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Unlit Eiffel Tower 2018: »Duty to show solidarity and to set an example together«
Photo: jazzmxx / Getty Images
The Eiffel Tower and the Champs-Élysées are among Paris' most important sights.
For visitors to the French capital, however, they will be much harder to see in the late evening.
Because of the energy crisis, they have to be prepared for fewer nightly lights.
On the boulevard Champs-Élysées, the responsible committee has now decided for less light.
In the future, the shops and facilities there should switch off their neon signs between 10 p.m. and 7 a.m. – with the exception of restaurants or cinemas, for example, which are open later.
By October 15 at the latest, everyone should comply with the new rule.
Public buildings are no longer illuminated after 10 p.m
And there are also cuts in the constantly changing Christmas lights on the avenue.
In future it will be switched off at 11.45 p.m., previously it was on until 2 a.m.
In addition, it will only be installed for six instead of seven weeks, namely from November 20th to January 2nd - instead of January 9th.
44 percent of electricity should be saved in this way.
"The Champs-Élysées are a symbol and a showcase for the whole world, that of Paris and that of France," said the President of the Champs-Élysées Committee, Marc-Antoine Jamet.
»It was our duty to show solidarity and to set an example.«
The lights will also go out earlier at the Eiffel Tower.
While the landmark was previously illuminated until 1 a.m., the lights will go out at 11:45 p.m. this Friday.
Around 20,000 lamps flash on the tower every hour.
The earlier blackout is part of the city's energy saving plan.
The lighting in other public buildings will therefore be switched off from Friday at 10 p.m.
In Germany, an energy saving regulation also stipulates that neon signs and illuminated billboards must be switched off from 10 p.m. in the evening until 4 p.m. the following day.
At least at first, that didn't work everywhere on Hamburg's Reeperbahn.
apr/dpa
