Latest news with #AnneHidalgo
The Sun
2 days ago
- Automotive
- The Sun
Do you know what this new French road sign means? Holidaymakers face £118 fine if they break key rule
A NEW road side in France this summer is threatening to impose a huge fine for holidaymakers if they break its key rule. Travellers to the country's capital may come across the sign when driving in Paris, and it should not be ignored. 2 A fine of £118 awaits motorists breaking the rules of the sign, which features a white diamond on a blue background. The sign can be seen on the eight lane Boulevard Périphérique around Paris, which is used by around one million vehicles each day. The symbol on it signifies that the left-hand lane can only be used for vehicles with passengers. Motorists caught driving alone in these lanes on the road's cameras will be issued automatic fines. It is being used in a bid to restrict car use in the capital, following changes in recent years to the Boulevard by Paris Mayor Anne Hidalgo. Another measure was introduced last year, which reduced the speed limit to 30mph on the 22-mile motorway. Four filling stations along the stretch of road were also banned from selling diesel fuel. However, the latest road rule incurs a costly bill if not followed, requiring a payment €135, equating to around £117.50. A new control system was installed on May 2, and put live to ensure compliance with the rules. The system involves hi-tech computer-assisted video enforcement (VAO) which monitors vehicles in the far left lanes at all times. Olympics is 'stupid' for pushing athletes into poop-filled River Seine - world champs will fall ill, workers fume It can capture the number of people in each car through artificial intelligence cameras. The recordings of vehicles considered to be breach the rules are then sent to a human agent for verification, who can then issue motorists abusing the rules with a fine. Signs and enforcement for the new carpool only lanes on the ring road also started at the beginning of May. They aim to encourage commuters to travel into the city in groups of at least two, hoping to reduce congestion and emissions from vehicles. The car sharing lanes are on the far left of the four-lane carriageway in both directions of what is one of the busiest ring roads in Europe. These exclusive lanes were initially introduced for the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympic Games last summer, designated for athletes and staff to use as priority vehicles accessing the city. Hidalgo, who has launched various anti-car measures for the city, confirmed they would remain after the conclusion of the games, and instead be used for car sharing in peak congestion hours. These hours 7am to 10:30am and 4pm to 8pm on weekdays. On weekends and public holidays, all lanes are open to any vehicle. Public transport operators, emergency service vehicles, taxis, and cars for people with reduced mobility are also permitted to use the carpool lanes at any time. President of Automobile Association, Edmund King, told the Daily Mail: "Britons driving to Paris this summer might be forgiven for not understanding a new addition to French road signs – the diamond with a blue background. "Some might think it is a sign to the 'diamond district' in Paris, which is around Place Vendôme and Rue de la Paix, but it is not - it is a sign denoting a car sharing lane."
The Guardian
22-07-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
French culture minister to go on trial over alleged corruption while an MEP, source says
The French culture minister, Rachida Dati, is to go on trial over alleged corruption and abuse of power while she was a member of the European parliament, a judicial source has said. Dati, 59, who had hoped to run for Paris mayor in next spring's municipal elections, was charged in 2019 on suspicions she lobbied for the Renault-Nissan carmaking group while an MEP. She has denied the allegations and has repeatedly sought without success to have the charges against her quashed. Dati is accused of accepting €900,000 in lawyer's fees between 2010 and 2012 from a Netherlands-based subsidiary of Renault-Nissan, but of not really working for them. She was an MEP from 2009 to 2019. Investigations have tried to determine whether she was in fact lobbying in the European parliament for the carmaker, an activity that is forbidden. Dati, a former minister for the rightwing French president Nicolas Sarkozy, was appointed as culture minister last year in a surprise return to government during Emmanuel Macron's second term in office. She also serves as the mayor of Paris's 7th arrondissement where she has been a vocal critic of the city's Socialist mayor, Anne Hidalgo. Dati became the first Muslim woman to hold a major government post in 2007 when she was appointed justice minister during the Sarkozy presidency. She has said that growing up on a low-income estate on the outskirts of the town of Chalons-sur-Saône, in Burgundy, gave her a greater understanding than most politicians of the French electorate. In 2007, Sarkozy said appointing Dati sent a message 'to all the children of France that with merit and effort everything becomes possible'. When Dati was appointed to government last year she had already been charged in the Renault-Nissan case. She denied any wrongdoing. The Socialist party leader, Olivier Faure, said at the time of Dati's appointment that the legal investigation was a problem, saying it sent 'a bad signal' and went against Macron's promises of an 'exemplary' republic. Investigating magistrates in France have also ordered that Carlos Ghosn, the ex-tycoon of Renault-Nissan, be tried in the case, a judicial source told Agence France-Presse. Ghosn, who has been living in Lebanon for years after escaping arrest in Japan, has also denied the charges against him. A hearing on 29 September will decide on the date of the trial. A source following the case told AFP that the trial could be held after the Paris municipal elections, due to be held in March Ghosn, the former chair and chief executive of the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance, was arrested in Japan in November 2018 on suspicion of financial misconduct, before being sacked by Nissan's board in a unanimous decision. He jumped bail late the following year and made a dramatic escape from Japan hidden in an audio-equipment box, landing in Beirut, where he remains as an international fugitive. Both Japan and France have sought his arrest.
