The luxury Olympics

Nikki here, with your guide to the City of Gold [View in browser]( [Bloomberg]( Happy weekend, dear readers, it’s your resident travel expert and secret sports fan [Nikki Ekstein](, counting down the days till [the Olympics]( opening ceremony on July 26. (Six! Six days!) Travel and sports go increasingly hand in hand—before the pandemic, did you ever hear any American mention wanting to [travel to see an F1 race](?—but for me it’s less of a trend and more of an origin story. I’m pretty sure the Olympics helped plant the seeds for my career in travel, giving me my earliest geography lessons and exposing me to the traditional dress and flags of nations I had never heard of. (Don’t fast-forward the Parade of Nations, you guys! It’s so good!) Who can forget the oiled body of three-time Olympian Pita Taufatofua from Tonga? (Very sadly he did not qualify in any of his multiple disciplines this year.) I haven’t yet had the opportunity to go to an Olympic Games in person, but watching would-be travelers debate whether they should attend this year has been fascinating. The prices of hotels and apartment rentals started out spectacularly high, with hoteliers and homeowners salivating over the potential influx of crowds and cash. Both have slashed prices in recent months, with upscale vacation rentals [cutting their nightly rates by 60%]( and luxury hotel bookings [down 50% in July](. Bar Vendôme at the Ritz Paris—which still has rooms available during the Olympics. Source: The Ritz Paris Then there were geopolitical and security concerns. Some 88 Israelis and eight Palestinian athletes are competing in the Games, with the war between Israel and Hamas raging on and France experiencing an alarming spike in [antisemitic hate crimes](. At least one terror plot [was already foiled](. More than half of the Russian and Belarusian athletes cleared to compete have links to military agencies or have shown support for the war in Ukraine, [Bloomberg reporting revealed this week](. And of course the French capital is still reeling after a [tumultuous election]( that has Parisians feeling whiplashed. It’s a chaotic backdrop, to say the least; one that [will see up to 45,000 police officers enlisted daily]( throughout the city. And then there’s the sillier-sounding yet totally serious public-health issue of bacteria in the Seine river, where some swimming events [are meant to be held](—though Mayor Anne Hidalgo (and one of Bloomberg’s most intrepid Paris-based reporters) [jumped in for a lap]( this week to boost the public’s confidence. Would you swim in the Seine? One of our reporters said oui and jumped right in this week. Photographer: Joel Saget/AFP/Getty Images All told, international tourism is seriously dampened, with 87% of spectators expected to be French. But who cares if it’s mostly locals? There will be crowds! The last two Olympics, in Tokyo and Beijing, had no spectators in the stands thanks to that respiratory virus we’d all rather forget about. The storylines to follow are plentiful. As a fan of Team USA, I can’t wait to watch Simone Biles’ comeback (alongside her team’s mental health dog, Beacon!); Katie Ledecky stack up more Olympic golds (will she one day out-medal Michael Phelps?); and Bam Adebayo tower over his opponents with the [best basketball team]( that’s been assembled in years (Miami Heat in the house!). In dark times, I find it especially inspiring that anything can bring the world together, with people from 206 countries unifying under a single flag with five multicolored rings. So, what do you say? Last-minute trip to Paris, anyone? I promise the prices are great now. Connect with Nikki on [Instagram](. Catch up on key Olympics coverage [Hotels and Airlines Scramble for Last-Minute Olympics Bookings]( When the Olympic Games kick off on July 26, expect to see mostly French spectators in the stands. [I Swam in the Seine Before the Olympics. This Is What It’s Like]( The water was crisp, the current surprisingly strong—and it was glorious. [Visitors Are Shunning Paris’ Most Expensive Hotels as the Olympics Loom]( Wealthy tourists ahead of the Summer Games are especially concerned about difficulties in navigating the city by car. [Taylor Swift Draws Five Times as Many US Luxury Travelers as the Olympics]( That’s according to one of the largest agencies catering to America’s ultrahigh-net-worth jet-setters. [Paris Olympics May Bring $12 Billion Boost, Study Shows]( Following an embrace of the Olympic movement’s new mantra of fiscal restraint. So, you’re going to Paris… The City of Light may look a little different for the next few weeks, while it doubles as Olympics HQ. For one thing, security will be tighter than you can imagine, with anti-terrorism barriers—including lots of unsightly fencing—blocking off pedestrian, car and even metro access to certain parts of the city, particularly along the Seine. Madame Rêve, one of our favorite new (affordable!) places to stay in the City of Light. Photographer: Jerome Galland/Madame Rêve Enforcement of the barriers, which began this week, will vary during the Games depending on which venues are in use, but in general you can expect obstructions around much of the city core. Depending on whether you’re in a “red” or “gray” zone, you’ll need a Games Pass—a special QR code that [you can apply for here](—to get through on foot or by car. It’s worth putting in your application now if you haven’t done so already; it can take a few days to turn around, given demand. Without one you may not be able to walk or drive up to your hotel’s front door; see [the interactive map here]( to know if your address is affected. Among the people most impacted by this system are restaurateurs and small-business owners who are heavily reliant on tourist-heavy foot traffic—especially in the middle of summer. But even ordinary metro riders, locals and visitors alike, will have to be extra alert for schedule changes; [several central stations]( from Cité to Concorde have already shut down service and won’t reopen until after the closing ceremony. With all that said, here are some helpful stories if you’re still pulling together a trip—along with a few ideas of where to go in France instead if this all sounds too overwhelming. [The Best New Hotels in Paris Are All Under $550 a Night]( [Pastry Chefs in Paris Are Dreaming Up