Thibaud Hue, edited by Sylvain Allemand 12:50 p.m., October 18, 2023

Has the Champ-de-Mars become a cut-throat? For the residents of the famous Parisian esplanade, the answer is more than obvious. For several years, insecurity has plagued the garden at the foot of the Eiffel Tower. An unbearable situation for the inhabitants of this prestigious neighborhood who can no longer hold back their anger.

"Before, I didn't feel like I was preyed upon like I've been for the last five years." Hélène, a resident of the Champ-de-Mars, is fed up with the anxiety-provoking climate that reigns in her neighbourhood, nor the repeated assaults. On Monday evening, shortly before midnight, a 23-year-old English woman, slightly drunk, decided to hide behind a bush in order to relieve herself when a man rushed at her armed with a knife. A rape complaint was lodged by the tourist, who turned out to be a British police officer. A suspect was apprehended that evening.

>> ALSO READ – Champ de Mars: growing insecurity?

"This is the court of miracles!"

"Look around you, it's become the court of miracles!" said Hélène to Europe 1. Under the gaze of the Eiffel Tower, wearing a short haircut and white blouse, she no longer hides her exasperation. In 40 years of living in the neighborhood, she has witnessed the increase in insecurity in and around the public garden. "In 35 years, my bag has been snatched from me twice and I can no longer put on my pretty gold necklace that I have been wearing for <> years," she fumes.

"The Champ-de-Mars has become a battlefield and a field of deals," says Bernard, her husband, as flashing lights can be heard on the avenue. "Do you hear? That's the atmosphere here!" Faced with insecurity, the man who is also a member of the Friends of the Champ-de-Mars, an association that defends the interests of users, has taken a radical decision: "I no longer walk home in the evening after 18 p.m. because I'm afraid of being attacked."

>> READ ALSO - 'It won't prevent more rapes', in Paris, the hypothesis of closing the Champ de Mars at night divides

Towards an overnight closure?

An anger and a noxious atmosphere that also affects the shopkeepers of the neighborhood, like Nathalie. "Enough is enough! I'd like the Champ-de-Mars to be closed at night, like the Luxembourg Gardens, a very beautiful park, or the Parc Monceau." For this café manager, the esplanade has simply become unlivable, the fault, according to her, of thugs attracted by the ever-increasing number of tourists.