It’s the 49th Schneider Electric Marathon de Paris this Sunday, when some 60,000 runners will turn a large area of the city into a car-free zone.
This year’s route will take runners from the Champs-Élysées to Avenue Foch, passing through 11 arrondissements, the Bois de Vincennes, and the Bois de Boulogne, with the Louvre, Notre-Dame, the Eiffel Tower, and the Louis Vuitton Foundation as backdrops at various points.
The advice from the police for anyone driving around the French capital this Sunday is: don’t.
Use public transport instead, if you hope to cheer on friends and family taking part.
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But if you do have to get behind the wheel, be aware that the chances of finding a road you want to travel down is closed will be noticeably higher than normal.
In fact, restrictions in some areas start from 6pm on Friday, and will remain in place until after the marathon has ended on Sunday.
From Friday, parking will be restricted in the following areas of the 16th arrondissement: the side streets of Avenue Foch, the entire length of Avenue Hubert Germain, and Rue de la Faisanderie.
In the 12th arrondissement, parking will be restricted on Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine (even-numbered side). Avenue Daumesnil and Rue de Charenton are included in the prefetural decree, as are several streets in Charenton-le-Pont, Boulogne-Billancourt, and Saint-Mandé, meaning no parking there, either.
On Saturday, parking will be prohibited on Rue de Marignan in the 8th arrondissement from 12noon until 8am Sunday morning.
Roads will start closing to traffic completely overnight from Saturday into Sunday.
From midnight on Saturday, Avenue des Champs-Élysées (between Place Charles de Gaulle and the Marcel-Dassault roundabout) will be closed to traffic until 3pm Sunday afternoon. Avenue Hubert Germain in the 16th arrondissement, closes at the same time, and will remain car-free until 9pm.
From 4am on Sunday, Avenue Foch between Avenue Malakoff and Avenue Raymond Poincaré will be closed – and won’t reopen until 11.30pm.
From 5am, Avenue Gordon Bennett (16th arrondissement) will close until 6pm, while the périphérique exits at Porte Charenton (outer) and Porte Dorée (inner) will be inaccessible from 5.30am until 4pm.
Closures in the heart of the city start at 7am. From that time, Place de la Concorde, the Champs-Élysées roundabout, Rue de Rivoli, Place Vendôme, Rue de la Paix, the Opéra, Quai François-Mitterrand, Place du Carrousel, and Rue Saint-Antoine will be closed to traffic until 1.30pm.
Rue du Faubourg Saint-Antoine, Rue de Picpus, Boulevard de Reuilly, Avenue Daumesnil, Place de la Nation, and Route de la Pyramide will remain closed until 4pm.
The Dauphine, Passy, and Auteuil exits of the ring road (inner and outer) will be closed from through to 6pm, as will exit ramp No 1 of the A13 autoroute (Province-Paris).
Traffic flow will be reversed on Sunday on the Pont Royal between 7am and 2pm, and on Rue Claude Decaen between Rue Cannebière and Rue Tourneux from 7am to 5pm.
