Traffic (or lack thereof) and Tartines - Friday, 17 September

For the last five years Paris mayor Anne Hidalgo has been driving hard to get people to stop driving (!) in her “Paris Respire” (“Paris Breathes”) initiative.  It started with banning cars from central Paris the first Sunday of every month, to eliminating cars from the quais along the Seine, to converting one lane on major thoroughfares from cars to bicycles/scooters, to reducing the number of parking spots, to banning high-polluting diesel and other vehicles more than 15 years old, to eliminating cars completely from some thoroughfares (only buses, bicycles, scooters, taxis and emergency vehicles are allowed).  She has made strides in improving public transport, adding more bike and scooter rentals, etc., but there is some debate about whether her initiatives have really reduced pollution, or whether they have just moved traffic jams to other streets, slowed traffic in general (making trips longer), increased the amount of engine idling, etc.  

For those of you who know Paris, I’m sure it will be shocking to see this photo of a major thoroughfare, rue de Rivoli, right outside my door, at 2:00 on a Friday afternoon.  I can tell you that I was shocked!  On my first solo trip to Paris in the late 1980s I stayed in a hotel just 1/2 block from rue de Rivoli, and I’ve walked along it or attempted to cross it or rode on it (in a bus or taxi) every subsequent trip, and have never seen anything like this except, perhaps, early on a Sunday morning.  It certainly is less noisy!

During the pandemic, restos, cafés and bars have been allowed to construct little platforms, in what were formerly parking spots or traffic lanes, outside their establishments to allow for more outdoor seating.  They’re usually one or two tables wide, often have awnings, and are fenced with planters, trellises, greenery, etc.  I went out for a simple supper at about 9:00 tonight (it’s gauche to eat before 8:00!) looking for a table at a resto I had read about that was a couple blocks from my apartment.  No luck - everything on the terrace and the extension was full at that place and the others on the same street.  (I should have known better.  Apparently, food delivery and grab-and-go services are up significantly, but Parisians still love to meet their friends at bars and restos, and Friday nights are even busier than others.)  

So, y’know, one wanders around a bit and eventually finds somewhere to eat!  I did find one empty table on the terrace extension of a bar/café.  I went for their tartine - a broiled open-faced sandwich on thinly sliced and toasted sourdough bread, this one with ham, tomato slices and chèvre (goat cheese), and served with a simple side salad.  Tasty!  Not haute cuisine tonight, but I’ll get that in the next few days!