The Olympics

The Olympics

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News, information and stories about the Olympics.

Thursday, March 10, 2005

French Shoot Themselves in The Foot

It is reported that France is at a standstill today, as workers have taken to the streets in an effort to embarrass Paris's bid to stage the 2012 Olympics.

Postal services have been stopped, schools closed and the transport network shut down; as the French try to stop plans to end the maximum 35 hour week, how nice to live in Lah Lah Land!

The strikes coincide with the visit by the inspectors from the International Olympic Committee, who are there this week examining its bid to stage the games in seven years' time.

Trade unionists set off flares and waved banners in the Place d'Italie, and along the city's grand boulevards, a nice picture for the IOC to take home with them.

Public transport faced stoppages in 55 towns and cities, and there was severe disruption on the Paris Metro and RER.

The morning headlines were "France paralysed".

The mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, admits that he is concerned.

The French are not that happy to host the Games, an article in Le Monde yesterday called for the games not to be staged in the capital; dismissing them as a money-making spectacle riddled by drugs.

I couldn't agree more.

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