Night owls and early birds: Paris’ nightlife dilemma
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PARIS — When Paris banned smoking in bars and clubs three years ago, no one planned on a sneaky side-effect: legions of party-goers spilling onto the streets to smoke, chat — and keep the neighbors awake.
Bad blood between revellers and residents already grouchy at noise levels in the capital’s trendy quarters has curdled since the smoking ban took effect in nightlife spots in January 2008, a year after other public places.
Last year a group of DJs and club promoters launched a petition warning that nightlife was dying out in the City of Lights, after a rash of lawsuits against bar owners and steps by city authorities to shut down noisy clubs.
Since then rows have simmered on, and this week Paris city hall hosted a big-tent conference to try to get the warring factions — club owners, police, residents’ groups, local authorities — to see eye to eye.
“Paris is a city full of contradictions. Every Parisian is both an early bird and a night owl — we all work, we need our sleep and from time to time we like to party too,” Mayor Bertrand Delanoe told the gathering on Friday..... MORE
Source: The Daily Tribune
URL: http://www.tribuneonline.org/commentary/20101115com3.html
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