Mayor Networks With Political Elite in Paris
LONDON — Mayor Bloomberg toured Paris yesterday, dining at fine restaurants and meeting with French officials to discuss the environment, poverty, and other challenges that the two cities face.
As part of his four-day European tour, Mr. Bloomberg met with the mayor of Paris, Bertrand Delanoe, and the French minister of ecology and sustainable development, Jean-Louis Borloo.
"I think if France and the United States, Paris and New York do things [for the environment] you will find an awful lot of the rest of the world coming along," Mr. Bloomberg said.
The mayor, who met with President Sarkozy of France earlier in the week in New York, said he planned to put together a "working group" to look at how New York and Paris could team up to address common challenges, including traffic congestion, climate change, poverty, and terrorism.
After viewing a public bike-share program in Paris, Mr. Bloomberg said he would look into replicating the initiative in New York, but made no promises.
Among Mr. Bloomberg's lunch guests was the director of the acclaimed film, "March of the Penguins," according to published reports. Mr. Bloomberg, who is staying with the American ambassador to France, Craig Roberts Stapleton, also met with a French businessman, Bernard Arnault.
The mayor will be in Blackpool, England, tomorrow to speak to the Conservative Party Conference. Tomorrow, he'll visit with the mayor of London, Ken Livingstone.
