Paris Journal 2011 – Barbara Joy Cooley Home: barbarajoycooley.com
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In this era of polarized politics, Paris is not immune. In fact, with the structure of local government here, the situation can get even dicier than in other places. Paris is divided into 20 arrondissements, each with their own town hall, council, and mayor. The elections for these local offices are partisan. There are several political parties in France, but the two major ones at the moment are the UMP, which are moderate conservatives, and the Socialists (PS). The 15th arrondissement is the largest, both geographically and population-wise. Its mayor is Philippe Goujon, a member of the UMP. The overall mayor of Paris is, of course, Bertrand Delanoe – a Socialist. Friday’s and Monday’s Journal de Paris section of Le Parisien contained news stories about a situation that is causing consternation with a strong political flavor. The centerpiece of the controversy is a homeless shelter. Nothing new there. This homeless shelter is one recently established in the lower 15th, not far off of the avenue Félix Faure, on the rue Oscar-Roty. There, for several weeks now, has been established a center for sheltering about 65 men in a state of “très grande précarité.” Tom and I have seen a few of them in our walks down this lovely avenue. We’ve seen them in their “great precarious” state of drunken aggression. So much so that we cross the street to avoid them. Some drunks are peaceful; some are dangerously aggressive. This shelter recently established on the rue Oscar-Roty is supposed to be temporary – until 2013. It is needed because a shelter in the 11th arrondissment has closed. The 11th arrondissement is on the east, right-bank side of Paris, and the 15th is on the west, left-bank side. An example of the aggressiveness of these men in their state of “very great precariousness” happened at a poissonerie (fish shop) on the avenue Félix Faure. I remember that day – Tom never likes the smell of the fish shops. But on one day in particular, as we walked by, the shopkeeper was hosing the shop out at the end of the day as usual, but in the water he was washing away were high levels of disinfectant. That was obvious from the intense green-yellow color of the water. The odor was intensive. What happened, we learned from the newspaper, is that a group of the men from the shelter (who are turned out during the day because there are no daytime programs funded there) went into the poissonerie, demanding “merchandise” from the shopkeeper. The shopkeeper said “Non.” The men then urinated all over the shrimp that were out on display, on ice, in a semi-open case. The baker is unhappy, too, because the drunk men sit right outside his door, yelling at and insulting people. Some evidently don’t make it into the shelter at nightfall, and they talk loudly out on the street instead, keeping neighbors awake. The situation was alleviated a little bit by removing the park benches from the avenue. Philippe Goujon is angry. He says that the shelter in the 11th arrondissement was closed to “relieve the Socialist mayor of the 11th of the nuisances.” Philippe complains about the center being closed during the day, putting these aggressive drunks out on the streets of the 15th. “Since it is the City of Paris that made the decision to put the center here, it is the City of Paris who must take the measures to follow the SDF [homeless] during the day.” To this, Anne Hildalgo (Socialist), who is the adjunct to the mayor of Paris and an elected official of the 15th arrondissement, sneers, “We have asked the State [Republic of France] for the center to be open 24 hours a day. The Minister of Lodging [UMP] has refused. Mr. Goujon could phone his friend Benoist Apparu [Minister of Lodging] to unblock the situation.” Furthermore, she adds, “Mr. Goujon says he wasn’t kept informed. However, there has been correspondence on this subject between Paris City Hall and the mayor of the 15th arrondissement since the 18th of May.” The Socialist mayor of the 11th arrondissement was incensed by Goujon’s quotes in the Friday newspaper. In Monday’s paper, the mayor of the 11th was quoted as retorting: “For the opposing party, the responsibility for those in ‘great precariousness’ must be entirely contained in the east of Paris.” To this, Mr. Goujon snapped back, “The 15th arrondissement receives people in great social difficulty. We have forty-some shelters in the 15th. Since I’ve been mayor, we’ve opened five. We are one of the only town halls to make available a hall for taking care of people in the ‘Grand Froid’ plan.” The “Grand Froid” plan is a program for helping those in need, particularly the homeless, during severe Winter weather. Based on my observations about the various parts of Paris, I think I’d have to side with Philippe Goujon on this one. I see plenty of evidence that the 15th has a taken on a great deal of social responsibility, including plenty of social housing (subsidized housing). And 40-some shelters! That’s a lot. And on the east side of Paris, there is much need. So of course there should be lots of facilities there. The arrondissements where it seems to me that there aren’t so many social facilities (i.e., provisions for the poor) are the 7th and the 16th, and perhaps the 6th and the 8th. Maybe I’m off base, but that’s what I see when I walk through Paris. We walked through the 7th yesterday evening to meet Carol and Ron at La Petite Chaise for dinner. It was a Monday night, so options were a little more limited. But the staff at La Petite Chaise have always been warm, friendly, and accommodating to us and our friends. We were embarrassed the last time we went there, last year, to meet acquaintances from SW Florida who were real sourpusses at the restaurant. Evidently, all that has been forgotten at La Petite Chaise. My guess is that last year, the staff was even feeling sorry for us, having to put up with this cranky couple at our table. But last night was as pleasant as could be, in the company of Carol and Ron and with the exquisite service at La Petite Chaise, we had a lovely dinner. Tom and I each had wonderful appetizers and desserts, even if our main courses were just okay. Carol had a delicious beef filet. A good dinner with good friends – that’s the best. Sign
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Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Tombstone
at the Grenelle cemetery, with nice ceramic
flowers.
The grave
of Leila Pahlavi, daughter of the former Shah of Iran, in the Passy cemetery.
Sainte
Jeanne de Chantal church, with a small wedding going on up by the alter.
Eiffel
Tower and La Renaissance at the
Pont de Bir Hakeim.
The Pont de
Bir Hakeim (formerly the Viaduc de Passy), where several movie scenes have been
filmed. Today, a movie called
“Bandits” is being filmed on the avenue de la Motte
Picquet, near our favorite restaurants of La Gitane and La Gauloise. |