Delightful Twists on Classics]( [How to Plan a Trip to See the Olympics This Summer—Without Going to Paris]( [The Best New Hotels Along the French Riviera Start at Less Than $500]( [Four Magical Places in France That Few Tourists Know About]( The most luxurious Games in history There’s one other person going for gold that we haven’t talked about yet: [the world’s richest man, Bernard Arnault](, whose company LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton SE [has spent $163 million to have its brands prominently featured]( everywhere you can look. There will be Louis Vuitton trunks holding the hardware at the medal ceremonies, Moët Champagne for every celebratory clinking of glasses and [Berluti uniforms on the French team]( at the opening ceremony. In other words: This will be the most luxurious Games in history. Never mind the medals themselves, which are works of art designed by LVMH jewelry and watch house Chaumet. They feature [actual metal from the Eiffel Tower]( (in addition to a surprisingly small amount of gold, for the top prize). Chaumet’s medals use metal from the Eiffel Tower in addition to the standard gold, silver and bronze—and come presented in a Louis Vuitton trunk. Source: LVMH As my colleagues Brad Stone and Angelina Rascouet wrote [in this phenomenal profile](, “Arnault says he feels like … the standard bearer for French culture around the world, [and] had a responsibility to make the Games a success.” I’ll leave you with Arnault’s two cents on sports: “Managing a startup or even a bigger company is not very different than the life of athletes at the highest level,” he says. (And with that, I’m hitting the gym.) Your Paris 2024 questions, answered We call for queries weekly on [our Instagram account]( and [via e-mail](mailto:askpursuits@bloomberg.net?subject=I%20have%20a%20question). Here’s what you were dying to know about this time around. Is there VIP access to the Olympics, and how do you get it? A few of you asked about how you get tickets in general—and that answer is easy. The [official Paris 2024]( ticketing website still has plenty for sale and continues to release more. They start, incredibly, at just €15. (If you want to see the Americans duke it out with the Aussies for another heated final of the Men’s 4x100m Freestyle Relay, that medal race has seats for €525; they include the women’s 400m Freestyle final, in which Ledecky is favored—a hot ticket!) The Olympics are everywhere in Paris. Everywhere. Photographer: Pascal Le Segretain/Getty Images Europe When it comes to VIP experiences, the official provider is [On Location](, which told me this week it’s sold out or nearly sold out for several sports. Don’t hold your breath for equestrian events in Versailles, fencing at the Grand Palais, tennis at Roland-Garros, basketball, or BMX and skateboarding at Place de la Concorde, it said—these disciplines have proved especially popular. But “hospitality packages” that include perks like VIP clubhouse access can still be found from €85. Want to get into a box with Arnault? We recommend buying as many [Dior bags]( and [TAG Heuer watches]( as humanly possible between now and Friday. (Just kidding, that’s a terrible idea.) If you end up in Paris during the Olympics and need to escape the frenzy, close your eyes and take one bite of this tarte citron from Jeffrey Cagnes. Source: Jeffrey Cagnes Is there a way to be in Paris and avoid the Olympics altogether, or are they omnipresent? Given all the hoopla around the Games Pass, I was pretty sure I knew the answer to this one myself. But to confirm my gut, I turned to my most trusted local friend and Bloomberg contributor, [Lindsay Tramuta](—author of [The New Paris]( and [The New Parisienne](. Here’s what she said: Realistically, Paris 2024 will dominate the city. The city has already tightened security and restricted areas to prepare for the opening ceremony on July 26, which is making everyday journeys a major burden—even for residents. But rumor has it that some of that burden will ease up once the competitions kick off (and the Police Prefecture gets into a rhythm). That said, the areas least impacted by competitions and Olympics-related traffic hassles will be the North Marais, the République, Canal St Martin, Oberkampf and Charonne neighborhoods, as well as Belleville. If you hope to get to see the city as usual, however, that simply won’t be possible. And if you can visit at another time—ideally after the end of September, once things calm down after the Paralympics—even better! A look inside the Paris aquatic center. Photographer: Salem Mostefaoui + Jean-Philippe Mesguen / Courtesy Ateliers 2/3/4/ I’ll be in Paris later this year. Are there any stadiums or venues worth seeing after the Games end? Unlike previous organizers, Parisian authorities have been driven less by architectural glitz in their preparations for these Games than by sustainability: As we reported [in this great piece in March](, 95% of the Olympic venues will be facilities that either already existed or will be dismantled for reuse after the Games. A few structures will remain, including the aquatics center with its “Pringle-shaped roof,” as my colleagues so astutely described it, and the 8,000-seat arena at Porte de la Chapelle where basketball games will happen both during and after the Olympics. Both of those buildings, and a few more, are almost entirely made of blond wood—and honestly they look beautiful, but they’re out of the way for most tourists, in the northern neighborhood of Saint-Denis. Unless you’re a true Olympics (or architecture) nerd, you’re probably better off revisiting an old friend that will soon be brand-new again: Notre-Dame Cathedral. It won’t reopen in time for the Games, as originally planned, but its lights [will be back on by the end of the year](, and that’ll be a whole new reason to plan a trip. A part of the Notre-Dame nave through a safety net during preliminary restoration work. Photographer: Stephane de Sakutin/AFP/Getty Images New for subscribers: Free article gifting. Bloomberg.com subscribers can now gift up to five free articles a month to anyone you want. Just look for the “Gift this article” button on stories. (Not a subscriber? Unlock unlimited access and [sign up here](.) Follow Us Like getting this newsletter? 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