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France to go green for St Patrick's Day celebration

The Local France
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France to go green for St Patrick's Day celebration
The Moulin Rouge lit up in green in 2014. Photo: AFP

Paris and some other cities in France will take part in "Global Greening" on Tuesday, which will see a long list of monuments lit up in the colour green for Ireland's national day.

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The Sacré-Coeur in Montmartre will be green on Tuesday night. So will the Galeries Lafayette, the Irish embassy, the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and Sleeping Beauty's castle in Disneyland Paris.
 
Elsewhere, Bordeaux's Porte de Bourgogne will go green, as will the Negresco hotel in Nice and the Royal Palace in Monaco. 
 
If your imagination is failing you, Parisians can expect something similar to the efforts last year when the famed Moulin Rouge became the Moulin Vert as it too went green - though it's understood the burlesque venue will stay red on Tuesday.
 
Video: Liam Neeson explains how the world goes green for Ireland 

 
The French connection to Ireland is strong, with around 15,000 Irish people calling France home. Irish culture has a mighty influence on the Parisian drinking scene, with a slew of Irish pubs strewn across the city. 
 
These pubs are sure to be overflowing with both pints of Guinness and patrons on Tuesday, as the French join in on the festivities honouring the date of Saint Patrick's death, the patron saint of Ireland.
 
The Global Greening campaign is part of a massive tourism push from Ireland to encourage more visitors to take plunge and visit Ireland. It will see a heap of monuments across the world turn green - Ireland's national colour - including the Colosseum in Rome and Rio's Christ the Redeemer statue. 
 
(Why not enjoy a nice cold Guinness on Tuesday? Photo:Grzegorz Rogala/Flickr)
 
An Irish Pub for St Patrick's Day?
 
There's so many to chose from but for a good atmosphere look no further than the Cork and Cavan of course, on Quai de Jemmapes  along Canal St Martin. It's a good mix of expats and French and the mostly Irish bar staff never fail to push the boat out to celebrate Paddy's Day. If you're lucky you might even get to see the pub's entertaining Irish owner sing a few Irish songs on stage before pouring a pint of Guinness over his head.
 
If you are looking for more of a raucous party atmosphere with discos and dancing you're probably better off heading to one of the big chains like Corcoran's or O'Sullivans on the Grande Boulevard.
 

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