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Travel + Leisure
19-07-2025
- Sport
- Travel + Leisure
You Can Now Swim in the Seine for the First Time in 100 Years
For the first time since 1923, the Seine is open for public swimming at three designated sites in Paris through Aug. 31, following a $1.6 billion cleanup. Swimming areas are free, first-come, first-served, and include lifeguards, lockers, and changing rooms, with age and height restrictions in place. The reopening has created a buzz among locals and visitors alike, offering a unique way to cool off in the city—with Eiffel Tower views included. If you follow anyone in Paris on social media, you've probably noticed that most of their recent stories involve swimming. That's because, on July 5, the Seine officially opened for public swimming—for the first time since 1923. Attention is once again back on the city's iconic river, which, a year ago, was the unconventional stage for the opening ceremony of the Olympics. The games were, in fact, the first step in making the Seine swimmable again, with officials pumping more than $1.4 billion into its cleanup to host the open-water swimming and triathlon events. "It's a childhood dream to have people swimming in the Seine," Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo, who was instrumental in the cleanup, said during an event commemorating the day. From now until Aug. 31, people will be able to take the plunge into the Seine for free at one of three swimming sites: Bercy, opposite the François Mitterrand Library; Bras-Marie, at the foot of Pont de Sully facing the Île Saint-Louis; and Grenelle, near the Eiffel Tower. 'Being able to swim with a view of the Eiffel Tower is amazing,' Parisian local Fabrice Atallah told Travel + Leisure . Atallah, who lives just outside the center of Paris, dived in at Grenelle a week after the official opening. He also caught a synchronized swimming show that took place in the river. 'I stayed for an hour doing laps,' he said. 'The water temperature is nice and fresh. It's not too hot and not too cold. I enjoyed it.' Access to the river operates on a first-come, first-served basis, with no prebooking available. The sites are supervised by lifeguards and are set up with outdoor furniture to relax on, space to lay out your towels, and lockers and changing rooms. The biggest site, Bercy, can accommodate up to 300 people in two swimming areas, while Bras-Marie and Grenelle both have a capacity of 150 people in the water at any one time. Age and height limits are in place at each site, a necessary precaution given the depth of the river in some places. At Bercy, swimmers must be at least 10 years of age and be taller than 1.2m (that's about 4 feet tall). At Bras Marie and Grenelle, the minimum age is 14, with a minimum height requirement of 1.4m (approximately 4 feet, 6 inches). Grenelle also has a dedicated children's pool. All swimmers are required to wear a yellow floating device. Other urban swim sites in the city include the Canal Saint-Martin bathing area and the pools of Bassin de la Villette. The water quality and bacteria levels of the river are monitored daily, and all three sites had to close the day after opening due to rainfall. An official map shows real-time updates about which spots are open for swimming. The news has generated an exciting buzz in the French capital, which famously empties at the height of summer as residents flee to the countryside and the coast to escape the heat. Now, those who stay, as well as visitors on vacation in the city, will have a place to cool down. 'It wasn't a normal day in the water, everybody felt it was special,' Atallah said. 'We've taken back our river after a hundred years!'
