This Paris book market has been here for 450 years. Now it’s being moved for ‘security reasons’
Booksellers have plied their trade along the banks of the River Seine for about 450 years, their time-battered green boxes a Paris institution as treasured as freshly baked baguettes.
But this piece of French history is now at the center of a political storm after the city’s police ordered that the vendors and their stalls be relocated for “security reasons” to make way for the opening ceremony of the Summer Olympic Games in 2024.
In this case, “David” is Jerome Callais, the head of the Cultural Association of the Bouquinistes, as the 200 or so sellers he represents are known.
“Goliath” is the prefectural police authority, propped up by famously inflexible French bureaucracy.
Although the office of the city’s mayor has offered to relocate the book stalls and cover the cost of the move as well as renovating damaged stalls, Callais says the lack of consultation over a decision affecting a Paris landmark has left them fearful about the future.
“Go, you are dismissed,” says Callais, describing how he feels the decision was presented to his community of booksellers.
Callais says the police wrote to him in March promising to consult with the association, but he heard no more. Then, in July, he says City Hall convened a meeting in which several unpopular options were laid out.
“They started by telling us, ‘You know it is very likely that you will have to close for the whole of the Games, even a week before.’”
He says one plan was for booksellers’ boxes to remain in place but, once they’d been inspected by police, sealed off for the duration of the Olympic event, which would attract millions of visitors to the city – including many who would potentially browse their stalls.
Booksellers have plied their trade along the banks of the River Seine for about 450 years, their time-battered green boxes a Paris institution as treasured as freshly baked baguettes. But this piece of French history is now at the center of a political storm after the city’s police ordered that the vendors and their stalls…