Could 2023 be a renaissance in Paris after a stifling pandemic, lingering virus, inflation and energy crisis? Oui! Yes, there are several exciting opportunities to seize in the new year, from getting involved NOW in the upcoming Paris 2024 Olympics to spotting the newly constructed spire rise above the Notre Dame Paris of Cathedral four years after a fire ravaged its rooftop.
The City of Light is sprucing up, on schedule, to offer locals and tourists new experiences. New laws have been passed to increase your spending or ease your pocketbook depending on your earnings and lifestyle. There are things to do, exhibitions to see and tax benefits to enjoy so get a jumpstart with INSPIRELLE’s list of changes coming your way.
Get involved in Paris 2024 Olympics and Paralympics now
We expect the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic games to be nothing short of fantastique!
From the opening ceremony of 160 boats carrying 10,500 athletes across the Seine River to the Eiffel Tower to the sports competitions held in Paris’ iconic monuments, the centennial games will be unforgettable.
The first round of ticketing for the Olympic games is open online until January 31, 2022. Since Dec. 1 of last year, the public can register on the official ticket website of the Paris 2024 Olympic games to be eligible for a draw to become the first to create their own ticket packages.
Familiarize yourself now with the 32 Olympic sports, and more than 320 events over 18 days from July 24 to August 11, 2024.
Click here for the sports competitions, dates, venue and ticket pricing to snap up the best seats. Watch out for the sale of tickets in new phases.
Be more than a spectator, be a volunteer for the games! In March of 2023, the volunteers portal will open for you to sign up for the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games in France. Organizers need 45,000 volunteers and are inviting interested persons who are 18 years old and older, French and English speaking, to commit to 10 or more days to make the Paris Olympic games a memorable event. To learn more about the application process, click here.
You could find yourself in the opening ceremony, escorting athletes, guiding spectators or helping with organization, and much more! For a shot at this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to be at the heart of a major event hosted by France, we encourage you to sign up and join now the Club Paris 2024 for all the latest information on the volunteers program.
Find a job with the Paris 2024 committee. Would you believe organizers are offering thousands of posts to pull off the world’s biggest sports event? Organizers are searching for interns, and part-time and full-time workers with various skills. To learn more about join opportunities, click here.
Notre Dame Spire Will Rise into the Parisian Sky
Almost four years after a major fire ravaged the rooftop of the Notre Dame Cathedral of Paris, an important phase in the restoration begins in 2023: rebuilding the church’s iconic spire. The 850-year-old monument has been secured, debris evacuated, and the structure reinforced so that 100 meters of scaffolding can go up and up to rebuild the rooftop and install a recreation of the original 19th century design of the spire by architect Eugène Viollet-le-Duc.
The spire should be completed in 2023 and will once again grace the Parisian skyline!
The Restoration committee is optimistic that much of the restorations inside the cathedral will be completed by the end of 2024, as requested by President Macron shortly after the blaze in 2019 damaged one of France’s most beloved historical monuments.
New Metro lines to ride
When Paris welcomes the world in 2024 for the Olympics, they’ll discover a city with fewer cars, more bicycle lanes and new subway lines to help them travel through the city. In fact, the French capital has been drilling underground for years to expand its public transport system to link to the surrounding suburbs.
The Grand Paris Express project is delivering 200 km of new lines for the city’s metro network and is expected to carry between 2M and 3M passengers a day, reducing their journey times by as much as 30 minutes.
“The new network will help Paris’ efforts to cut its carbon footprint as it is expected to encourage people to switch from cars to public transport. It will also take pressure off the Metro’s busy city centre lines.” – New Civil Engineer magazine
The city aims to have the first section, north and south extensions of Line 14 which run through the center of Paris, almost completed in 2023 in time for Paris 2024 Olympics. It will extend services between the interchange with Lines 15, 16 and 17 at Saint-Denis Pleyel in the north, and an interchange with the southern section of Line 15 and on to Orly Airport.
In addition, the full automation of Line 4 will be completed by the end of 2023. Line 4 is the second busiest metro line in Paris. It carries 700,000 passengers per day, through 29 stations that are spread over 14 km.
