French people love their pets. My parents have a dog, a cat and around 15 lovebirds. And they call them their babies since my brother and I left the nest several years ago. It is not rare to see a Parisian whose only “family” is a dog. That said, maybe related to the destruction of the family cell I talked about last time, it is not surprising that Paris counts more than 200 000 dogs for a population of around 1 million people…

That many dogs leads to one serious issue that has been plaguing Paris and its streets for many years: dog poop. Parisians love dogs but do not like to pick-up after them (a case of incivility we could discuss later) hence the need to watch where you step while you walk in the streets of Paris! When I was living in Paris, there was this side street 2 blocks away from my place that we used to call dog-shit-alley because all the dog-owners of the neighborhood had decided to use it for their dogs. That street was the worst street ever and if you had to take it, it was better to walk in the middle of it than on the sidewalks.

hum, enough details… :).

To fight this, the cleaning services have been more and more creative including the “in”famous but now disappeared “motocrotte” (poopybike!) as well as the construction of special areas all over Paris.

But nothing is changing and Parisians, as French people in general and other nationalities I guess, understanding only when it hits their wallet, the town hall started a new campaign to remind them that not cleaning after their dog can cost them €183 (around $220 as of today). This new campaign is named “Paris, c’est chez vous” (Paris is your home) with TV commercials as well as posters all over the city like this one:

It is quite visual! But sadly I am not sure it will change anything except if people start to get fined aggressively and Parisian cops usually have better things to do than track dogs and their uncivilized owners.

Until better times, while in Paris, do not forget to watch your steps ;).

Last weekend, as I was visiting the new house of my parents, I discovered in the attic a stack of old books and notebooks from the thirties that were left behind by the previous owner. There were well conserved school books on subjects like physics, mathematics, French litterature, English and other “normal” subjects as well as more surprising subjects like farming. Accompanying these were some notebooks written in a nice handwritting of the type I stopped using when I was 12 y/o. All except one dated from 1932.
Amongst these notebooks, I found one that particularly attracted my attention because of the nature of its subject: Moral. I took it downstairs and read through it. I found some good wisdom, interesting ideas and even an edgy warning representing ideas of that time. I took some notes and I thought it might be cool to share them with you. I will translate the best I can.

There is some good wisdom:

Will is the power that allows us to get into action – “La volonte est la puissance qui nous permet de passer a l’action”

Moral is the science of good conduct. It teaches to separate good from evil and recognize duty in all occasion – “La morale est la science de la bonne conduite. Elle apprend a discerner le bien du mal et a reconnaitre le devoir en toute occasion”

Conscience is a fair judge but not always a good adviser – “La conscience est un juge integre mais pas toujours un bon conseiller”

Some funny (but maybe true) statements:

Only lazy people or ignorant people know boredom – “Seul les paresseux et les ignorants connaissent l’ennui”

The lazy person is unhappy and sick – “Le paresseux est malheureux et malade”

The single-child family is incomplete. The single child is insufferable and unhappy. – “La famille a enfant unique est incomplete. L’enfant unique est insupportable et malheureux.”

And the pearl, the “echo of the time” statement for which I am not assuming any responsibility:

France, country of singles and single childs, becomes depopulated and is going straight to its death. In thirty years, the German population will be triple ours. The riskiness must be stopped. – “La France, pays de celibataires et de fils uniques se depeuple et marche a la mort. Dans trente ans, la population Allemande sera le triple de la notre. Il faut conjugerer le peril.”

Interesting! Funny! Isn’t it?