Serandour said that the bid city will be unveiled in March – although Grenoble, Annecy and Nice are expected to be among the contenders. Potential host cities have until mid-October to declare their interest to bid.
The news comes after Paris narrowly missed out in its bid for the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, which is being hosted by London.
Serandour told Games Bids that:"after the failure in July 2005 in getting the 2012 Games we had to rebound and stay in this dynamic by defining new goals. Olympic ambition has been very marked since then with great desire for candidacy for the Summer Games.
"We have long thought that a bid to host the Winter Olympics would be a good break from the Summer Games. To be a candidate in 2018 offers a good chance to get the Summer Olympics at a future date".
