NELSON Mandela's name is on almost every Parisian's lips at the moment - and it's not only prompted by the opening of his exhibition at the Paris City Hall last night - but because he's that admired over here.

The From Prisoner to President exhibition, from the Apartheid Museum, was given a French tweak ahead of its run between May 30 and July 6 at the City Hall.

At every corner in the city is a poster advertising the opening of the exhibition, and there are also pictures of Madiba in random buildings that aren't even hosting any events affiliated with the South African Season in France - the cultural exchange between the two countries - which was launched with the lighting of the iconic Eiffel tower in the colours of the South African flag on Tuesday night.

The Eiffel tower will be illuminated every night until June 2, and then again on South Africa's Youth Day on June 16 and around Mandela's 95th birthday.

But attention quickly switched away from that installation back to Mandela, even if the exhibition shows him not only as an inspiring figure but also one who had flaws.

Apartheid Museum director Christopher Till said ahead of the opening yesterday: "This is not to hold him up as an icon ... but there's no getting away from the fact that we are who we are largely through the wisdom of someone like him."

- Ndlovu's trip to Paris is courtesy of the National Arts Council