「光の都」パリ、名所ライトアップを短縮　電気代高騰で

【パリＡＦＰ＝時事】仏パリ当局は１３日、電気料金の高騰を受け、エッフェル塔などの名所を照らすライトアップを通常より数時間短縮すると発表した。ロマンチックな「光の都」として知られる同市を訪れる観光客はがっかりしてしまうかもしれない。（写真は仏パリで、エッフェル塔のライトアップを見るためにセーヌ川に架かるアレクサンドル３世橋に集まった観光客）
　市が運営する大半の名所は午後１０時に消灯する。通常は午前１時まで柔らかい光に包まれ、１時間ごとに白い光を点灯させていたエッフェル塔も、最後の訪問者の退出後、午後１１時４５分にライトアップを切る。
　パリ市長のアンヌ・イダルゴ氏は記者会見で、治安上の理由から街灯とセーヌ川に架かる橋のイルミネーションは点灯を続けると説明。エネルギー使用量の１０％削減を目標としており、これにより電気代を約１０００万ユーロ（約１４億円）節約できるとした。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2022/09/14-14:15）

Paris will start switching off the ornamental lights that grace city monuments hours earlier than usual, plunging the Eiffel Tower and other landmarks in the dark to cope with surging electricity costs, officials said Tuesday.
Most monuments operated by the city will now go unlit from 10:00 pm, (2000 GMT), a potential disappointment for the tens of millions of tourists to the romantic City of Lights.
The Eiffel Tower, usually bathed in a warm glow until 1:00 am, and which comes ablaze with dazzling white lights every hour, will now go dark after the last visitor leaves, at 11:45 pm.
But streets lights will remain on for security, as will the illuminations of the city's ornate bridges over the Seine river, Mayor Anne Hidalgo said at a press conference.
The energy sobriety plan aims to cut energy use by 10 percent, said Hidalgo, which could help soften the blow of rising costs by some 10 million euros ($10.2 million).
Hidalgo, a Socialist who played up her efforts to green Paris during a failed presidential run earlier this year, said she would also push the government to do the same for national monuments in the city, such as the Pantheon or the Arc de Triomphe.
In August, President Emmanuel Macron warned that high energy prices caused by the war in Ukraine could signal the end of abundance, widely interpreted as preparing public opinion for a difficult winter ahead.