Eager to restore the lustre to Paris it deserves, the Mayor has decided, with the help of merchants and professionals, to illuminate 125 building or streets of Paris during December 2009 to create and event encouraging people to get out of their homes and see their city from a different perspective.
On the first of December at dusk, Parisians will be able to enjoy Paris illumine Paris and visit streets known as the Boulevard St. Germain in the 6th arrondissement and rue du Faubourg Montmartre in the 9th district, which will be presented in a new color. La Place d’Italie will also be lit up to give a festive air.
For its 2009 edition, this shopping initiative entitled Paris, A Shopping Destination, is a thinly veiled allusion for the real purpose of getting the Parisians into the streets. A special guide, Route Paris Illumine Paris 2009, will be available in shops and places where the lights will take over, and will also be available online at www.parisillumineparis.fr.
The lights go out at mid-January 2010. Farther south, the city of Lyon will hold the Feast of Lights from December 5 to 8, which draws about 4 million tourists per year.