SOLEIL SOLEIL SOLEIL ("Sun" in French) is a synchrotron facility near Paris, France. It performed its first acceleration of electrons on May 14, 2006. The name "SOLEIL" is a backronym for "Source optimisée de lumière d’énergie intermédiaire du LURE" (LURE optimised intermediary energy light source), LURE meaning "Laboratoire pour l'utilisation du rayonnement électromagnétique". The facility is run by a civil corporation held by the French National Centre for Scientific Research (CNRS) and the French Alternative Energies and Atomic Energy Commission (CEA), two French national research agencies. It is located in Saint-Aubin in the Essonne département, a south-western suburb of Paris, near
Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil Cirque du Soleil (, "Circus of the Sun" or "Sun Circus") is a Canadian entertainment company. It is the largest theatrical producer in the world. Based in Montreal, Quebec, Canada, and located in the inner-city area of Saint-Michel, it was founded in Baie-Saint-Paul on 7 July 1984, by two former street performers, Guy Laliberté and Gilles Ste-Croix. Initially named "Les Échassiers" (, "The Waders"), they toured Quebec in 1980 as a performing troupe. Their initial financial hardship was relieved in 1983 by a government grant from the Canada Council for the Arts, as part of the 450th