Vélib' is Everywhere

Just when you thought you'd seen everything, Vélib' now has bikes in the Seine. Kind of.

On our bateau mouche, no one else seemed particularly taken aback by Vélib's presence, so I looked like a total weirdo jumping up to snap a few pictures as the boat sped by.

Maybe JCDecaux's next troubled business venture can be a boat-sharing program on the Seine. I'd sign up.

Motorcycles Are Everywhere

The streets of Paris are overrun with motorcycles, scooters, electric bikes, and all other manner of powered deux roues (two-wheeled vehicles). After months of riding an unusually heavy, manually-operated bike in the midst of loud revving, noxious exhaust, and an utter disregard for the rules of the road, I've come to detest motorcycles. (Stateside, there's an ad campaign that tries to encourage motorcycle awareness among car drivers with the slogan "Motorcycles are Everywhere!!" but I always interpret it as reminding people of just how evil motorcycles are.)

That's one of the reasons why we haven't made an effort to document motorcycles in the same way that we did fire trucks and public sanitation vehicles. Which isn't to say we ignored them completely. Here are two of my favorite motorcycle pictures, from our photo archives:

Fire at the BN

I have this bad habit of showing up to libraries and finding them closed, or entering a library and learning I'm not allowed to do any research. (Remember my first day?) Such was the case when I tried to go back to work after returning from our cruise, when I arrived at the BnF Richelieu to find a single fire truck with its ladder on the building's roof and dozens of people congregated outside the building's entrance.

First I thought it was just an exercise, but when I asked a security guard when they'd be opening up again, he didn't know. That bode poorly for my "exercise" hypothesis. Worse, while walking around the building on my way to the Département de la Musique, I kept noticing more and more fire vehicles, most of which I hadn't seen the last time I witnessed Paris' fire department in (in)action.


Whatever was going on in there, they really called out the cavalry. Including a number of the cute, small-parking-space-friendly, hatchback-ish vehicles you see above. Whatever gets the job done, I guess.

Paris Fire Department historical trivia, courtesy of a plaque on an H&M just across the street from Galeries Lafayette:

Here, on July 1, 1810, the Prince of Schwartzenberg, Austrian Ambassador, gave a ball in the honor of the marriage of Napoléon 1er and Marie-Louise de Habsbourg-Lourraine. During the course of the evening, a violent fire broke out, after which the Emperor (Napoléon) ordered, by the decree of September 18, 1811, the reorganization of the present-day firefighters into a military unit. The origins of today's Parisian firefighting brigade can be traced to that decree.

Now you know. And knowing is half the battle.

Propreté de Paris on Parade

On our way to the May Day festivities, we noticed five "Propreté de Paris" vehicles all lined up in a pretty, green row.

And at the end of the row, all the drivers, waiting to do their thing.

They were preparing to clean up just as soon as tens of thousands of protesters/revelers vacated the Place de la République. I hope all those critics of the government appreciated that, as usual, the government was cleaning up their mess.

Does anyone else get the impression that the same manufacturer provides Paris with its public sanitation and fire vehicles?

Vanvas Returns

Way back in December, I noticed that graffiti artists had chosen a new medium for their work: delivery vans and trucks. Since then, I've only grown more impressed with the "vanvas" pieces I've seen on the street. There's something about all that pristine space - and maybe the increased visibility/mobility of the vehicle - that inspires invention and fine workmanship. And as far as I can tell, other graffitists seem to refrain from covering over another's vanvas, suggesting that this might constitute enduring art.

There's abstract expressionism:

More traditional work in the "tag" genre:

And searing commentaries on authenticity, luxury, and consumer culture:

As you can tell, I'm a big fan.

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Update, 10 minutes later: Maggie has pointed out that there's a post by one of the Paris bloggers we check regularly which explains this phenomenon as an exchange between market traders and graffiti artists. I'm not entirely sure that covers all the vanvas I've seen, but it's persuasive enough, and Adam's post is much better written. Finding his post makes me feel like I was hip to vanvas when it was still underground!

A little excitement

On my way back from the library yesterday afternoon, I happened upon a dramatic scene. Remember those fire trucks I profiled way back? Well, I finally got to see them put to good use.

Sorry the pictures aren't that great - I'm no photojournalist. Mostly what I saw (along with at least 120 other bystanders) were the firemen breaking the windows to the first floor apartment, seemingly to give the smoke a smoother exit strategy. Passing by the same spot today, the windows were already boarded up. A little excitement had already given way to cold reality.

This One's for Jacob

Fire engines! Four of them! Lined up in a pretty row! Whether you're 4 years old (Jacob) or almost 26 (Louis), this sight is cause for excitement.

That ladder doesn't look very tall - but then, neither are the buildings in Paris, most of which are legally limited to six or seven stories.

Ok, that's a more serious-looking ladder. But the truck itself still seems a little . . . stubby. Is it an optical illusion, or are these trucks specially designed to navigate the narrow Parisian streets?

You say "Vehicle de sécours et d'assistance aux victimes", I say "ambulance," let's call the whole thing off.

I have no idea why this is shaped so weirdly. Maybe this is the tactical fire-fighting SWAT team's fire truck?

Better than Canvas

Always in the avant-garde, Parisian artists have started working with a new medium, and I'm going to take a stab at naming it. But before I do, let me show you what I'm talking about:

Graffiti on a van: it's better than canvas, it's vanvas! ((C)Louis 2009) But seriously, I love the idea of mobile art that actually moves around (as opposed to the "mobiles" that hang in one place). I know the original "vanvas" was the subway car in NYC c. 1980, but that didn't last, mostly because the MTA kept cleaning its property. The owners of these vans, on the other hand, seem to show no interest in removing the art from their  vehicles, and I appreciate that. It certainly makes the streets more colorful. Some store owners have even preemptively commissioned their own vanvas:

Epicerie Le Caire, you win.