Olympic Games 2024: the opening of the terraces until midnight acclaimed by Parisians

Coffee, croissant, terrace: here is the postcard of the capital, and soon the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games? While the City of Paris has just decided that the summer terraces of the capital's bars and restaurants could exceptionally - from July 1 to September 8 - remain open until midnight, instead of 10 p.m. today, this news seems to satisfy the first interested parties. Parisians are in fact 81% to say they are in favor of this late opening desired by professionals in the sector, according to an Ifop study carried out for the GHR (Groupement of hotels and restaurants) with a thousand residents, and made public this Wednesday. And up to 93% even believe that they will be busy on this occasion, and 66% imagine them to be “very busy”.

“Not only are the terraces a constituent element of the daily life of Parisians, who frequent them to take time for themselves, but they are also an important element of the capital's influence in France and well beyond abroad” , explains Jérôme Fourquet, director of the Opinion and Corporate Strategies department at Ifop. As proof, the almost unanimity of Parisians interviewed as part of this study believe “that these terraces are an integral part of the image associated with the city, and contribute to its influence (92%)”. “The terraces are an element of Parisian tourist heritage and identity,” confirms the essayist.

And it is true that Parisians' attachment to their terraces is strong: 96% say they go there at least once a year, including more than half at least once a week (52%). “It’s far from being anecdotal, it’s a central element of the habits of Parisians,” assures Jérôme Fourquet. And this, whatever their age or social origin: the study notes that terraces are part of the weekly habits of 25 to 34 year olds (71%), especially men under 35 (70 %, compared to 62% of women of the same age), higher social categories (63%) and workers (62%). A habit anchored in the daily life of Parisians therefore, “more than anywhere else”, points out the study, while the French “are half as likely to frequent the terraces as often (25%)”.

Why did Parisian restaurateurs commission such a study? “We have had enough for two years of not having objective data to bring to the discussions with associations of dissatisfied residents in particular. It is not possible that the particular case of a noisy street, like the rue de la soif where everyone complains about the noise, or that because of a professional who behaves badly, we can sanction 6000 terraces summer”, explains the president of GHR Paris Île-de-France Pascal Mousset, who now intends to use this study to “inform political decisions” and “prove to the city that the terraces are part of Parisian heritage”.

Because terraces do not always make Parisians happy. Since the Covid health crisis, and the tolerance granted to professionals in the sector so that they can relaunch their activity, terraces have flourished almost everywhere on the sidewalks and in the squares, sometimes in an anarchic manner. And while the City of Paris has since issued regulations for displays and terraces (RET), many abuses are still to be reported. As a result, it is not uncommon to see groups of residents of certain neighborhoods, particularly the most touristy ones, complaining about the nuisances caused by these spaces. Either because they are spread out too much on the sidewalks, and prevent the proper circulation of pedestrians, or because they do not respect the 10 p.m. time limit and remain open much longer.

On this subject, the president of GHR Paris Île-de-France responds bluntly: “It is not in the interest of professionals not to respect the rules, but we will remain attentive to ensuring that they are.” Because this catering professional already sees further and has the ambition to perpetuate this system “every summer”, with the opening of the summer terraces extended until midnight. “But the reality is that many Parisians want to enjoy the terraces but not below their homes,” he quips, before recalling that “the summer of 2023 went very well”, and that “few reports had been drawn up”.