The French city appears to have acquired a reputation of being one of the dirtiest capitals in Europe, a place where rubbish and dog poo litter the streets, turning it from the City of Light to the City of Blight.
Now the authorities are relaunching a clean-up operation. Several prevention campaigns have had insufficient result, so the next step will be to up the fine for littering to €68.
This includes dropping cigarette ends and chewing gum onto the streets as well as larger items such as bottles, plastic and fast food wrappers.
The man in charge, Mr Peninou, believes Paris is not "dirty city, but a city that is dirtied".
At his disposal are a number of agents who are authorised to hand out fines.
Last year, when the fine was €35, more than 25,000 fines were issued by some 100 inspectors, but the hope is that the costlier penalty will prove a greater deterrent.
The Town Hall has installed 30,000 new rubbish bins with ashtrays.
Parisiens have already been encouraged to behave more responsibly. A series of poster campaigns have been pushing for people to stop dropping litter. One reads “Cleaners clean up behind you. Let’s avoid littering after them.”
