Have you seen the photos of colorful lampshades hanging above Paris streets?

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Here’s one…

This was the first one I saw, and it was posted by Fat Tire Paris, a tour company I follow on Twitter, with the caption “The lamps (officially) came back out today! You can find them on Rue de Furstemburg.”

I was intrigued. What were these lamps? An art installation? Some kind of elaborate sidewalk sale?

I did some investigating and found out the oversized laterns are meant to show the beauty and versatility of European linen.

Paris Déco Off

They are displayed annually in January during the 5 days of the Paris Déco Off. As I understand it, the Paris Déco Off is when home decor companies open up their Paris showrooms to debut new collections. It’s open to the public, and interior designers from around the world come for that and the tradeshow held at the same time.

There are free shuttles to take you to the different Paris Déco Off neighborhoods. (They’re Volkswagens, because it’s Europe.) Some of the showrooms have receptions with food and champagne. (Because it’s France.)

Linen Lux

The lamps hang over 8 of the streets where there are Paris Déco Off showrooms, including the aforementioned Rue de Furstemburg. The whole display is called Linen Lux, and it’s put on by Masters of Linen, a certification for material traceable from flax to fabric as being produced in Europe.

This year it included 140 lamps representing 85 different producers.

Rue de Furstemburg

While I was trying to figure out the deal with the lamps, I learned about the Rue de Furstemburg. It’s also spelled as the more German “Furstenberg,” because it was named after 17th-century abbot William Egon of Fürstenberg, who built the street and restored its abbey, St-Germain-des-Prés.

The abbey later was home to artist Eugène Delacroix and is now a museum of his work.

Less notably, in the middle of the rue is the Place de Furstemburg, which, depending on who you ask, is either the smallest square in Paris or just an overachieving roundabout.