#thebellyofparis | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

cmapfilm · 5 years ago

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Books of the week #books #read #loitering #thebellyofparis #bookworm #itscoldoutside #zola #dambrosio (at Chimney Swift Farms) https://www.instagram.com/p/B8SU3LUBlYB/?igshid=1eqtr2qkv1vj9

#books #read #loitering #thebellyofparis #bookworm #itscoldoutside #zola #dambrosio

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jetlaggedinparis · 7 years ago

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Is Paris dirty, really?

Is it a hard-to-expunge reputation, or a sad reality? Is Paris dirty, really? Despite their love for the City of Light, tourists seem to agree on the latter.

Paris: adored worldwide

When I travel abroad, I pride myself on being a Parisian. I’m now well trained. As soon as I concede my nationality and the city where I live, the only evocation of Paris triggers a bounty of emotions and personal stories.

Suddenly, be it in a shop with a sales assistant or a restaurant with a waiter, time stops for that person. A flow of descriptions of places, anecdotes from their last visit to Paris are confided: shared with a perfect stranger and a foreigner. I indulge quite willingly in this cheerful exchange as I always end up, to my great delight, getting good tips and local recommendations about the city I’m visiting!

It also makes me feel thrilled and gratified to hear people simply declare their love for my hometown.

Naturally, my conversation partners tend to not only share their fond memories but also their frustrations. I am never surprised by the claims, as they are recurrent, almost clichés, in fact, among visitors who have come to Paris for decades, in no particular order: poor service, arrogance of the Parisians, lack of public restrooms, unsafe areas and so on and so forth.

Paris: cleanliness questioned

As a matter of fact, I have just experienced one of these peculiar encounters in a shirt shop, in Little Havana, Miami.

The store manager had just spent a week in Paris and was ecstatic about his recent trip. He had been to the Eiffel Tower: “the Alain Ducasse restaurant on the second floor was so expensive but so good”.

And so as to make the image even more perfect I added: “Did you know the Macrons invited the Trumps to dine in this very restaurant last July?”

“Everything went fine”, he continued, ”but let me tell you, Paris is dirty… horribly dirty”. Touchée.

If my face had been an emoji at that instant, perplexed and dumbfounded would have immediately followed naïve smiling. I agree Paris is not the epitome of cleanliness, but I would not have expected anyone to make it his unfavorable and lasting impression of the French capital!

Indeed, on a daily basis I’m quite furious when people drop garbage outside trash cans or don’t pick up their dog’s poop, but I have never judged a city by its cover. It has never occurred to me to do so. If so, I would, for instance, prefer Singapore to Kuala Lumpur, due to the relative positions on the cleanliness scale, and this is not the case.

Paris: all things considered

However, with this remark in mind, on my return, I started examining Paris from a different perspective.

· People walk long distances in the capital.

· They have drinks and lunches on terraces, even in winter.

· They smoke on the sidewalks.

· Almost every bank ATM has a homeless person next to it.

· Market stalls bursting with fruit and vegetables are assembled along the streets of each neighborhood.

When on my way from Porte Saint- Denis to Châtelet, during my fifteen-minute walk, I stumble upon prostitutes, Indian workers awaiting deliveries at street junctions from clothing retailers in Le Sentier, food delivery bikers, strollers and passers-by. And all of this in a street full of restaurants, porn shops, nail parlors, an organic bakery, passages (to name just a few), to reach finally what used to be described as The Belly of Paris by Emile Zola, the main set of best-seller novel ‘Perfume’ by Patrick Süskind, and which shelters now the newly refurbished ‘Les Halles’ shopping center.

The French capital is a vibrant place, squeezed within a relatively small perimeter compared to other international cities such as London. Hence the accumulation of waste and dirt may be more visible here and harder to control as both live in harmony with intense human activity!

Paris: any solutions?

Of course it is not that simple. Who would want to have their immediate surroundings stay dirty just because it appears to be a lost cause?

Huge efforts and improvements have been carried out over the years in Paris in terms of urban waste management, and an impressive array of actions and services are detailed on the official Paris website.

As my friend Judy MacMahon (founder of MyFrenchLifeÔ magazine and probably the most knowledgeable person I have ever known on anything ‘French’) points out rightly “My view is that there is definitely less dog poop in Paris, these days, but Paris has lots of strong urine smells in the metro and other places and not only from street dwellers. I still find Paris dirty but paradoxically I find the street/footpath and gutter washing system amazing! That system is so far ahead of most others anywhere in the world!”

What is more, Paris dwellers have reacted to this criticism and taken initiatives to end this plight. They’ve formed associations, funded and encouraged by the authorities to preserve the environment, and make residents responsible for the quality of life ‘outside their window’. Many projects have been implemented or are in progress, such as the greening of streets, walls, the planting of shared gardens and around street trees.

I am certain, that, if tourists dared to wander further afield than the well-beaten-tracks of Paris tours, they would be delighted to discover those achievements. I believe it is one of the many facets of a new emerging Paris for a cleaner future.

Paris: with a little help

Despite all these measures, Paris streets may still seem dirtier than any other comparable cities.

In New York, dog owners who leave pet poop in public places, face hefty fines and the law is aggressively enforced, whereas in Paris, there is only a 68 euro fine for littering, whether it be dog waste or cigarette butts! But, in Paris, I have never seen anyone caught ‘red-handed’!

This is definitively another issue in the struggle to maintain cleanliness in Paris. The law is not sufficient a deterrent.

I honestly feel, that describing Paris as a ‘dirty city’ is not accurate and does not do it justice!

Granted there are some problem areas that may deserve that description ,it goes without saying that this concerns everyone, but the actions of many will be required to make a positive contribution.