Tuesday, January 30, 2007

The Seventh Sign of the Apocalypse

France will ban smoking in public places as of next February.

France. The country.

As someone who generally falls on the side of health advocacy, I know in my intellectual mind this is a great thing.

As someone who lived there during my younger years, I am shocked. What is this world coming to when the people who gave us Galoises are banning smoking from cafes and brasseries?

I think I need to take a quick trip to get one last look at the Paris I knew!

Then again, this could save them a bundle on restoring monuments, cleaning streets (though if they're sneaking cigs dans la rue, one can only imagine how many butts will wind up underfoot), and lower that pesky public healthcare bill...

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Now I have been living in France for a certain time and have seen many a splendid, well-meaning or occassionally even timely law voted onto the statute book here. To be totally ignored by all. So I have every confidence that, especially given France's powerful State-owned tobacco monopoly, bluish plumes of Gauloise smoke will continue to cloud many a bistro bar. And this for better or for worse...

Richard

Anonymous said...

Aah! A blast to the past when I was a smoker. A friend from Sweden introduced me to Gauloise cigarettes and I totally embraced them because they were European and not American! (though truthfully I thought they really were ugly.) But I was in college and "needing" to become worldly.

Also at that time, there was a local cigarette one could buy at theatre events that were very slim and each was a different color and they were all the "go" for hip folks in the area. They also really tasted bad! But if you were seen in the city with a purple, gold, blue etc slim cigarette; you were in a "certain crowd." (yeah, Jessica Lange was one )

I hope all those places in France that seem to require "smokes" will retain their charm without the "butts." Because, you know what, no matter where they come from....they are bad...move on.