For all those concerns about high prices and big crowds ahead of the Olympics, now might just be an unexpectedly good time to holiday in Paris, reports BBC News.
Hotels and restaurants have told the BBC they have dropped their prices to entice customers - after what some call a “catastrophic” downturn in takings during the Games that have left them asking what the event has done for them.
The French capital might seem to be the centre of the world for those watching the sport on TV – but the city’s relatively quiet streets and empty dining tables tell a different story.
Earlier this week, local media ran reports of a “deserted” Disneyland and of Parisians’ bemusement as they managed to secure seats on metro trains at rush hour.
So, what is happening?
Analysts suggest that many Parisians have left the city in droves for the summer, as is their tradition. But also, some overseas visitors have been put off by concerns around price-gouging and overcrowding on an Olympic scale.
One of the locals who used the word “catastrophic” was a restaurateur called Lies in the usually bustling Latin Quarter, who said July had been his worst month for 25 years. During the height of Covid, at least people continued to order meal deliveries, he told the BBC.
Tourists had been put off coming to the area because of security blockades that were put in the place for the previous week’s opening ceremony, Lies suggested.
Another nearby restaurateur hovering in his doorway, Yarva, said would-be visitors had chosen not to pay hotel prices which multiplied several times ahead of the Games.
The event was “only for the rich”, he said, and used a hand gesture to indicate he thought the price inflation had been crazy.
Ahead of the Games, airlines warned there was a low appetite for journeys to Paris, with both Delta and the company that owns Air France predicting an impact on their business.
“Unless you’re going to the Olympics, people aren’t going to Paris,” the Delta boss told CNBC.
This was reflected in flight prices that were well below the usual asking price for this time of year, according to travel expert Simon Calder, writing this week for The Independent.
Next-day one-way flights from UK cities were as low as £31 (€36; $39) per adult (from Edinburgh) at the time of writing this article. However, tickets for the Eurostar trains, which were last week affected by a sabotage attack on the French railway network, were considerably higher.