On Friday, November 10, Paris City Hall is planning to carry out "a feasibility test to dismantle, empty, reassemble and reinstall a set of four bouquiniste [bookseller] stands and their contents." The operation is part of the Paris Police Prefecture's strategy to secure the banks of the Seine during the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games on July 26, 2024.

Starting at 8:15 pm – weather permitting – this test, similar to putting an old Ikea wardrobe back together, will take place between the Tournelle and Sully bridges. According to the Cultural Association of Paris Bouquinistes, the goal is to help the city hall to decide "whether or not to remove the bouquiniste stands located on the river route" of the opening ceremony in July.

In a working document dated October 23, Paris City Hall envisaged that 500 to 700 bookstalls would be removed between July 13 and 18, depending on the security perimeter selected, and then reinstalled from August 3. The service provider will be chosen based on its ability to "work with fragile objects (books, but also small antiques, posters, engravings, etc.) and on stands that are sometimes badly damaged," whose weight, including contents, is estimated at 250 kilograms each. The city has already identified "around 100 stands in poor condition" which "will have to be repaired."

It's an understatement to say that the bouquinistes are vehemently opposed to such a removal. They have brandished a petition of support, "Saving the Seine bouquinistes," which has gathered over 173,000 signatures as of November 8. The 200 booksellers are awaiting the results of the test, but are ready to launch an interim proceeding before the Paris administrative court in December.

For Friday, the city has commissioned a custom-built base for each of the four bookstalls. But there's no guarantee that this will be the case for all of them. "The idea for this test did not come from us," explained Jérôme Callais, president of the Cultural Association of Paris Bouquinistes. "Our only hope is to demonstrate that the operation isn't feasible." He fears that some of the dark green bookstalls, which are as much a part of Paris's heritage as Guimard metro entrances or Wallace fountains, will not survive this treatment − and that City Hall will replace them with something ugly.

According to him, "while the Police Prefecture is doing its job, Paris City Hall is getting out a bazooka to kill a mosquito. When Charles III or the Pope pass along the banks (of the Seine) or when the Tour de France arrives, we're not asked to do anything. For the opening ceremony of the Olympics, all we need to do is close the stands the day of and put a security barrier in front of them."

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