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They expected an Olympic boon. But some Paris businesses are experiencing a bust
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A lone man sit in the shadow in the courtyard of the Louvre museum, which is outside the security perimeter set up for the Olympic Games, Friday, July 19, 2024, in Paris, France. - photo by AP Photo/David Goldman
PARIS (AP) — On a typical summer day, tourists flock to the historic Marais district of Paris, wandering its charming medieval streets dotted with ultra-chic boutiques, gazing at stunning private mansions, strolling through the elegant 17th-century square Place des Vosges, and filling humming restaurants and bars. But this summer has hardly been typical, and those streets, shops and cafes have been markedly emptier in the days leading up to the Paris Olympics — leaving businesses like Stolly’s Stone Bar, a pub popular with English speakers, pining for summers past. It’s a far cry from what business owners expected when they first heard the Olympics were coming to Paris, says David Carroll, who stood behind the bar on a recent, slow weekday.