|
|
|
Caca on the Street
|
|
|
more about
how Parisians live
|
|
by David Applefield
It should be pointed out that the infamous problem of uncurbed dogs, which had given Paris a bad name for many years, has been somewhat rectified. Although the law states that you have to curb your dog, directing him to do his besoins (needs) in the caniveau (gutter) off the curb-and there are even cute graphic reminders painted onto certain sidewalks-you used to have to hop-skip-and-jump to avoid landing in a rude pile. The city has recently launched a clever and graphically-pleasing poster campaign designed by famed-illustrator Sempé to remind dog owners of their civic responsibilities. Now, in the nicer neighborhoods at least, the city cleans up with the use of a technician with a green designer suit on a converted motorcycle equipped with a high-powered vacuum cleaner. Much of the eye-sore has been aspirated away. As of October 1991, there is a new law that allows you to be fined on the spot for not curbing your dog.
While on the subject, Paris has other ways of keeping itself clean. You may wonder why water gushes out of sewers and runs through the gutters so often-even when it´s not been raining. Paris street cleaners, mostly Africans in green municipal jump suits, open valves of clean, but undrinkable water and direct the flow up- or down-street, by positioning soggy bolts of tied-up cloth. Then they sweep with their green plastic-branched brooms, loose papers, mégots (cigarette butts), trash and unclaimed dog-doo into the moving stream, which drains into the city sewers and eventually into the Seine system for recycling. You can visit the impressive sewers, Les Egouts de Paris, daily at Pont de l´Alma in the 7e. Every address in Paris has an equivalent one underground. This complex, unlit network was extensively used by Resistance fighters during the Nazi Occupation.
For humans, Paris streets are equipped with automatic, self-disinfecting pay toilets. For two-francs, you gain access to a futuristic compartment whose cleanliness and comfort is guaranteed.
|
