccer history but attendance has lagged in the early going, averaging just 36,433 through 20 matches. Nearly half the seats have been empty.
Six games have drawn more than 50,000 fans, including both of Paris Saint-Germain’s matches at the Rose Bowl. But two got fewer than 5,300, with just 3,412 showing up in Orlando for a game between South Africa’s Mamelodi Sundowns and South Korea’s Ulsan HD and 5,282 for Pachuca-RB Salzburg at TQL Stadium in Cincinnati.
And that’s despite the fact that FIFA, alarmed at the slow pace of ticket sales, slashed prices on the eve of the tournament.
“The atmosphere was a bit strange,” Chelsea manager Enzo Maresca said after his team beat LAFC in its tournament opener before nearly 50,000 empty seats at Atlanta’s Mercedes-Benz Stadium. “This is a world tournament. It deserves more.”
That the competition hasn’t produced more interest is largely FIFA’s fault. World soccer’s governing body has been unable to convince fans or players that the tournament — a 32-team, month-long competition wedged between the end of one European season and the start of the next — was necessary, or even desired.
And until Thursday the tournament had produced little real excitement, with three of the first nine matches — including the opener featuring Messi and Inter Miami — ending in scoreless draws while Bayern Munich, ranked sixth in the world in the Opta Power Rankings, beat Auckland City, ranked 5,068 places lower, 10-0.
With many games kicking off at midday or in the early afternoon, the hot and sticky summer weather has also been a factor on both the play and the attendance. Powerful Real Madrid, playing with Kylian Mbappe in 89-degree temperatures and 71% humidity in suburban Miami, struggled to a draw against Saudi club Al-Hilal while Atlético Madrid wilted under bright summer skies at the Rose Bowl in its first game.
“Playing in this heat is impossible,” Atlético’s Marcos Llorente told reporters. “The heat is terrible. My toes hurt, even my toenails.
“No one in Europe is used to it. I couldn’t stop or start running. It’s unbelievable, but since it’s the same for everyone there’s no point complaining.”
It will be no cooler next year when the real World Cup returns to North America for the first time in 32 years. And in that sense, this summer’s tournament is making good on one of its aims by exposing national team players to the kind of weather, travel and atmosphere they can expect then.
“We’re going to come prepared next year,” said Inter Milan’s Marcus Thuram, who played in the 2022 World Cup final for France. “It’s good preparation to manage the jet lag. America is very big. You get can a taste of what you will get next year. It’s a great preparation.”
As for Thursday’s game, Kvaratskhelia, PSG’s most dangerous attacker, was frustrated twice in the first 10 minutes, with Victor batting down his first shot and the second curling wide of the far post. That allowed Igor Jesus to put Botafogo in front to stay shortly before the intermission, splitting a pair of PSG defenders to run on to Jefferson Savarino’s perfectly weighted through ball, then beating keeper Gianluigi Donnarumma from the top of the box.
It was the first goal PSG has allowed in 366 minutes in all competition and it was all Botafogo would need, although Savarino nearly doubled the lead eight minutes into the second half, putting a strong header on goal that Donnarumma batted down.
Bradley Barcola appeared to tie the score in the 79th minute, but two PSG players were well offside on the play. Then on the first touch of stoppage time, Kvaratskhelia sent a free kick just over the crossbar.
PSG dominated statistically, controlling the ball for three-quarters of the game, making more than three times as many passes, taking 10 corners to one for the Brazilians and outshooting Botafogo 16-4. But all four of Botafogo’s shots were on target while Victor was called on to make just two saves.
Times staff writer Nathan Solis contributed to this story.
US Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy said he wanted a return to a tariff-free agreement for civil aviation.
Airbus has struck a deal with Vietnamese budget airline Vietjet for up to 150 single-aisle jets at the Paris Air Show as the aviation industry’s hopes to return to a tariff-free trade agreement were given a boost by United States Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy.
The French planemaker announced the deal on Tuesday.
Airbus is the main supplier of jets to Vietnam, accounting for 86 percent of the planes currently operated by Vietnamese airlines. The export-dependent Southeast Asian country is under pressure from Washington to buy more US goods.
Vietjet Chairwoman Nguyen Thi Phuong Thao said the scale of the airline’s orders was backed by plans to develop a major aviation hub in Vietnam, which Airbus says has seen its aviation market grow by 7.5 percent a year.
A deal for 150 A321neos could be worth around $9.4bn, according to estimated prices provided by Cirium Ascend.
