Paris Lifts 30-Year Ban on High Rises

(AP) - Complete with new gray hairs and two bodyguards, a wax version of President Barack Obama took a trip to the Eiffel Tower today. The hot summer sun threatened to melt the fake president's face, prompting helpers to shade him with an umbrella. The statue then traveled to Paris' Musée Grevin wax museum, where it will stand as part of a heads-of-state display alongside renditions of Nicolas Sarkozy, Angela Merkel, and Vladimir Putin. More»

(NEWSER) - All of Paris is breathlessly awaiting the arrival of Michelle Obama, hoping to catch a glimpse of an American first lady as beloved by the French as Jackie Kennedy, reports AP. Like Jackie, "Mrs. Obama is exactly the kind of American woman the French adore: a woman who never lost her femininity, who's smart and dynamic and fabulous in her own right," said a Paris fashion critic. More»

Smoking ban ends French tradition

(NEWSER) - The hazy, brooding atmosphere of Parisian cafes and bars has changed overnight with a French ban on smoking in public places. Clouds of smoke from scores of Gauloises and Gitanes cigarettes, which once hung over France's most celebrated salons and dining rooms, have wafted away. Similar bans are already in force across Europe. More»

City hopes shared bikes will make a dent in ze car traffic

(NEWSER) - Paris began offering free bikes at stations throughout the city yesterday in a new initiative to ease car traffic. Cyclists can use any of 20,000 heavy-duty bikes parked at 750 locations around the capital by swiping a transportation card that costs $1.36 for the day and up tp $40 for an annual pass. More»

Replica city wasn't finished by end of WWI

(NEWSER) - A sham Paris was built near the end of World War I in an attempt to fool German bombers, according to recently unearthed archives. The fake city—built on a bend of the Seine similar to the one in Paris—boasted fake railways, fake factories, and even a fake Champs-Elysées, the Telegraph reports. Private firms were hired to create wooden replicas of buildings, and one of the country's foremost electrical engineers was hired to illuminate it. More»