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# Saint-Germain-des-Prés gallery owners complain about barriers and QR code passes during the Olympics
- URL: https://theparnassian.com/en/vladeltsy-khudozhestvennykh-galerei-v-nekotorykh-kvartalakh-parizha-zhaluiutsia-chto-nesmotria-na-prizyvy-k-kulturnomu-vkladu-v-olimpiadu-dostup-k-ikh-galereiam-poprostu-zablokirovan/
- Published: 2024-07-23T12:03:59.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-02T18:46:45.000Z
- Author: Alexandr Radayev
- Tags: Art, Observations, Society, Paris

Art gallery owners in some Paris neighbourhoods complain that, despite the appeals for a cultural contribution to the Olympics, access to their galleries has simply been blocked. And the question is no longer one of boosting sales in the tourist season, but of how the gallery staff themselves are to get to work.

The fences that have gone up in Saint-Germain-des-Prés are meant to keep the general public away from the so-called "grey zone". Anyone who needs access to that zone must apply in advance for QR codes, which can then be used to gain entry. However, the owners of many galleries and other businesses were never warned of this, and the QR-code pass system does not work properly.

Many Muscovites will understand the Parisians: the fences remind us of our own barriers during all manner of cycling races, runs and rides at weekends, when practically the whole centre is cut off from transport links, or during parades, when far stricter restrictions apply. But the business of codes for pedestrian passage recalls rather the very worst days of the quarantine, and it is clear what has so incensed the gallerists. What customers or visitors can there be behind such a cordon?

Gabriel Attal, the former Prime Minister of France, said in June that a commission would be set up to establish how to compensate businesses hit by such closures, but as yet there is no indication of how the amount of compensation will be determined. In the case of art galleries the question of compensation is complicated further: there is no predictable income that could be proportionally assessed, as there would be, say, in a clothes shop.

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_12900@23-07-2024_15-03-59.jpg)

![](https://theparnassian.com/content/images/2026/09/photo_12901@23-07-2024_15-03-59.jpg)