The agreement was the latest in a flurry of business announced by Airbus at the world’s biggest aviation trade fair in Paris, France.
Airbus has made gains against its chief competitor Boeing as airlines reconsider purchases of the US-made jets amid ongoing tariff threats in recent months. In May, budget airline Ryanair threatened to pull orders of Boeing aircraft amid tariff threats.
A tariff truce?
Duffy said he wanted civil aviation to return to a 1979 zero-tariff trade agreement, in one of the clearest signs yet that the administration of US President Donald Trump might favour such a move. However, Duffy added that while the White House was aware that the US is a net exporter in aerospace, it was also dealing with a complex tariff situation.
“Now, again, you look at what free trade has done for aviation. It’s been remarkable for them. It’s a great space of net exporters,” Duffy said. “And so the White House understands that, but if you go over there and you see the moving parts of what they’re dealing with, it is pretty intense and it’s a lot.”
Trump’s sweeping 10 percent import tariffs are a headache for an industry already battling supply chain challenges and facing fresh turbulence from last week’s deadly Air India crash and conflict in the Middle East.
In early May, the US Commerce Department launched a “Section 232” national security investigation into imports of commercial aircraft, jet engines and parts that could form the basis for even higher tariffs on such imports.
Airlines, planemakers and several US trading partners have been lobbying Trump to restore the tariff-free regime under the 1979 agreement.
Boeing was having a subdued show and parking announcements while focusing on the probe into last week’s fatal crash of an Air India Boeing 787 and after it racked up huge deals during Trump’s recent tour of the Middle East.
Attention turned to another big Airbus customer, AirAsia, long associated with buzzy show finales and looking at buying 100 A220s, with Brazil’s Embraer seeking to wrest away the deal after losing a key contest in Poland, delegates said. Airbus was also expected to reveal Egyptair as the airline behind a recent unidentified order for six more A350s.
Even so, Airbus’s hopes of using the event as a showcase for its first significant deal with Royal Air Maroc faded after the airline postponed plans to announce a larger Boeing deal, delegates said.
The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa, closed abruptly Monday as the museum’s staff staged an impromptu strike over large crowds of tourists and understaffing. The museum reopened four hours later. File Photo by Maya Vidon-White/UPI | License Photo
June 17 (UPI) — The Louvre, home to the Mona Lisa and other iconic works of art in Paris, closed abruptly Monday as the museum’s staff staged an impromptu strike over a surge of tourists who were left standing in long lines.
Ticket agents, gallery attendants and security refused to return to work, following a morning union meeting, citing overcrowding and understaffing. After four hours of talks with management, the Louvre reopened to confused and tired visitors.
Monday’s strike comes after French President Emmanuel Macronannounced earlier this year that the centuries-old Louvre would undergo renovations to include a separate wing for the Mona Lisa to control crowds better.
The “New Renaissance” project, which will repair and modernize the former royal palace, will take a decade to complete. Ticket prices are slated to go up next year for tourists who do not live in the European Union to help pay for the project.
Last year alone, 8.7 million tourists visited the Louvre with many complaining about insufficient signage, tight spaces and lack of restrooms. The Louvre was originally designed to accommodate 4 million visitors a year.
Louvre President Laurence des Cars, who was appointed in 2021, limited visitors to 30,000 a day after attendance surged in 2018 to more than 10 million. He has warned that parts of the museum are “no longer watertight” and that fluctuating temperatures could damage the priceless artwork.
Two men showed up at Adrien Frier’s Beverly Hills home Thursday afternoon and carried an unusual package onto the backyard patio, where a white-clothed table waited.
Frier, France’s consul general in Los Angeles, was preparing to host a party and the 25-pound sterling silver objet d’art was the guest of honor. Standing next to the replica of the UEFA Champions League trophy, the second-most prestigious prize in the sport and one which bestows upon its owner the title of best club team in the world, was the closest Frier had come to such soccer greatness.
“What I really want to do right now,” Frier whispered, “is take it and bring it upstairs.”
That wasn’t going to happen. Paris Saint-Germain, the French club that owns both the real and replica Champions League trophies for the next year, had made winning them a quintessential quest. Now that they have the trophies, they intend to make good use of them.
After an evening with the consul general, the trophy was carried a couple of miles east to a PSG pop-up store on Melrose, where it posed for more selfies than Taylor Swift. Later it will follow the team to Seattle, then perhaps Philadelphia or Atlanta.
