Paris--Paris City Hall Monday gave its green light to the city's bid to organise the 2024 Olympics, a key step in the process to host the summer Games for a third time.
"Now we're off on an Olympic adventure," said Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who has given her full backing to the idea.
President Francois Hollande put his weight behind a Paris bid in November.
He is due to meet International Olympic Committee (IOC) head Thomas Bach in Lausanne on Thursday during an official visit to Switzerland.
A feasibility study has mooted the idea of beach volleyball in the shadow of the Eiffel Tower, archery on the Invalides Esplanade near the tomb of Napoleon Bonaparte and fencing in the historic Grand Palais museum.
The Stade de France that held football's 1998 World Cup final and Roland Garros, the venue for the French Open tennis, would also be used.
With so many existing venues on the draft plan, only a new swimming pool and a village for the 10,000 athletes would have to be built.
Initially, Hidalgo -- scarred by two previously failed efforts -- was more cautious, warning against a "hasty decision".
However, she later said that the feasibility study, the Islamist attacks in the city in January and the likely contribution of 1.8 billion euros ($2.0 billion) from the IOC made her change her mind.
Paris Council's approval is a major step towards France launching a bid to host the Games, but the final rubberstamp must be given by the country's Olympic Committee.
A poll published Sunday showed that nearly two-thirds of French people were in favour of an Olympic bid but a small majority thought that Paris would be better off hosting the 2025 Expo.
Olympic bids must be submitted to the IOC by September 15 and a shortlist of qualified candidates will be announced in 2016.
A final decision will be taken by an IOC congress in Lima, Peru in mid-2017.
So far Boston and Rome have officially declared and Hamburg is expected to do so.
If the French capital wins, the Games would be held on the 100th anniversary of the last time Paris staged the Olympics.
Paris was considered the frontrunner for the 2012 Olympics and has never got over the disappointment of losing to London, whose event was widely acclaimed.
AFP
