When one moves to Paris, most of us become pedestrians. It is said that 40% of the city population does not own a car and either walk or use public transport (bus, metro, or city bicycles) to get from one place to another. Among the reasons for said high percentage of pedestrians is that there is a metro station approximately every 300 meters. Also, the bus and bicycle services are very reliable, whereas finding a parking spot within the city limits can become not just a headache but mostly a migraine in many cases, and the traffic can be nightmare at peak hours like in most major capitals of the world. Therefore, one prefers to walk, even those who have a car.
However, I have to say that when I first came to visit the City of Lights as a tourist, one of the biggest surprises I had was to see how dirty the streets were. Here the mass media refers to the Champs-Elysèes as the Most Beautiful Avenue of the World (La plus belle avenue du Monde, Les Champs-Elysèes), but locals don’t seem to think the same way but on holidays or during special events… It is something pretty difficult to explain, but they hate going because it’s full of tourists, but want to be there for the parade on the morning of July 14, or upon arrival of the Tour de France. For me, the image of a dirty city came specifically from said beautiful avenue. I remembered having to be extremely careful or I would step on dog’s poop every step of the way.
Now, almost 15 years have passed, and although cleanliness has gotten better, there’s still an enormous amount of work to be done in such a sense, and the city authorities make a great effort in it. I have seen free poop bags be available at parks, billboards on the garbage trucks referring specifically to cleaning after dogs, but I also wonder if it has to do with the fact that there are many old people with pets who are no more capable of cleaning after Belle or Lady, or even Spike. Then, I also think about my fellow nationals and their lack of courtesy to clean after their doggies when they walk them even in the nice Mexican suburbs…
Can we be THAT lazy? Don’t know… food for thought, I guess.
A poster commonly found around Paris to promote cleaning after pets (Source: paris.fr)