The Guardian
12-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Paris rejoices as Moulin Rouge windmill sails turn again year after collapse
The sails of the red-painted windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge, the most celebrated cabaret in Paris, have begun turning again, restoring the home of French can-can to its full glory more than a year after they tumbled inelegantly to the ground. In a profusion of red feathers, members of the Montmartre institution's 90-strong troupe performed its signature dance on the road outside to mark the occasion on Thursday night, after the second of two daily performances that draw 600,000 visitors a year. The 12-metre sails collapsed in April last year after a mechanical failure, injuring no one but sparking an outpouring of emotion including from the Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who called the cabaret a vital part of the capital's cultural heritage. 'The sails have always turned at the Moulin Rouge, so we had to restore this Parisian symbol to Paris, to France, and to the state it was in before,' said Jean-Victor Clérico, the cabaret's managing director. The sails will now rotate daily from 4pm to 2am. 'The whole troupe is very happy to find our sails again – these are the sails of Paris,' said Cyrielle, one of the 60 dancers who took part in the street celebration, which was illuminated by a specially commissioned firework display. Founded in 1889, the Moulin Rouge became a global symbol of fin-de-siècle Parisian nightlife, its famed can-can dancers depicted in paintings by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. An eponymous 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann cemented its present-day appeal. The French can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure of a dance for couples known as the quadrille. It caused considerable scandal when it first became popular as a cabaret act mainly because of its intentionally revealing high kicks. Performed by a line of female dancers, the dance, devised in the early 1920s by Pierre Sandrini, then artistic director of the Moulin Rouge, revolves around the 'vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, high kicks, jump splits and cartwheels'. After their collapse, new aluminium sails were ready in time for the Paris Olympics last July, but it has taken almost a year to build and fit a new electric motor ready to turn them and power the hundreds of red and gold bulbs that stud the display.
The Guardian
11-07-2025
- Entertainment
- The Guardian
Paris rejoices as Moulin Rouge windmill sails turn again year after collapse
The sails of the red-painted windmill on top of the Moulin Rouge, the most celebrated cabaret in Paris, have begun turning again, restoring the home of French can-can to its full glory more than a year after they tumbled inelegantly to the ground. In a profusion of red feathers, members of the Montmartre institution's 90-strong troupe performed its signature dance on the road outside to mark the occasion on Thursday night, after the second of two daily performances that draw 600,000 visitors a year. The 12-metre sails collapsed in April last year after a mechanical failure, injuring no one but sparking an outpouring of emotion including from the Paris mayor, Anne Hidalgo, who called the cabaret a vital part of the capital's cultural heritage. 'The sails have always turned at the Moulin Rouge, so we had to restore this Parisian symbol to Paris, to France, and to the state it was in before,' said Jean-Victor Clérico, the cabaret's managing director. The sails will now rotate daily from 4pm to 2am. 'The whole troupe is very happy to find our sails again – these are the sails of Paris,' said Cyrielle, one of the 60 dancers who took part in the street celebration, which was illuminated by a specially commissioned firework display. Founded in 1889, the Moulin Rouge became a global symbol of fin-de-siècle Parisian nightlife, its famed can-can dancers depicted in paintings by artists such as Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec. An eponymous 2001 film by Baz Luhrmann cemented its present-day appeal. The French can-can is believed to have evolved from the final figure of a dance for couples known as the quadrille. It caused considerable scandal when it first became popular as a cabaret act mainly because of its intentionally revealing high kicks. Performed by a line of female dancers, the dance, devised in the early 1920s by Pierre Sandrini, then artistic director of the Moulin Rouge, revolves around the 'vigorous manipulation of skirts and petticoats, high kicks, jump splits and cartwheels'. After their collapse, new aluminium sails were ready in time for the Paris Olympics last July, but it has taken almost a year to build and fit a new electric motor ready to turn them and power the hundreds of red and gold bulbs that stud the display.
