After a visit to New York City, the International Olympic Committee’s next stop is Paris, which announced on its Olympic bid Web site that it would kick off a fresh promotional campaign on Wednesday.

Paris 2012’s tagline, L’Amour des jeux, or “At the heart of our lives,” is part of a campaign that includes more than 3,500 billboards promoting four images – three iconic French athletes and a little girl playing hopscotch at the foot of the Eiffel Tower.

The fierce competition for the 2012 Games between New York City and four European capitals – not an unknown in the bunch – is leading each contender to search for unique ways to dazzle the IOC judges.

The Moscow 2012 campaign, eager to show the softer side of Russia, sent out Valentine’s Day cards to IOC members. “Be my valentine – from Russia with love” is the message Moscow 2012 members hope will leave an impression lasting longer than a bouquet of roses.

During the London evaluation, a 33-foot-tall statue of a female athlete was unveiled in Trafalgar Square amid a send-off that included life-sized holographic projections of famous athletes.

In addition, the Arctic explorer and British ambassador for London’s bid, Tom Avery, has pledged to plant a London 2012 flag at the North Pole. He set off February 25 to attempt a record setting 38-day journey.

Madrid, the first city to be toured, seems to be pinning its hopes on providing the world’s first ecologically sound Olympic games. The Madrid committee has guaranteed there will be no greenhouse gas emissions if it is chosen as host of the 2012 Games, and is dedicating 15 million workers to the task, according to its official Web site.

The committee is in Paris from March 9-12 and then travels to Moscow from March 14-17. It was in Madrid from February 3-6 and London from February 16-19.

The final report on the five cities will be published in early June. The final decision will be announced July 6 after a secret vote is held in Singapore.