Smoke-Free Paris Clears the Air

It's more bad news for smokers

(USER SUBMITTED) - Since 2007, the French have not been allowed to smoke indoors in public places. So they have fled to the outdoor spaces of cafes. These can get a little chilly in winter, so the obliging proprietors have provided giant outdoor heaters to make sure that smokers are comfortable. No more. Paris' Socialist council plans to ban them by the end of 2010, ostensibly because of their carbon footprint. Oh yeah, and the plastic tarps used to hold the heat in the enclosed outdoor areas are also fire hazards. But really we just don't want people smoking, right? Read the full article in Daily Mail. More»

(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»

City drops 30-year ban on new high-rise construction

(NEWSER) - Ambitious new towers will soon be thrusting into the Paris sky now that the city has decided to drop a ban on tall buildings, the Times of London reports. The Eiffel Tower is likely to remain the city's tallest, but by 2012 it will share the skyline with a 590-foot glass pyramid said to resemble a giant blade or a witch's hat—the first of six innovative towers to be built on the city's outskirts. More»

Nouvelle année accompanies nationwide ban on smoke-filled cafes

(NEWSER) - Say goodbye to the tradition of puffing on Gauloises at Paris cafes: Beginning Tuesday, France becomes the latest nation to introduce a complete smoking ban in restaurants, hotels, and nightclubs. The ban has widespread support, although diehard smokers are threatening to fight it. "I cannot stand the idea of a hygienic, clean, and, sorry to say, 'American style' society," one smoking advocate told Bloomberg. More»