Month: July 2017

Paris hates cars.  This bonus chapter of French License diverges from my personal story and touches on a societal phenomenon, that of punishing car owners for every sin under the sun.  Nowhere is this trend more prevalent than in Paris.  The capital is riddled with land mines blowing up in driver’s faces everywhere they go.  A license plate is an invitation to a firing squad, with the mayor shouting your death knell.

You think I’m exaggerating?  Read this chapter to discover the facts.

Further reading for residents: 40 millions d’automobilistes

Update August 29- things are getting hotter under the mayor’s throne…

Everybody is incensed at the mayor.  Hidalgo has arbitrarily done a land grab of streets and lanes, taking them away from cars, without consulting citizens, businesses that need to have goods delivered, commuters, or even the police who worry about being slowed down, or completely cutoff from coming to the aid of people.  Her way of doing things has rubbed a lot of people the wrong way.  A book will be released this week detailing her actions and reactions: Notre-Drame de Paris, by Airy Routier and Nadia Le Brun.  No wonder Airy Routier is against her.  Hidalgo is anti-car, and ‘routier’ means ‘truck driver.’

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Back to school in France coincides with the Rentrée littéraire, which is when most new books are released.  It’s a vibrant period with events, signings, speeches and readers go wild with purchases, discovering new writers.  In that spirit, I’m beginning a countdown to the rentrée.

There are about as many chapters in French License as there are days ’til then.  So, each day, I’ll give you a peek into the contents of a chapter.  This should help new readers discover the book.  The sample only covers the first 5% of the book, the set-up.  More of the juicy bits happen in the middle, then building to a climax at the end.  The 42 chapters cover a decade of foibles.  The countdown hors d’oeuvres should help you decide if you’d like a feast of French License on your table.

 

Thank you!

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Yawn… “Bonjour, my name iz Bleu, or Blue to you anglophones.  But I am not an English bulldog, I am a French bouledogue.  Or, I will be when I grow up.  At ze moment, I am vehry fatigued from reading French License.  So, I go bed now.  Meyhbe next time I show you what I learn.”

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First France, now UK, and soon Germany.  All have set a date of 2040 for the transition to no-emissions vehicles.  France fell off their rocker with an outright ban.  The UK’s approach is more moderate.  At least the Brits realised that banning makes current cars worthless, new gas/diesel cars unsellable, and threatens the jobs of nearly a million workers in their country alone.  The new goals are still incredibly ambitious, and will require the concerted efforts of many groups.

read story on Autocar.co.uk

An interesting sidebar to the UK’s announcement is that they want to do away with speed bumps, which provoke severe braking, releasing fine particles into the air.  Road works have scattered bumps all over France, in copious quantities, and gradients to knock your socks off, or at least your bumper and muffler.  This is covered comically in Chapter 26 of French License.

 

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They are not long, the days of wine and roses.  Neither are the days of immunity when driving in France with foreign plates.  France claims that twelve countries now exchange information when they catch someone with out-of-country license plates on a moving violation.  Governments will send a notice over the border, in the language of the vehicle’s registration document.

No word yet on how effective this is, because the local authorities don’t get involved where the car is registered.  Clearly France has the most to gain from this exchange.  France has more radars than any country in Europe, the severest penalties for speeding, and a centrally situated land that neighbors must enter or cross to reach vacation and delivery destinations.  Auto taxes and penalties represent a whopping 17% of the total income of the French government.  They want visitors to add to that figure.

The list of tattle-tale territories includes Austria, Belgium, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Switzerland.  Notably missing are states on the French frontier, including Britain, Monaco, and Andorra.

Chapters 15 and 42 of French License cover radar cameras in Europe and France’s pecuniary roads.

link in French: https://www.preventionroutiere.asso.fr/2017/06/02/que-se-passe-t-il-en-cas-dinfraction-a-letranger/

 

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