Postcard from... Paris

An Eiffel Tower lollipop, a baguette bag with a shoulder strap and a tandem Vélib’ rental bike.

These are just some of the innovative objects at an unusual exhibition, Lost in Paris, which aims to connect design with tourism. Designers Maurizio Galante and Tal Lancman were approached by the Lieu du Design and the Paris Ile-de-France-Committee to bring their creativity to the City of Light. Their responses came out of left field.

The small exhibition, which runs in the 11th arrondissement of Paris until next January, includes the projection of images on the windows of RER surburban lines. So if you’re crossing the Vallée de la Chevreuse, a magnificent stag with antlers flashes up. A plane comes into view at the stop for Le Bourget.

A perfume developed for the event is going on sale. A French hairdresser came up with a headscarf made from real hair. And the two Israeli and Italian designers asked a group of art students to come up with distinctive smells which are preserved in a series of ceramic containers, capturing pleasant scents of the Paris suburbs.

“Ninety per cent of the projects are being used,” said Benoite Beaudenon of the Lieu du Design. She said the introduction of the tandem bike into the Vélib’ production line was among those being discussed.

The two designers say that they wanted to propose a “modern, poetic vision of Paris and its region”, which is one of the most visited in the world, in order to “create surprises thanks to unique experiences that visitors can take home with them”.