the flame continues its crossing of Paris

On the program for this relay in the Parisian capital, after that of July 14, there is music: a choir to celebrate Edith Piaf in Belleville and a concert at République where the journey of the Olympic flame will end.

After having crisscrossed the centre of Paris, the historic heart, the Olympic flame will continue its journey through the French capital on Monday 15 July, through the outer arrondissements, the chic neighbourhoods of the west and the working-class areas of the north-east.

Less than two weeks before the opening ceremony on July 26, the flame, which spent the night at the Hôtel de Ville, set off at 8:15 a.m. from the Porte de la Chapelle, where the Arena now stands, the only facility built for the intramural Olympic Games, for a new tour of Paris.

In Montmartre, after dancing at the Sacré-Cœur, the artists of the Moulin Rouge, the cabaret that regained its fallen wings in April, saluted the flame with an inevitable French Cancan. Then head to the Jardin Solitude (17th arrondissement), before the Place de l’Étoile, the Place du Trocadéro and the chic district of Passy, ​​in the 16th arrondissement.

The flame will then cross the Seine to reach the Île aux Cygnes, then the left bank and the 14th, Place Denfert-Rochereau in particular, and the 15th arrondissements. Rue Vaugirard will host a “Roller Dance Party” open to all for the occasion. After a stop at Butte-aux-Cailles, a former working-class district overrun by gentrification, it will head to Buttes-Chaumont (19th), then the Bastille district (12th), before reaching Belleville (19th), with a choral tribute to its most famous figure, the singer Édith Piaf.

A major stage is also planned for Monday from 5:10 p.m. (3:10 p.m. GMT) at the National Institute of Sport, Expertise and Performance (Insep), located in the Bois de Vincennes, with relays provided by former Olympic flag bearers such as Christine Caron, Marie-José Pérec, Laura Flessel and David Douillet. At the end of the day, judoka Clarisse Agbégnénou will hold the Olympic flame aloft from the top of the Eiffel Tower. The second Olympic torch relay in Paris will conclude in the evening with a concert on Place de la République.

The capital had welcomed the flame the day before for a first stage on the sidelines of the Bastille Day holiday on July 14, with a route started on the iconic Avenue des Champs-Élysées by former international footballer Thierry Henry. The flame passed from relay to relay through different faces and prides of Paris, from the National Assembly to Notre-Dame-de-Paris Cathedral, making a detour to the Panthéon, among others. Singer Jin, star of the K-pop phenomenon group BTS, carried it near the Louvre Museum, before it lit up the very famous Mona Lisa.