(12 Jun 2025)
RESTRICTION SUMMARY:
ASSOCIATED PRESS
Paris – 12 June 2025
1. Close of the Olympic cauldron balloon
2. SOUNDBITE (English) Javier Smith, tourist from Texas:
“Beautiful, and the place where it’s going to be, or is sitting now, it’s beautiful. All these beautiful buildings, the Louvre, all that is fantastic.”
3. Girl sitting on a chair in the Tuileries Garden, cauldron balloon in background
4. SOUNDBITE (French) Laurent Broéze, Parisian architect:
“It’s one of those monuments in Paris that could stay. It was set up temporarily, but a bit like the Eiffel Tower, it makes sense for it to return. It’s a bit of a shame they want to take it down later, but maybe it could be installed somewhere else, I don’t know, we'll see.”
5. Wide shot of the Olympic cauldron balloon
6. Man sitting on chair in front of the cauldron
7. Tourist taking photo of the cauldron balloon
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ARCHIVE: Paris – 30 July 2024
++NIGHT SHOTS++
8. Various of hot air balloon lifting up, people cheering and taking photos
STORYLINE:
The helium-powered hot-air balloon that lit up the French capital’s skyline during the 2024 Games is making a dramatic comeback to the Tuileries Gardens, reborn as the “Paris Cauldron.”
The cauldron will stay in the gardens from June 21 to September 14 for three consecutive years leading up to the 2028 Los Angeles Games, officials announced Tuesday.
Originally unveiled during the opening ceremony on July 26, 2024, and lit by Marie José Pérec and Teddy Riner, the “celestial hot-air balloon” – a 30-meter-high structure – left a lasting impression. In response to the public’s enthusiasm, President Emmanuel Macron decided to make it a recurring summer tradition.
Marc Guillaume, Prefect of the Île-de-France region, confirmed that an agreement was reached with the International Olympic Committee (IOC), in coordination with the City of Paris and the design team. The structure, imagined by Mathieu Lehanneur and powered by EDF, will rise each evening at dusk. Using a combination of LED lights and mist, it creates the illusion of a flame floating above the capital.
The Paris cauldron is the first in Olympic history to light up without the use of fossil fuels, instead using water and electric light.
Visitors are already starting to gather. Javier Smith, a tourist from Texas, said he was struck by the beauty of the location and the symbolism of the cauldron surrounded by Parisian landmarks.
Laurent Broéze, a Parisian architect enjoying a walk through the gardens, sees the cauldron as a potential new urban landmark. “It’s one of those monuments that could stay in Paris," he said, adding "it was meant to be temporary, but like the Eiffel Tower it makes sense for it to return.”
President Emmanuel Macron is expected to visit the cauldron at the Tuileries gardens for a symbolic tribute to the Olympic flame and its legacy. Access will be free and open to all, day and night, with no reservation required.
AP video by Nichola... [truncated]
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Video at Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oyfjl4NiRqc