Creative Parking 101

Today, I watched four men walk up to a car that was parked on the street, pick it up, and move it about five feet forward. I was sitting in our living room at the time and wasn't sure that I had seen what I thought I saw. I mean, cars are usually pretty heavy, a couple of tons or so. So I went over to the window to check it out. None of the men were particularly muscular, but sure enough they had carried this car forward a few feet to make room for their own car. How many times I've wanted to be able to do that in New York!

I should explain that on the whole, cars in Paris (and France) are a bit smaller than the cars in the U.S. In some cases, a LOT smaller. One particular brand named Le Smart Car is a two-seater that is not even 5 feet long (I'm not kidding). The new Austin Mini that has become popular in the States recently looks like a stretch limo next to the Smart Car. But the people who drive them do seem like geniuses when it comes to finding a parking space in this city. Recently, I saw 3 Smart Cars parked in a space that would have only fit one Ford Explorer. However, they are surely putting their lives in danger every time they pull out of one of those tiny parking spaces. Around the city, I think it would be okay because the traffic never seems to move too fast. But I've seen these cars zipping around on the Périphérique, the 8-lane highway belt that runs around Paris. I want them to have to put one of those triangular orange flags on a long pole like kids have on their bicycles to make them more visible.

Parisiens have other ways of creating parking space for themselves. Most of these are likely illegal. Like parking on the sidewalk. Or on the corner in an intersection. A few days ago, someone didn't have enough space to squeeze into a parallel parking spot on the street the regular way, so they backed into it, perpendicular to the sidewalk, and half the car was ON the sidewalk! These are the kinds of things that would get you towed in a New York minute in NYC. But here, I don't see many tickets being handed out. Our street here is metered, with Muni-meters that are almost identical to the ones around our old building in Forest Hills. The parking tickets here seem to get received with the same nonchalance that the French approach most things in life.

It's kind of nice not having to find a place to park every day.