French tennis player Diane Parry poses inside La Salle Ovale Richelieu, the famous oval reading room that is part of the National Library of France in Paris. No, no librarians were alarmed in the takingof this photo. It’s part of a series on French athletes taken in Parisian locations to promote the Paris 2024 Olympic and Paralympic Games, which start on July 26. That’s just a few weeks after France goes to the polls in the snap election called by President Emmanuel Macron.
Below are more Parisian images, which include BMX riders in art galleries, long jumpers in chapels, swimmers in fountains, and a taekwondoin in a garden. It might just be one of the cleverest, and most stunning, tourism marketing campaigns seen in a long time.
France's BMX rider Matthias Dandois poses with his bicycle inside The Orsay Museum (Musée d'Orsay). Built as a railway station and completed in 1900, the building has been transformed and opened as the Orsay Museum ( Musée d'Orsay) in 1986. It became the world's largest collection of Impressionist paintings. Photo / Getty Images
Trampoline gymnast Lea Labrousse poses inside the former courthouse and prison Conciergerie. During the French Revolution more than 2700 prisoners, including the last queen of France Marie Antoinette, were imprisoned and sentenced at the Conciergerie. Photo / Getty Images
French paralympic long jumper and orthoprosthetist Dimitri Pavade jumps as he poses at Sainte-Chapelle (Holy Chapel). The Sainte-Chapelle, a royal chapel in the Gothic style was the residence of the Kings of France until the 14th century. Photo / Getty Images
French swimmer Beryl Gastaldello stands in The Apollo Fountain at The Chateau de Versailles (Palace of Versailles). Photo / Getty Images
French rugby player Varian Pasquet poses at Place Vendome in Paris. Place Vendome was built by Louis XIV with a decree signed in 1686, to house the Royal Library, the Academies and an equestrian statue of himself. Photo / Supplied
France's taekwondoin Magda Wiet Henin inside The Japanese Garden of The Albert Kahn Museum. The Japanese garden was made by the French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn between 1895 and 1910. Photo / Getty Images
Fencer Yannick Borel poses with an epee inside The Opera Garnier (Opera National de Paris). The Paris Opera started in the 17th century, with around 480,000 visitors each year, it is one of Paris' most visited monuments and the primary opera and ballet company of France. Photo / Getty Images
