It’s an original ranking, to say the least! Initiated by the Paysages de France association, the Prix de la France moche has just published its 2024 list of the least beautiful places in France. Four sites received awards, including one in the Île-de-France region and the second in Paris!
The Prix de la France moche, France’s ugliest sites finally get their due!
The prize for the most beautiful village in the Île-de-France region, the most pleasant neighborhood or the Parisian bistro… Competitions almost invariably reward the “best” or the “most beautiful”. Paysages de France, on the other hand, swims against the tide of these numerous awards. One might have thought that, with such a name, this association would be awarding prizes every year to the most beautiful sites in France, from the wide expanses of beaches in the north to the calanques in the south… Not so!
This association, dedicated to landscape protection and the fight against invasive advertising, has just awarded the Prix de la France Moche (Ugly France Prize) to particular places (not villages/cities). This year, one site in the Paris region and one in the Ile-de-France region unfortunately won a prize!
An award-winning Paris and Ile-de-France site
Paysages de France has launched a very special competition. For the association founded in 1992, it’s the ugly France of natural panoramas and architectural heritage spoiled by billboard advertising! Four sites had the misfortune to be singled out by the association, which even established categories (just like at the Césars ceremony!!).
In the “Olympic Trifecta” category, the winner is Le Port on Reunion Island. This very haphazard set of pylons topped with SFR signs placed next to palm trees was singled out.
In the “Panneau en danger” category, this red-framed advertisement on the edge of a stream in Maromme (Seine-Maritime).
In the “Advertising nursery” category, this group of signs planted on the edge of gardens in Conflans-Sainte-Honorine ( Yvelines).
And a Parisian site in the ” Heritage enhancement” category! We’re talking about this advertising installation in the corridors of the Saint-Lazare metro station, which, to say the least, takes up a lot of space and hides the tiled vaults of the space!
The aim of this award, which will be the talk of the town, is above all to highlight, among other effects, the negative visual and aesthetic impact of certain billboards on landscapes and heritage sites.
Find out more about the Paysages de France association’s Prix de la France Moche 2024.