Appooppanthaadi -6

19.12.2010 ( Paris – continued)

More than 50% of the metro users in Paris are people whose natural origin is from outside Europe. Quite a sizeable part of this is from African countries. Then come Asians, especially from China, Thailand and other east-asian countries. Of course Indians, Pakistanis and Sri Lankans also make a good part of the population. I have already mentioned about the adorable parippu vadas in the streets of Paris. Who else in this world can make parippu-vada, the tastiest snack one can ever have in his/her entire life?

As I have been walking along one of the streets of Paris, I spotted a man, standing at a bus stop. A good number of buses are also plying in the roads that further ease the journey in the city. The man looked so uneasy and wanted to do something urgently. As I have been observing, he slowly drifted towards the nearby wall of the building, unzipped his pants and started relieving himself. It was a shocker.

Pissing on European streets? Unbelievable, but it did happen. The man was certainly not of European origin, but he dared to do this unsavoury act in a public place in Europe. This was not the an isolated incident I witnessed there. Even spitting is not a big sin on the streets of Paris.


People cross the road even if the pedestrian signal is red. Vehicles may have to stop for the pedestrians, but the people never stop crossing even when the signal is red. I found myself standing alone at the signal waiting for the green signal even as people unmindful of such a signal had been crossing the roads. Very rarely, this indifferent attitude of the general public tempts the motorists to break traffic rules. I felt, it was a telling example of how concerted efforts by a group of people can sometimes subvert rules so systematically.

There are so many beggars and destitutes on the streets. They look to have made permanent abode on the roadsides, though they have not yet made a shelter over their heads. The surroundings they sit or stay are definitely unclean. Even though there are so many nice roads and buildings all over Paris, there is a dirty side too. Trash on the road is not an uncommon sight there. We can see many over flowing trash cans and plastic carry bags filled with waste heaped on the road sides. The city authorities do their best to keep the city clean however.

There are streets where people stand on the road sides and sell cigarette packets. They shout as the people pass by. There are so many crowded streets where people make a living out of this. These streets look nothing less than those unclean and trash filled market places of our country. In a few metro stations also, people stay inside permanently. They play musical instruments or simply sit on the sides of the walkways, seeking alms from the commuters.

People sell metro tickets at lower prices near the queue in front of the automatic ticket counter of the metro rail. Since the queue sometimes may be longer, people find it convenient to buy from such vendors. They sell the ticket at 1.50 euro whereas the original price at the counter is 1.70 euro. I could not find out from where they manage to secure these tickets and how they sell at a cheaper rate. I too tried once to check out if the tickets they sell were genuine. It works at the automated gates at the entrance of the platforms.

Hotels are expensive here. For 60 euros, we can get a basic room that offers free breakfast and wi - fi in the room. Facilities in the room will be minimal, and the room will be very small. Just to sleep in the night and keep our belongings. Rooms are sufficiently warmed using heaters and a television is also provided. In France, wherever I stayed, I could not find an English programme on the television. In other European countries, they allow either CNN or BBC for the viewers, but in France, we can see only French channels. To get a better room, we may have to spend more than 100 Euros, but still a lot to be desired to match any semblance of luxury comforts.

The famous hotel groups that have good presence in Europe are Hotel Ibis, Mercure Hotels, Best Western Hotels and B&B Hotels. We can find these hotels in most of the cities. These hotels are reasonably priced and providing free or chargeable wifi connection in rooms and free breakfast.

Disneyland in Paris is another place we consider visiting. It is an expensive affair that may make you poorer by a few hundred euros. I had an offer for free access to Disneyland from my friend Rajiv, as one of his friends is working there. The offer came too late after I left the city. Anyway there is hope. I may find another opportunity sooner than later to walk on the streets of Paris.

A few words about baguette (pronounced “bæˈɡɛt”) . It is a type of French bread that looks like a stick. “A standard baguette has a diameter of about 5 or 6 cm (2 or 2⅓") and a usual length of about 65 cm (24"), although a baguette can be up to a meter (39") long.” We can spot people carrying it in their hands. On a Sunday morning, I could see a long queue in front of a bread shop in Paris.


A quick reference to the Sex Shops dotted all over the city is also to be made here. We can spot so many shops here bearing the board Sex Shops. These shops offer peep shows, porn CDs/DVDs and sex related gadgets. There are so many magazine and book shops all over the city that display porn DVDs/CDs for sale. Sex for them is not a sacred thing that needs to be kept away from public realm. They know very well that basic instincts of human beings are to be satiated and for this purposes specific spots are to be allocated. This prevents people from giving vent to sexual urges on the soft targets and sitting ducks travelling on the lonely streets and trains.



They may not be standing on the moral high ground in this case, but it is far better to be honest on the low ground, than being hypocrite on the high ground. Above all , they do not have hundreds of thousands of temples, churches, mosques and gurdwaras to guide them live a highly disciplined and controlled ascetic life like we, the residents of this Mahan Bharat do!!