This has got to be the number one complaint of foreigners in Paris: la merde everywhere — on sidewalks, in the middle of streets, on doorsteps, even in métro stations (I have a truly disgusting photo of dog droppings in the Gare de Lyon, which I won’t post because it will forever ruin your appetite for brownies).
Interestingly, many of my French friends shrug when I bring up the subject. They, too, find it disgusting, but they are used to it; it’s no big deal. There are more important issues to rant about, like stagnant salaries and shrinking pouvoir d’achat (purchasing power).
There are, however, signs that things are improving in "Poo-ris," as my brother calls it. The city’s green-minded mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, has taken several steps to encourage citizens to pick up after their pups: he has put signposts everywhere to remind people to ramasser; created new parks and pea-gravel walkways all over the city; and has begun to fine people who pretend not to notice when their beloved bulldog drops several messy crottes on pavement. In the past six months, I have seen four people picking up after their dogs. This is a marked improvement from my first two-and-a-half years here, when I saw not one person doing their doggie duty.
So there is hope. A day may indeed come when I can look up at the city’s fabulous architecture whilst I stroll, instead of down at the ground in search of canine landmines, a beautiful, sweet-smelling day when the acrid scent of excrement will not permeate every impasse and cobblestone back street.
But until that day comes, I’ll keep my eyes on the ground.
In the old days Paris had the "motos de merde" that patrolled the streets looking for deposits. (It was almost as if dog pooping was a constitutional right whose handling was left to social services rather than the dog owner.) I haven't seen those since the early '90s, however. But I'm glad to know the citoyens are taking matters into their own hands, at last.
Posted by: Brent | January 10, 2008 at 09:09 PM