Paris shut down the Champs-Élysées to cars, people packed the street

Standing room only for one of France’s busiest roads.

The Champs-Elysees goes car-free. Source: Getty Images

The Champs-Élysées is a busy street, but on the weekend the Parisian boulevard went carless in an attempt to lower air pollution. 

Usually it looks a little something like this:

The usually car-filled Champs-Élysées (Ludovic Marin) Source: Ludovic Marin

But on Sunday it was a whole lot more of this:

(Thomas Samson) Source: Thomas Samson

The initiative comes from the city’s first ever female mayor, Anne Hidalgo, and from the looks of the photos taken on the day, it was a raging success.

"Pollution kills people every year, especially because of particles," Hidalgo said. "We absolutely need to change our habits, change our attitude and chose mobility."

(Geoffroy Van der Hasselt) Source: Getty Images

"Paris encourages mobility through its public transport, its electric rental cars and car-sharing system, its rental bikes but also by promoting gentle traffic," she said. "It is our ambition. It is our plan to make the city more environmental-friendly."

Locals and tourists alike made the most of the carless festival atmosphere.

(Geoffroy Van der Hasselt) Source: Getty Images

"I've been here before, and the last time there were like thousands of cars," said Tony Weng, a Taiwanese tourist told AP. "We could only stand on the side of the street. This is the first time that we can actually stand on the street, so it's awesome."

A lone car free selfie in the City of Love. (Lionel Bonaventure) Source: Getty Images

With the plan set to continue one Sunday a month, get ready for that must have Instagram holiday snap from the centre of the usually car-infested boulevard of honking drivers.

 

Tune in to #thefeedsbs at 7.30pm Monday-Friday on SBS 2, stream live, or follow us on Facebook,Twitter, Instagram, Tumblr, or Vine.