Construction ends; Paris cleans itself up
Mayor Anne Hidalgo, an ardent ecologist, has devoted her time in office to making Paris green.
At times, it felt like she was failing miserably in this noble task with all the obtrusive construction to modernize the French capital in time to host the Paris 2024 Olympics and plan for the future. Snarling traffic, roadwork and dirty streets have dominated Paris but there are signs that the City of Light is beginning to show off some of its beauty again. The Pont de Sevres has removed the cranes that closed off the bridge to the quai for two years and Port Maillot, arguably the worse construction site, is expected to clear up in 2023 when the extended RER E station will be completed and open for use linking commuters to Nanterre.
Even the Seine River is being cleaned up in certain areas for swimming. Bathing in the Seine was banned exactly a century ago in 1923. The Paris mayor would like to host the 10 km freestyle swimming and triathlon challenges in the Seine between Pont d’Alma and the Trocadero, and launched a cleaning and sanitation process of the river. More than 800 million euros are being spent to purify the river and limit the amount of waste dumped into the Seine by industrial companies and boats. If expectations are met, the public will be able to dip into the Seine in 23 different sections.
Major arts and cultural exhibitions in 2023
We love Paris for its plethora of cultural arts and exhibitions to always choose from. After all, there are about 130 museums in Paris from the extraordinary Louvre and Musée d’Orsay to the hidden treasures such as the antique carousel, fan or perfume museums.
Keep your eye out for Manet/Degas in Music at the Musée d’Orsay from March 28 to July 23, 2023. The exhibit compares the works of these two grandmasters whose depictions of modernity between the 1860s and 1880s rocked the art world. Or explore the history of the Japanese kimono, including modern interpretations by designers such as Galliano and McQueen, and innovative and subversive uses by younger Japanese in Kimono at Musée du Quai Branly through May 2023.
In the fall of 2023, the Louvre Museum presents a historic exhibition with relics and treasures from Notre Dame Cathedral saved the night of the devasting fire in April 2019. At that time, a human chain was formed to remove the precious items from the flames, and they’ve been safely stored inside the Louvre since. The exhibit in Napoleon Hall will include paintings, illuminated manuscripts and precious engravings on display for several months before they return to the church when it is fully restored. The Crown of Thorns, Saint-Louis’ tunic and the Cross Wood will not be part of the exhibition as the Church of Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois has them in protective custody.
New laws that will improve your household in 2023
The new year in France always brings in changes to laws that affect the daily life of households.
With rising inflation affecting the cost of living, the Ministry of Labor will increase the hourly minimum wage from 11.07 euros in 2022 to 11.27 euros in 2023, which would represent an increase of 1.81%. That works out to an increase of 30 euros gross expected for a full-time worker for a monthly salary estimated at 1,709.28 euros gross.
Basic pensions for retirees will increase by 0.8%.
Savings accounts finally see a boost. The interest rate for the livret A will be 3% on January 1 while the PEL (housing savings plans) opened from January 1 will also be revalued with a 2% interest rate.
After the abolition of the audiovisual license fee in 2022, the housing tax on main residences will disappear from January 1, 2023. Gradually reduced since 2018, this tax still concerns 20% of the wealthiest French households in 2022.
Energy price freeze continues. Set up in October 2022 by the government, the price shield will be extended in 2023. It will limit price increases to 15% from January 1, 2023 for gas and from February 1 for electricity.
The French government is encouraging consumers to buy electric cars by facilitating access to them. A new leasing system will make it easier to acquire or rent these more ecological vehicles.
At the same time, the State plans to provide 100,000 electric charging stations on French soil next year.
However, the price of the monthly Navigo pass for the public transport system increases to help pay for all the construction of new lines. It will now cost €84.10 instead of €75, affecting nearly two million Ile-de-France residents.
The “red stamp” that offers priority postal service disappears on January 1, 2023 in favor of a digital service.
Condoms are free for 18 to 25-year-old adults in pharmacies to prevent unwanted pregnancies.
Thinking of changing your name in 2023? Previously set at 110 euros, the cost of publishing name change requests in the Official Journal will be free from 1 January.
