Something new is up at a strategic location

Yesterday things started with a clump of "bricks" somewhere across the plazza,
and close to the Grande Arche, CNIT and Elysées-Défense/4 Temps


"Bricks"turned into walls


The marquee is now up


Gents are busy in fittings and furnishing


At first sight, LG also gears up for a big show.

Flashback, 15th April 2009, the Smart on Steroids

Among the events set up for a day since the beginning of the year. Burn Day posed then as an alternative to Red Bull and came to the plazza to get public awarness by targeting the thousands of rank-and-file office staffers who populate the surrounding building at day time.


A congenial crew was soon busy in giving away samples.
In order to both keep the samples fresh when stored and
to get something coming as handy as an attention getter
they brought the proof that

a compact Smart can also run on steroids ...

A few dozen yards away, L'Oréal came in with a new aftershave

Action took place close by the merry-go-round and Calder's towering red arches.

where L'Oréal


pitched the stand, while getting some help from actor Patrick Dempsey

Guys and gents could drop their current aftershaves

Modern art and greenery just beside.

EasyJet's newest fleet member - part II

Donning rampie's overalls, two crew members are tasked with attention getting with a loud speaker. Once job is done, then comes time in giving details on the event. In the meantime, the blimp gets some blessings from the business district church

For those in need of something to let time go by, and acting as stewardesses, Barbara, Lucie and Marie do a distribution of peanuts.

Media members start gathering.

The gondola is filled with 1,000 (recycles) paper planes, 20 of which are the winning ones

Now hovering at level 15 meters/45 feet, the balloon acts as an effective attraction. Lunch goers start coming-in.

EasyJet's Newest Fleet Member debuts at La Défense

Neither a departing Boeing 737-700, nor the latest Airbus A319 delivered, and not a jetliner either, EasyJet's newest fleet member recorded its first official sortie to and from La Défense central plazza.
The newest fleet addition is in fact a tethered balloon flying high the airline's bright orange and white colors,

which completed its ferry flight on board this van, which in turn acted as EasyJet's La Défense crewbase and station.

11.00 am, Inflating begins. Air-filled cannisters come in as handy to do the job.

coming up with the cigar shaped fuselage

which is mated with the set of four tail fins

Basically complete.
Firmly morred to the ground by a set of flexible cables tied to a couple of blocks

Then came time to test mating the gondolla with the blimp

Time for a road pionner to show up the latest achievement

Cofiroute is a french major motorway builder and operator. Its latest addition is the first leg of the dual level A86 which will eventually link Reuil Malmaison with Versailles in a little bit more than 10 minutes instead of 45 minutes through current road links

http://www.cofiroute.fr/cofiroute.nsf/fr/duplex-a86.htm
(in french, but the animation shows how it works)

The motorway is
entirely set underground,
in a two level tunnel,
each coming up with 3 lanes of dedicated single way traffic
so accident by frontal collision should be impossible
Trucks and two wheelers are banned together with vehicle higher than 2.80 meters
As the company will have to recoup costly and lengthy investment, access won't be free
Cofiroute offers 35 % off its published fare to customers who accept purshasing a LIBER-T (shortning of Liberté, ie Freedom) electronic pass.

So in order to reach the largest number of potential customers, the company's sales department has been standing up-front

at La Défense Business District,
starting with 4-Temps shopping mall for quite a few days
and supplemented by large billboard affixed on Elysées-La Défence front and visible from all over the adjacent plazza, across which thousands walk back and forth day-in, day-out.

Today, a customized van hosting a complete sale office has been added to the operational plan.

The best ride to SERENITY

Can be provided by paying a visit to this Van Hool motorcoach converted as a touring information counter on behalf of UMC, a mutual insurance company. (http://www.mutuelles-umc.fr) and parked not far away Calder's towering red iron sculpture.

A crew member making a presentation of health insurences to future subscribers for serenity