What's the best way to spruce up Paris's image? Could it be to float huge swimming pool tanks on the Seine? Or build a garden bridge across the river, linking green banks to form a Central Park a la française? How about burying the Boulevard Péripherique beltway underground, or turning abandoned metro stations into cinemas and nightclubs?
These plans are in fact all serious proposals put forward by this year's candidates to be the next mayor of Paris.
Paris mayoral elections arrive at the end of March, and the top contenders are currently trying to outdo each other with proposals to transform the city in the splashiest, most headline-grabbing way possible. The most viable (aka the cheapest) plan comes from Socialist Party candidate Anne Hidalgo – she’s currently ahead, at 54 to 46 percent in the polls, against the rival she'll probably face in a March 30 run-off.