Paris Olympics can help unify a fractured city

Lionel Laurent wonders if Paris's motto 'fluctuat nec mergitur' — roughly translated as 'buffeted by the waves, but not sinking' — will remain appropriate for the French capital after the Olympic Games

The Hotel Ville in Paris. From income to accessing services, the gap has grown between Paris’s two million inhabitants and the 10 million who live in the region. Photo: Mike Egerton/PA

Paris faces the test this week of launching the Olympic Games safely and affordably at a time of war, political polarization and social unrest. 

It’s not a done deal. Heavy-handed security barriers and covid-style QR codes are already infuriating residents and tourists trying to navigate a River Seine that’s been cleaned at great expense.