Picture any big city anywhere on earth without traffic, just for one day. Now, if that city were Paris, visualize further the picturesque possibilities, not to mention the auditory, olfactory and visual potential.
Visualize no more because on September 27th, that’s just what is going to happen in Paris: “Une Journée Sans Voiture” – A Day without Car, in what will be a very exceptional day in history of the city.
City Hall refers to it as “a crazy gamble, but achievable.” No power-driven vehicle, with a few exceptions such as ambulances, will be permitted to drive in the streets.
In March, Mayor Anne Hidalgo announced that: “Paris will be completely transformed for a day. This is an opportunity for Parisians and tourists to enjoy the city without noise, pollution and therefore without stress.”
According to the city’s plan for September 27th, “All the most popular tourist spots, usually crowded, will be fully dedicated to pedestrians who will be able to discover a new Paris.”
The places without traffic are the 1st, 2nd, 3th, 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 10th and 11th neighborhoods, the Place de la Bastille, Place de la Republique, the area around the Eiffel Tower, the Left Bank, the Champs Élysées, Place Stalingrad and the Bois de Vincennes and Boulogne.
The Day without Car is a component of the city’s crusade against contamination and is along the lines of the European Mobility Week that will come to pass in Paris from September 16 to 22 as well as the key United Nations meeting on the climate (COP 21) also in Paris towards November.
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