Popular enthusiasm for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games foiled even the most pessimistic forecasts, except for the drop in attendance at Paris museums in July and August – down 14% at the Louvre, 28% at the Centre Pompidou and 26% at the Musée d'Orsay. Located within the Concorde Olympic zone, even the Hôtel de la Marine recorded a 50% drop. Only two sites withstood the general downturn: The catacombs, which were fully booked with 53,000 visitors in July and August (a figure identical to 2023) and the Saint-Denis Basilica (department of Seine-Saint-Denis) where the Olympic flame ended its journey on Friday, July 26. Attendance there jumped by 50%, a first.

However, there's no question of tarnishing the precious – and fragile – moment of collective happiness extended by the Paralympic Games. "This is not an irremediable decline, but a cyclical one, and let's remember that 2023 was an exceptional year," said Sylvain Amic, president of the Musée d'Orsay.

It was the same philosophy at the Château de Versailles, still commandeered by the Paralympics, which saw its admissions plunge by 25% during the Olympic fortnight and overall by 16% over July and August. "But it's skyrocketed again," said its president, Christophe Leribault. Visitors also returned to the Orangerie as soon as the Olympic Games were over, "with an above-normal peak of 3,916 visitors on August 12," said its director, Claire Bernardi.

Everywhere, a different audience has replaced the usual cultural tourists. A much younger audience, according to a survey carried out this summer at the Musée Carnavalet, the Musée d'Art Moderne, the Petit Palais, the Palais Galliera and the archaeological crypt on the Île de la Cité. "Something singular happened, with a happy, light, positive audience," said Annick Lemoine, director of the Petit Palais, where the over-60s accounted for just 8% of visitors, compared with 20% in the first half of the year.

At the Musée de l'Armée, located at Les Invalides, visitor numbers were down by 24% during the Olympic Games but the exhibition "Duels. The Art of Fighting," which ended on Sunday, August 18, found its audience, "with 600 visitors a day – compared with an average of 400 usually – the day after the fencing events at the Grand Palais," said its curatorial director, Sylvie Leluc.

Encouraged by the upturn in sales since the end of August, institutions are hoping to bounce back this autumn. Flagship exhibitions such as "Surrealism" at the Centre Pompidou, "Caillebotte. Painting Men" at the Musée d'Orsay, or the lavish collection of art dealer Heinz Berggruen (1914-2007) at the Orangerie, are expected to keep ticket sales hot. "A new kind of cultural tourism will emerge from the imagination generated by the Olympic Games," said Anne-Sophie de Gasquet, president of Paris Musées, which oversees 14 museums in Paris.

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