WHAT World Cup? Blase as they are, most Parisians are behaving as if no particular sporting event of planetary dimensions was actually going to take place here at all. Organisers of the event have been worried that the local population, never the warmest of souls, might not exactly welcome the 2.5 million fans - more than the population of Paris - expected here very shortly. Embarrassed by the lack of enthusiasm, City Hall even invested in a poster campaign urging citizens to be supporter friendly. Sadly lacking in imagination, it merely got lost amid all the other adverts.

But no-one will be able to ignore the extravagant festivities and temporary monuments unveiled last week and which, for a few weeks, are going to change the face of Paris. The 60ft high obelisk in the middle of the Place de la Concorde, at the bottom of the Champs Elysees, for example, was capped a fortnight ago with a three-metre high gold-plated pyramid to make it look as it would have done 3500 years ago in Egypt. Then last week, it was girt about with a wooden corset in the shape of the World Cup.

For the benefit of supporters arriving at Charles de Gaulle Airport, nearby water towers have been decorated with portraits of football players. The major boulevards running east and west in Paris, popular for their cafes, restaurants, theatres, and cinemas, will be decorated with monumental arches, eight metres high and 25 metres wide. France Telecom plans to decorate Paris's telephone booths in styles reminiscent of the architecture of the 32 countries taking part in the competition, an ambitious plan which will not make calling home any cheaper.

Rehearsals are well under way for the opening ceremonies which sound like a curious mix of military parade and circus. At 6pm on June 9, the day before the real opening at a stadium just to the north of Paris, separate parades will leave four cardinal points in the capital to converge on the Place de la Concorde. Some 4500 actors, acrobats, percussionists, trampoline artistes, and dancers will take part, dressed in wildly imaginative and vividly coloured costumes. Each parade will incorporate a 20-metre high male statue - an Asian called Ho, an African called Moussa, an American called Pablo, and a European called Romeo.

''Everything is symbolic, right down to the smallest accessories,'' explained Jean-Pascal Levy-Trumet, director of the parade. ''Everything will open up to the world, against a truly universal background of brotherhood and sharing, values which are inherent to football.''

Other values are huge sums of money and hooliganism, about which of course Parisians are more worried than they are about Algerian extremists letting off bombs.

For the vast majority of people without tickets, five giant screens will be set up in Paris. Matches will also be screened at La Defense, just to the west, and in Vincennes, just to the east of the capital. There will be dozens of concerts, culminating on July 10 with an open-air performance by the three tenors.