What a pleasure it is to drive around Paris in August! We actually gasped as I drove into Étoile today, it was so empty. Oh-là-là! (By the way, the French never say Ooh-là-là. But even the most masculine men say Oh-là-là. Americans would say, Whoa!)
The Champs-Elysées was blocked off except for one lane of traffic in each direction. Ever-suspicious of our mayor Bertrand Delanoë's nefarious intentions (he hates cars), I decided to drive that way to see what he was up to: was he planning to turn the Champs into one huge pedestrian zone? I wouldn't put it past him.
There was almost no traffic. At the light, I pulled up next to a traffic cop. "Excusez-moi, madame," I said. "Do you know what is going on here? Why is the road blocked off?"
"It's the tanks," she said. "On the fourteenth of July, the tanks roll down the Champs and they tear up the pavement. C'est la même tous les ans!" She waved me on with a smile.
*Photo from Baloumba at Flickr
Wait, I'm confused, the 14th of July?? Was the road still blocked off from Bastille Day? Or were they preparing for the holiday on August 15?
Posted by: samantha | 11 August 2006 at 23:20
They had blocked off the middle of the street, leaving one lane on the outside in each direction. The central part of the road apparently has to be repaved every year after the tanks pass!
Posted by: Sedulia | 12 August 2006 at 00:39
August is my favorite month in Paris [that is: when there's no heatwave]. A lot of things are closed and the city is packed with tourists, but the pace slows down and relaxes. There's no traffic in the streets, there's room in the metro, people are pleasant, work is cool. There's "une odeur de vacances", even if you have to work.
Posted by: LA Frog | 12 August 2006 at 18:48
Hi Sedulia !
Actually last year, in 2005, there were no tanks in the parade, as far as Amerloque knows.
Several years ago the ecoayatollahs at City Hall were so unhappy that the pavés were being "ravaged" that they sent the bill for the replacement/repair work to the Ministry of Defense. There was a brouhaha in the press about this, and, at least in the 2005 Bastille Day celebration (and perhaps even in 2004, Amerloque seems to recall), there were no tracked vehicles, including tanks.
During the first part of this year it was announced in the press that the ecoayatollahs and the Ministry had come to an agreement, which allowed tracked military vehicles. The bill for repairs to the streets, according to the press, in being footed by the Ministry.
Best,
L'Amerloque
Posted by: L'Amerloque | 13 August 2006 at 10:29
We were having lunch on the Blvd de Montparnasse and all of a sudden these tanks went zooming by at amazing speeds. I was with my husband family they all exclaimed "Oh la la la!" and I automatically exclaimed "Whoa". Don't know if I"ll ever shake that expression. :)
Posted by: Aimee | 16 August 2006 at 02:51