Through observations, winks and anecdotes, the Carnets de Paris immerse you in the heart of the Olympic Games.
On the banks of the Seine, the bouquinistes, these legendary booksellers who have lined the Parisian river since the end of the 19th centurye century, are rather rare on this first day of August. Their famous green “boxes” are mostly locked. There are more than 900 of them serving as kiosks and are normally run by some 200 booksellers. In the summer, some go on vacation, but others were apparently “discouraged by the turnover after the opening ceremony,” according to bookseller Camille Goudeau.
“Yesterday, I didn’t sell a single book, not even a one-euro postcard,” laments a shopkeeper in front of her kiosk. The only items that found buyers were two fans that she had agreed to sell for her Burmese friend. Items that she is not used to selling. “The Olympic Games are terrible for us ‘normal’ citizens,” says the woman who prefers not to give her name so as not to be criticized by her peers. While July and August are normally the most lucrative months, these days she is struggling to amass the 2,000 euros per month that she needs to pay her rent and feed herself.
The young 33-year-old bookseller Camille Goudeau has been practicing her profession since her early twenties. You can find books, but also paintings and souvenirs in her kiosk. She understands that it can be more difficult for those who only sell books to make a fortune these days. For her part, she had anticipated the blow. “We have fewer tourists than expected, but at the same time we had anticipated it since we had heard the London merchants say that they had lost turnover during their Olympic period,” explains the bookseller who has bet everything on the spring. She also hopes that the tourists will return in the fall, when Paris will be free of its temporary stadiums and its “fan zones”.
During the London Olympics in 2012, the CEO of the tourism industry association UKinbound spoke of a 30% drop in attendance at tourist sites. “Accommodation is very expensive for tourists, as are tickets to attend matches. Add to that transportation, eating on site, people save money by spending less in stores,” believes Camille Goudeau. She still manages to pull through by making some sales, but she estimates she has lost half of her turnover from the same period last year.
Better combining sport and culture
Located on the banks of the Seine, the booksellers sell their merchandise without having to pay for the rental of their space thanks to a municipal decree dating from 1891. They can therefore open 12 months a year if they feel like it, or if the weather permits.
In February, the booksellers won their case in the “epic” opposing them to the Paris City Hall which wanted to remove hundreds of green boxes for security reasons during the opening ceremony. They defended the fragility of their work tool and the financial precariousness that this would impose on certain traders.
For Camille Goudeau, this is a striking example of the difficulty of combining sport and culture. “It’s a shame. There is always a split between the two: on one side the athletes and on the other the literary ones. The idea of the Olympic Games is beautiful, to bring together many countries around an event, but I think we must also add culture and art,” she notes. The bookseller highlights the success of the opening ceremony, but would have liked the other cultural aspects of Paris, such as her profession, to also be highlighted during the Olympic Games.
Friendly tourists
Located on the other side of the Seine, near the Pont Neuf, the artist and bookseller Pascal Corseaux chose to stay especially for the Olympic Games, while he normally leaves Paris in August. “Apart from the 8 days when we needed a QR code to access our facilities, I started to reopen as soon as I could. That is to say as soon as the weather allowed it,” smiles the shopkeeper, referring to the heavy rains that have fallen on the capital in recent days.
Although he cannot compare his revenues with previous years, he is delighted to rub shoulders with the tourists present for the Olympic Games. “I am rather happy because I am able to sell and, moreover, I find that the spectators are extremely friendly. I find that there is a very nice atmosphere,” says Pascal Corseaux, who sells books as well as canvases that he paints himself. “I tell myself that it may interest tourists, but perhaps if I had only sold books, my choice might have been different,” he concludes.
This report was financed with the support of the Transat International Journalism Fund-The duty.