Summer terraces will make their return in Paris, starting from April 1st.
Until now, the opening hours of these iconic terraces have been limited to 10 pm in Paris, but they will be extended by two hours from July 1st to September 8th.
At the request of Anne Hidalgo, the summer terraces, which will be back in two weeks, will be allowed to stay open until midnight during the Paris Olympic and Paralympic Games. This proposal by the mayor of Paris delights the restaurateurs, especially since they originally wanted to extend the opening hours of the terraces until midnight for only four days around the opening ceremony. The idea is to make this period a celebration. Parisians and visitors to the Olympics will be better off in our establishments than anywhere else along the banks and lawns of the capital, says Franck Delvau, president of Umih (Union des métiers et des industries de l’hôtellerie) Île-de-France, as quoted by Le Parisien. This exception, which will be provided for in a derogatory order to the current regulation, will be valid from July 1st to September 8th, the end of the Paralympic Games.
While the restaurateurs are satisfied, the same cannot be said for the residents who fear potential issues. The collective “Right to Sleep” denounces a disregard from the city hall. They are absolutely disgusted by the disrespect of the municipality. They chose World Sleep Day (Friday, March 15) to announce that they would extend the opening hours of the summer terraces, says a member of the collective who fears a permanent extension to midnight closure. In 2023, the summer terraces, set up on sidewalks or parking spaces from April 1st to October 31st each year, received 13,650 verbal warnings, according to the Paris city hall, compared to just over 15,000 in 2022. Parisian terraces are part of the charm of the capital, so we can accept a few small slip-ups, retorts Franck Trouet, general delegate of the Ile-de-France branch of the National Grouping of Independent Hotels and Restaurants.
As a reminder, in case of noise disturbances, a restaurant risks a fixed fine of 68 euros and 135 euros for “lack of maintenance or irregularities,” according to the Paris city hall. Heavier administrative penalties are also envisaged: a warning to dismantle the terraces, fines of 500 euros, and dismantling at the expense of the operators, which could lead to an official request for the restaurant’s closure.
