Paris & Ile-de-France: the strength of the banks of the Seine

Immobile, backward-looking, irreformable... this is the sad portrait of France in 2006 as seen by the bitter prophets of hexagonal decadence. They are quick to forget that behind its noisy nostalgia and its taste for the most vindictive slogans, France also knows how to evolve in silence. And this is even truer for its capital region. New economic projects, new business locations, a new image: for Paris and the Ile-de-France region, the word "future" is very much in the air.