Eiffel Tower to lose its sparkle
Thousands of lights that illuminate the Eiffel tower are to be turned off in a bid to go green and cut their electricity bill.
Since 1 January 2000 a 'diamond dress' of over 20,000 bulbs have flashed on the Paris icon for ten minutes each hour after dark, much to the annoyance of French epileptics.
But now the famous tower won't shine as brightly after it was announced illumination is to be cut from 400 to 200 hours per year.
That might sound like an impressive reduction but it is the same as having one bulb lit for 24 hours per day for 456 years.
And it is not just the Eiffel Tower, floodlights on 280 monuments in Paris have been dimmed - cutting the cities bill by 75 percent.
The decision is part of a plan to make monuments environmentally friendly. Many now produce all tickets and documents on recycled paper and most of the electricity they use comes from renewable sources.
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