For millennium City of Light, a bout of post-storm darkness

By Vivienne Walt, Boston Globe Correspondent, 12/30/1999

PARIS - The millennium party here was supposed to have been unforgettable. But many Parisians, after the most violent storms in 50 years left 70 people dead in France alone, were in no mood to celebrate. And the season might be better remembered for disaster than for champagne.

Two storms lashed Western Europe on Sunday and Tuesday, killing 122 people and causing billions of dollars in damage.

''The whole feeling now is one of sadness,'' said Raymond Rey, who stood outside the cathedral of Notre Dame de Paris yesterday, watching incredulously as construction workers toiled atop scaffolds, near the spots where five spires snapped off their posts Tuesday.

''I'm 80 years old, and I have never seen anything like this. How can we celebrate, when so many are dead?''

In both storms, winds of more than 100 miles per hour buffeted the country, blowing out electricity, cutting phone lines, uprooting tens of thousands of trees, and causing havoc among monuments that had withstood centuries of wear and tear.

Yesterday, 5 million people in France were still without electricity, and thus with no heat. The military deployed 6,000 soldiers to help clear fallen trees, repair homes, and deliver water to stricken areas.

Sixty local jurisdictions were declared disaster zones yesterday, making them eligible for $16.7 million in emergency government funds. Officials said restoring train services and repairing roads, bridges, and power lines could cost hundreds of millions of dollars and could take several weeks.

Hundreds of workers from Belgium, Spain, and Britain arrived yesterday to help with the crisis, and the French electricity service called in 12,000 retired workers to help.

Still, electricity officials said millions probably would spend this New Year's weekend in darkness and without heat.

After days of rain, Parisians awoke yesterday to blue skies and ventured out to see the damage.

For many, it was a shock. Crowds strolling along the Champs Elysees watched as workers cleared branches and tightened bolts on 11 Ferris wheels that had been built for the New Year's Eve celebrations.

The express road that snakes along the brimming Seine's Left Bank was closed, and fallen trees and the skeletons of cafe awnings were strewn along dozens of streets. But officials have insisted the millennium celebrations will not be disrupted.

Paris officials still say they expect a million to throng the streets. The entire Eiffel Tower, about 1,000 feet high, and all the Seine bridges, are wired to light up at the stroke of midnight, and a fireworks display from the tower's summit has been planned in detail for months.

On a stage erected near the Elysees Palace, the presidential residence, rock and jazz bands tested amplifiers yesterday for their performances tomorrow night. But many on the Champs Elysees said that they were in the mood for a quiet night, and that they had no desire to join the party.

''It seems too noisy, too wild for me,'' said Justine Chamousset, 20, who lives near the avenue and plans to spend the night at home with friends. ''I don't know anyone who's going into the streets,'' she said. ''Maybe people from out of town.''

Danielle Liberge, 58, said she would cook dinner for her family, and look after her five-year-old grandson, Armand. ''I just want to be at home.''

Nonetheless, for the city's elite, lavish meals are booked solid, including a dinner at the Palace of Versailles with foie gras, caviar, and champagne, for $2,230 per person.

Days before the grand party, however, the storm shattered windows and skylights in the palace, and ripped out more than 10,000 trees in the spectacular gardens.

At Notre Dame, in addition to the broken spires, stained-glass windows, and parts of the roof were damaged. The cathedral and the Versailles palace each draw millions of tourists a year. Both had just completed expensive face-lifts for the millennium celebrations.

Now, however, the storm damage itself has become a tourist attraction.

Outside the 800-year-old cathedral yesterday stood members of an Oklahoma marching band, who had arrived Tuesday to take part in the New Year's Day parade down the Champs Elysees.

''This is my first view of Paris,'' said Teresa King, from Oklahoma City, ''and all day, we've gone around looking at what's been damaged.''

This story ran on page A10 of the Boston Globe on 12/30/1999.
) Copyright 1999 Globe Newspaper Company

[ENDS]

-- John Whitley (jwhitley@inforamp.net), December 31, 1999

Answers

I suppose those in France that may have hoarded, are glad that they hoarded.

Dang, I love that word HOARD!

-- the Virginian (1@1.com), December 31, 1999.

I'd almost surrender my preps for that Palace of Versailles spread. Almost.

-- Gia (laureltree7@hotmail.com), December 31, 1999.