Paris Journal 2010 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com

Photos and thoughts about Paris

Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. 2009 Paris Journal ← Previous Next → ← Go back to the beginning

The news about Nicolas Sarkozy ordering the clearing out of gypsy camps along with the deportation of the gypsies from Romania and Bulgaria has certainly hit the press in the U.S. I refuse to call them Roma. They are gypsies, and we witness the evidence of their culture of abusing their children, their elderly, their handicapped and their animals at least once a week here in Paris. That culture of abuse, along with their culture of larceny, wins them no sympathy from me. While I disagree with Sarko about many things, about this I agree with him. Yesterday, we had the opportunity to see some gypsies caught in the act of stealing. After welcoming our friends Pat and Stanley to Paris and making sure they were settled into their apartment, we walked back over to our apartment, taking one of our regular routes that includes a stretch of avenue Lowendal, near UNESCO. There is an ATM at a BNP Parisbas bank on that block – a machine that we have used from time to time. (FYI – Bank of America has an agreement with BNP Parisbas so we pay no ATM fees at that bank’s ATMs in France.) We were walking down the block toward this ATM when I heard a few harsh words being shouted, and I saw rapid motion ahead. A very large muscular man – I mean, the size of an American pro football player -- chased a slight young woman and caught her almost immediately, spinning her around and up against a car. The sound of handcuffs snapping closed was distinct. We saw that the large man had a large handgun fastened onto his back. Then we saw two other cops holding two other young women up against the wall of a building, near the ATM. The three young girls being held were gypsies. Standing nearby, in front of the ATM, was another young woman, who was taller, larger and much paler than the three being held. The taller young woman looked like she’d just seen a ghost. She stood facing yet another cop (all these cops were in plain clothes), answering his questions about what had happened. I think she was trembling. As we passed by, I went out toward the parking area along the broad avenue, to keep my distance from the cops, detainees, and victim. Tom followed behind me. In the parking lane we passed a white unmarked police car, with engine running. So, there evidently have been problems with gypsies stealing from people who use this ATM. The cops had it staked out, and VOILA! They caught the gypsies trying to rob their pale victim en flagrant delit – in the act. In the evening, we had a delightful dinner with our friends John and Caroline from Australia. After dinner at La Gauloise, we went to the apartment where they are staying to have some dessert wine called pommeau – made from apples. The view from that apartment is stunning, both out the front windows and balcony, and out the back kitchen window, where they have a full-length clear view of the Eiffel Tower. Magnificent. And we thoroughly enjoyed the evening of conversation and laughter. What a great time we had! This morning, I was very proud of Paris as I read about the city’s many efforts to feed the homeless and other hungry people who have an especially tough time in August. Nobody ever has to go hungry in Paris. This year, the city increased its budget for feeding the poor by 185,000 euros. It is providing an additional 100 meals a day at its “social restaurant” in the 5^th arrondissement on the rue de Santeuil. This is in addition to the 500 to 550 meals normally served there each day. An organization called Aout Secours alimentaire (August Emergency Food) has 300 volunteers who distribute packaged meals to be consumed in the evening. They started their August efforts yesterday in five churches scattered through the city. One of them is St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle, here in the 15^th arrondissement, near the Pasteur Institute. This year, because of the economy, Aout Secours expects an increase of ten to 15 percent in the number of people asking for their help. The City of Paris is giving Aout Secours 5,000 euros more than last year to help them feed the hungry people in this month of hardship for many. Normally the city gives Aout Secours 75,000 euros for their efforts. Aout Secours is still trying to raise an additional 150,000 euros, but I have been told that laws prohibit their soliciting or collecting funds from foreigners like us. Another volunteer organization that helps out during the summer is the Armée du salut, or Health Army. Every evening since the beginning of summer, their volunteers distribute hundreds of meals at the quai de Jemmapes in the 10^th arrondissement, along the St. Martin Canal. Last Monday, for example, a line of about 300 people waited patiently there. Many waited for an hour and a half. By the end of the evening, 375 meals were served. One of the volunteers, a 24-year-old law student named Laure, explained that they do not serve salads and fresh fruit even though it is summer. She says that the people there need more robust food to give them strength – a hot dinner, along with two bottles of water per person. Two of the “customers” interviewed by the newspaper were men from Poland, who have been making trips back and forth between Poland and France for over 20 years. They come to France to find odd jobs, to make some money to send back to their families in Poland. In August, there is less work, so to economize they come to the quai de Jemmapes for the free dinners. That enables them to still send a little money to their families during this challenging month. In August, the two Polish men sleep under the stars, because there is not much work. In addition to food, the Water of Paris organization distributes nearly 2,000 jerricans in the summer so that homeless people can collect water from the 953 potable water fountains in the city. People who live on the street are very susceptible to dehydration. Finally, there are fifteen “places of solidarity” in Paris, shelters where the homeless can go to sleep in comfort – places with fans, air conditioners, and brumatiseurs (mist-making machines). At these places, cold drinks are also “at their disposition.” Mercifully, this has not been a hot summer in Paris. Perhaps June was hot, but since we arrived at the end of June, we’ve had cool evenings and pleasant days. Our neighborhood used to have three homeless people who were of the neighborhood. One, nicknamed the Princess, had a remarkable background and rescue from the streets a few years ago – a story that I wrote about in this journal. The other two we have not seen at all this year. However, in the past two years they each were looking much better than in earlier years, as though someone was making some progress in helping them back to mental health. I hope they are safe and healthy somewhere in Paris. We see only a few remaining tents housing homeless people here and there in the city. Several years ago, Doctors without Borders provided hundreds of these tents to people, and we saw them in many places. But it seems that a concerted effort has been made to resolve these people’s problems, and there are far fewer of them living on the streets now. This concept of “solidarity” practiced by the French is admirable. Chapeau! Sign my guestbook. View my guestbook. Note: For addresses & phone numbers of restaurants in this journal, click here.

Tuesday, August 3, 2010 Statue at the end of the Champ de Mars, across from the École Militaire. Would you hire a truck from a company named Fiasco? Note the nice alignment of a lightpole with the Eiffel tower. A movie being made on the streets of Paris, involving a scene with, as an American boy near us said, “one sweet car.” Some sort of gull-wing. Woody Allen and Madonna are each directing movies being filmed in Paris now. ← Previous Next →