**What should Paris do with the Olympic cauldron? Pierre Noual, a lawyer specializing in cultural history, analyzes the various options for the future of the hot air balloon.**
The cauldron is both exceptional and ephemeral, reflecting the Games themselves − and so should France keep it in Paris’s Jardins des Tuileries? It’s an interesting question, since the concept of cultural heritage covers all traces of human activity that a society considers essential to its identity and collective memory, and which it wishes to preserve in order to pass on to future generations.
However, it is whether the French state has the capacity to maintain the cauldron for a long period of time that is key to answering this question, so that it does not inevitably end up in a state of degradation, like the artist Daniel Buren’s columns at the Palais Royal. The state’s responsibility is paramount, as heritage is defined by its loss being a sacrifice and its conservation constituting an effort, as historians André Chastel and Jean-Pierre Babelon have demonstrated.
It’s also a question of knowing where to keep the cauldron, since the Jardin des Tuileries is itself a special heritage site: classified as a historic monument (1888, 1889 and 1914), officially listed as a heritage site (1975), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991), as a national domain (2017) and as a remarkable garden (2019). As a result, the French heritage and urban planning codes contain more or less strict rules about carrying out ground works in the protected area.
They may have to move it but I’m sure it’ll stick around somewhere. I’m curious about the rings on the Eiffel Tower, the mayor said that he would consider keeping them on for an extended period of time.
Fill it with dog poo and drop it on another country for Halloween?
Throw it away.
As it blocks the view Axis from Louvre to Arc de Triomphe, it should be somewhere else but definitely kept.
Built nice a 7300 tons, 300 meters high wrought-iron pole, and then attach the hot air balloon on top of it
Keep it in a museum. I don’t want it to stay outside. It’s a gem from a certain period and it shouldn’t overstay its welcome.
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**What should Paris do with the Olympic cauldron? Pierre Noual, a lawyer specializing in cultural history, analyzes the various options for the future of the hot air balloon.**
The setting ablaze of Paris [2024’s Olympic and Paralympic cauldron ](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/sports/article/2024/07/27/olympic-cauldron-to-rise-into-paris-skies-each-night_6701293_9.html)transfixed spectators at the opening ceremony on July 26. It comes as no surprise, then, that people are now suggesting that the ring of fire topped by a monumental helium-filled balloon designed by Mathieu Lehanneur should be made a permanent attraction.
The cauldron is both exceptional and ephemeral, reflecting the Games themselves − and so should France keep it in Paris’s Jardins des Tuileries? It’s an interesting question, since the concept of cultural heritage covers all traces of human activity that a society considers essential to its identity and collective memory, and which it wishes to preserve in order to pass on to future generations.
However, it is whether the French state has the capacity to maintain the cauldron for a long period of time that is key to answering this question, so that it does not inevitably end up in a state of degradation, like the artist Daniel Buren’s columns at the Palais Royal. The state’s responsibility is paramount, as heritage is defined by its loss being a sacrifice and its conservation constituting an effort, as historians André Chastel and Jean-Pierre Babelon have demonstrated.
It’s also a question of knowing where to keep the cauldron, since the Jardin des Tuileries is itself a special heritage site: classified as a historic monument (1888, 1889 and 1914), officially listed as a heritage site (1975), listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site (1991), as a national domain (2017) and as a remarkable garden (2019). As a result, the French heritage and urban planning codes contain more or less strict rules about carrying out ground works in the protected area.
**Read the full op-ed here:** [**https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/08/27/keeping-the-olympic-cauldron-in-the-tuileries-gardens-requires-a-reasoned-and-reasonable-approach_6722393_23.html**](https://www.lemonde.fr/en/opinion/article/2024/08/27/keeping-the-olympic-cauldron-in-the-tuileries-gardens-requires-a-reasoned-and-reasonable-approach_6722393_23.html)
Hang it in the Louvre
They may have to move it but I’m sure it’ll stick around somewhere. I’m curious about the rings on the Eiffel Tower, the mayor said that he would consider keeping them on for an extended period of time.
Fill it with dog poo and drop it on another country for Halloween?
Throw it away.
As it blocks the view Axis from Louvre to Arc de Triomphe, it should be somewhere else but definitely kept.
Built nice a 7300 tons, 300 meters high wrought-iron pole, and then attach the hot air balloon on top of it
Keep it in a museum. I don’t want it to stay outside. It’s a gem from a certain period and it shouldn’t overstay its welcome.