Paris police seal off Seine River ahead of Olympics

People watch Notre Dame cathedral from outside the security zone set up for the Olympic Games in Paris, July 18, 2024. A woman speaks to a police officer at the security perimeter set up for the Olympic Games in Paris, July 18, 2024. A man walks on the Louis Philippe bridge inside the security perimeter set up for the Olympic Games in Paris, July 18, 2024. Soldiers patrol on a footbridge over the Seine River in Paris, July 17, 2024.

A special kind of iron curtain came down across central Paris on Thursday, with the beginning of an Olympic anti-terrorism perimeter along the banks of the River Seine sealing off a kilometers-long area to Parisians and tourists who hadn't applied in advance for a pass.