Paris’s legendary label as the 'City of Light' may soon lose some of its luster after the French government announced a move to blackout overnight illuminations of buildings as part of a cost- and energy-saving plan, reports BusinessWeek.
The French minister for energy and environment unveiled last week a proposal for lights in and outside shops, offices, and public buildings - including the flagship Louis Vuitton store and the Lido cabaret house on Paris’s Avenue des Champs Elysees - to be turned off between 1 a.m. and 7 a.m. starting in July. The plan, to be applied across French cities, towns and villages, is aimed at saving energy and money and showing “sobriety,” Minister Delphine Batho said.
The move has provoked an outcry from merchants, who say the government is being insensitive to France’s image as the world’s No. 1 tourist destination. They say the rule, on top of existing bans on Sunday store openings and night shopping, will hurt business at a time when the French economy has barely grown for a year and unemployment is at a 14-year high.
“Great! Another positive message sent to citizens and to tourists: the city will go dark!” said Sofy Mulle, vice- president of the France’s Commerce Council, which represents all of the country’s 650,000 merchants employing about 3.5 million people. “We are ready to make efforts, but the government is cutting a fine line between sobriety and austerity. Surely, we can work out environmentally friendly solutions that have less impact on our society and our economy.”
For Paris, the government’s plan -- final details of which are still being worked out -- is likely to fray its historical banner of “La Ville Lumiere,” earned both because of its fame as a center of ideas and learning in the Age of Enlightenment and later by its early adoption of street lighting.
The lights-out idea, mooted under former President Nicolas Sarkozy, is being pushed through by the Socialist government of President Francois Hollande, who was elected in May.
Sarkozy’s effort was part of a broader European plan to improve energy efficiency by 20 percent by 2020. In January, his government passed a measure that took effect in July, forcing stores and businesses to turn off neon lights highlighting their names -- of which there are 3.5 million in France, according to the energy ministry -- between 1 a.m. and 6 a.m.
“The original plan was crazy: they wanted to have all lights turned off one hour after store closures,” Claude Boulle, head of the City Centre Merchants association said.
Merchants, including Boulle and Mulle, said part of their image is to have non-stop lighting because it conveys the idea of a place that’s always warmly welcoming for shoppers.
“Also, lights from buildings and shops are part of public lighting and it brings security,” Boulle said. “Even if there aren’t millions of people taking a stroll in the middle of the night, light still means security for those who are.”
Beyond security, Boulle said the plan would further diminish Paris’s allure as a shopping destination when stacked up against London, Madrid or Berlin.
“We’re becoming a museum, falling asleep after sunset,” he said.
Paris’s large department stores such as Galeries Lafayette and Printemps in the center of the French capital are famous for their elaborately designed window displays -- especially during Christmas -- that stay on all night, making them tourist attractions all on their own. Officials at the two stores declined to comment on the new rule.
Shop windows on the Avenue des Champs Elysees and on Avenue Montaigne, Paris’s Rodeo Drive, will also go dark.
The city’s tourism board recommends “Parisian Urban Pleasures,” including night strolls through the capital’s winding streets and along the Seine river and morning espressos in famous cafes.
Read more of this report from BusinessWeek.