Tinker's Damn (Or Is It Dam?)

Mom and I were in the apartment today, she working on her computer and I taking a nap, when we heard an almost cataclysmic clanging of a bell in the street, getting increasingly loud as it approached our window. We were both startled from what we were doing. Now in Paris there are a lot of noises, and some need to be investigated. Looking out the window we felt like we were in a time warp. An old man was pushing a strange home-made cart-like contraption down the street as he was ringing a bell loud enough to wake the dead. On the cart were grinding wheels and chains. He saw us looking out the window and called up to us. We weren't sure what he said, but thought he must sharpen knives and tools, so we told him we didn't have anything. He nodded and went on down the street, ringing his bell. What century is this, again?

Dirt and The City

Keeping a city of over 2 million people clean is a challenge, and when that city is full of smokers and dog owners who don't scoop the poop, it's a 24 hour-a-day job. Combine that with narrow streets that were appropriate for foot traffic and not giant garbage trucks and the problem increases exponentially. But Paris is up to the challenge. The street cleaners are miniature versions of what we see in the U.S. and they run constantly. On one round, the sidewalks are sprayed (necessary to wash away the dog poop) and on the next round one half of the street is sprayed and brushed. That's when the men in green uniforms with green plastic brooms go into action. As the water runs down the gutters, they sweep along the cigarette butts and other detritus until it reaches the drains that run into the famous Paris sewers.
There are also even smaller sanitary vehicles resembling motorcycles that are actually vacuum cleaners on wheels. Their sole function is to suck up the dog doo. It's actually against the law not to scoop the poop, but apparently the city would rather clean it than enforce it. Or they have just given up. Everywhere there are places for garbage disposal, so it's not that it would be difficult to keep the streets clean, and reminders can be found everywhere: vigilante/proprete is written on all the garbage sacks - Be aware/cleanliness! Still the gutters and sidewalks are full of cigarette butts and - well, you know.


























 Which leads my doggie mind to the matter of smoking, cough, cough. Yes, they still do it. Many restaurants now ban smoking inside, but most are open-air and the smokers stand on the sidewalk just outside the tables. Cough, cough. It's not like they haven't been told - on the cigarette packages the print that says FUMER TUE (smoking kills) is larger than the brand name of the cigarettes. That would scare me and I can't even read! And today, when Mom and I were taking our walk, a young woman flicked her ashes right in front of me. No wonder Mom wants me to ride in the stroller.