parisian laws and customs (Marilyn from Sunday)

dear folks -

life in paris has many interesting facets. and, of course, it was the french who devised bureaucracies.

by law every neighborhood in paris must have a bakery open every day, so there is always fresh, wonderful french bread to eat.

by law glass bottles are not permitted in any public park. as with many restrictions (i.e. drink no alcohol at all) wine is a permissible exception. wine is drunk openly in every park. though the police will enforce the no ball-playing rules.

by law horns are not to be honked unless an accident is eminent. this makes traffic so much quieter. except that traffic jams always bring out the honkers.

by law merchandise is put on sale only during sale periods in june and january. forget 4th of july, labor day and presidents' day sales. but this week i can get some nice bargains.

it's not clear there are many laws about parking since cars seem to park where they can find spaces. this is not as in the u.s. most cars are smallish and some are teeny, tiny little things. typically i cannot walk between parked cars there is so little space. now and then i see the bumper of one car wedged half an inch under the bumper of the car ahead or behind. to park a car in paris requires patience and precision.

by custom people converse very quietly. parisians are talkative and animated, but conversations are always in low tones, barely above a murmur. cell phones are pervasive, but one can almost never hear the person one can see using a call phone. and in restaurants cell phone users always step outside to have a quiet and private conversation.

the scale of life is much more intimate in paris. private life is more private and there's more awareness of sharing public spaces.

this evening we'll go to a one ring circus. the clowns (potato and pickle) are father and son. the daughter takes the tickets. and the family pets do tricks. dad is a juggler and mom does her part.

have fun yourselves this evening.

love,

m