Only five clubs in the world sold more jerseys than PSG last year. Touring the U.S. with the Champions League trophy during the monthlong FIFA Club World Cup this summer figures to give those sales a boost while raising the team’s profile in one of the world’s fastest-growing soccer markets.
“Now it’s all about capitalizing,” said Jerry Newman, PSG’s chief digital and innovation officer. “It just accelerates our growth in terms of where we go, in terms of growing the club.”
Paris Saint-Germain returned to the field Sunday, beating Spain’s Atlético Madrid 4-0 before a sun-baked Rose Bowl crowd of 80,619 in a first-round game of the Club World Cup. It was PSG’s first game since routing Inter Milan in last month’s Champions League final.
“It’s difficult to win it,” said Victoriano Melero, PSG’s chief executive officer, as the Champions League trophy peeked over his shoulder from its perch on Frier’s patio. “To stay at the top, that’s the most difficult.”
Winning the trophy once, Melero said was not “the ultimate goal. It was the first goal.”
That’s a bit of revisionist history because one of the first things Nasser Al-Khelaifi did after taking over the club in 2011 was put together a five-year plan that was supposed to end with PSG hoisting the Champions League prize.
At first he threw money at the problem, signing Zlatan Ibrahimovic. When Ibrahimovic moved on, Al-Khelaifi replaced him with Neymar, Kylian Mbappe and finally Lionel Messi, spending nearly a third of an unsustainable $842-million payroll on those three alone in 2021-22. Yet for all that spending, the team made it to the Champions League final just once.
So when Mbappe followed Neymar and Messi out of Paris last summer, the team doubled down on a plan to develop players rather than simply buying them. The centerpiece of that plan was a $385-million training base in the western suburbs of Paris that included training, education and accommodation facilities for 140 academy players.
PSG is still spending; it’s wage bill last season was estimated at more than $600 million by the Football Business Journal. And the Athletic reported the team has spent more than $2.6 billion on new players in 14 years under Al-Khelaifi.
The emphasis now, however, is on the team and not on any individuals. And it appears to be working. With a roster that averaged less than 24 years of age, PSG won every competition it entered this season, rolled through the knockout stages of the Champions League, then beat Inter Milan 5-0 in the most one-sided final in history, becoming the second-youngest European champion ever.
Paris Saint-Germain celebrates its Champions League title victory over Inter Milan last month.
(Martin Meissner / Associated Press)
“The change the chairman made, saying the star needs to be the club and not the players, that’s what happened on the pitch,” said Fabien Allègre, the club’s chief brand officer.
Four players — three of them French — scored at least 15 goals in all competition last season; only one was older than 23. Five players finished in double digits for assists; the top two were under 22. And the philosophy of egalite and fraternite wasn’t just reserved for the people in uniform. When PSG made the Champions League final, Al-Khelaifi flew all 600 team employees to Munich and bought them tickets to the game.
“We all contribute to the success of the club,” Melero said. “The French mentality, they don’t very much like when it’s bling-bling, when it’s shine. But when it’s solidarity, it’s collective, they love it.
“We’re really a family.”
But PSG is also a business, one that has to profit off its success. For years Allègre has partnered with fashion, music and sportswear companies in an effort to make PSG a lifestyle brand connected to a soccer club rather than the other way around. The team’s new emphasis on youth will help with that.
“Our focus is really to stand for being the club of the new generation, to understand the code of the new generation of fans or sport, not only football,” Allègre said. “We built our brand. Now we have the statement when it comes to the pitch.”
“The brand itself is already attractive,” Melero added. But being the best club team in the world “is like a launch pad. It’s just incredible the exposure you’ve got.”
Fabián Ruiz gave PSG the only goal it would need Sunday, beating Atlético keeper Jan Oblak from the top of the box in the 20th minute. Vitinha doubled the lead in first-half stoppage time with a low right-footed shot between two defenders from the center of the penalty area.
Teenager Senny Mayulu, who scored the final goal in the Champions League final, made it 3-0 in the 87th minute, 11 minutes after Clement Lenglet’s second yellow card left Atlético to finish the game short-handed. Kang-in Lee closed out the scoring on the final touch of the game, converting a penalty kick seven minutes into stoppage time.
Across town, fans who had gathered for a watch party at PSG House on Melrose celebrated with all the hardware PSG won this season, including a Champions League trophy that is only beginning to show its shine.
