Paul from Paris

I’m an enthusiastic user of the Vélib rental bike system to get around Paris, and I’ve commented on safe cycling through Paris.

There have been a handful of cycling fatalities since the bike service was launched in July 2007. Most of the accidents involve large vehicles, and blind spots.

Velib cycles used to feature basic cycling information:

The sticker has been replaced with visuals that highlight blind spots and the hazards they present to cyclists:

One of the new visuals points out where a cyclist is not visible to a truck driver:

The other new visual plays out several accident scenarios, viewed from above. I find this image comparatively unhelpful: telling me about points of impact doesn’t help me to avoid an accident:

It’s encouraging to see –six months after it was announced– prominent warnings to cyclists. But are the authorities making a similar outreach to large vehicle drivers?

France has a long and rich colonial past. One aspect of that legacy made headlines–French headlines–when the people of Mayotte voted this past weekend overwhelmingly in favor of being the 101st département of France.

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Mayotte is an Indian Ocean island between Mozambique and Madagascar. It's part of the Comores archipelago, and the only part of that island chain that did not choose independence from France in 1974.

Mayotte today has a population of about 186,000. It draws many undocumented immigrants from the Comores, as per-capita income in Mayotte is roughly 10 times that in the Comores, although it falls far below average income in mainland France.

The Mahorais (the inhabitants of Mayotte) are overwhelmingly Muslim. They have long been able to opt for a personal status that exempted them from Civil Code provisions and allowed them to bring disputes before a religious court, the madis. This exceptional treatment is already being phased out.

More than 95% of voters voted in favor of becoming a French overseas department. About 40% of those eligible to vote did not cast a ballot, either as a form of protest or because they were away from the island and ill-informed about voting possibilities. Mayotte will officially become a department in 2011.

I've never been to Mayotte–until recently, I had only a vague awareness of the place–and know no one who has. There seem to be possibilities to develop tourism.

Le Monde reports on a gendarme (a law enforcement corps, mostly for rural areas, placed under military command), referred to as "G.H.", who was active on the Facebook site.

G.H.'s activities on Facebook caught the reporters' attention because of what he said and what groups he chose to join on Facebook, including:

• identifying himself as "extreme right wing";
• having as a motto: "work, family, country" (the motto of the Vichy regime);
• claiming interest in: the crusades, nationalism, and beating up North Africans; and
• joining a group "for law enforcement to charge left-wing demonstrators with drawn sabers".

Le Monde brought G.H.'s case to the attention of the national gendarmerie headquarters. The press office expressed shock, pronounced the situation unacceptable, and promised disciplinary action.

I have no sympathy for the views espoused by G.H. and can imagine that disciplinary action would be appropriate, because G.H. used a profile picture in uniform, blurring the line between the uniform and the man.

But I'm an American, so I have an exalted view of freedom of speech. The Le Monde article makes me uneasy. Here's why:

• There's a bizarre sort of outing going on. G.H. presented himself on Facebook, for (almost) all to see. He wasn't sneaky or clandestine. The reporters, however, turned him in to his superiors behind his back, without first asking G.H. to comment. And in their article, the reporters disguised the subject's identity, referring to G.H. by his initials only, not by his name. For this reader, using initials suggests that G.H. has something to hid or wants something kept quiet, whereas on Facebook his interests and group memberships were openly displayed.
• We're supposed to feel satisfaction in a gotcha! moment: a gendarme has affinities with extreme right wing causes. But is this really a scoop, or only the result of snooping? Of all the gendarmes in France, is it really surprising or newsworthy that one is on Facebook and presents himself as extreme right wing? Is this anything more than an anecdote that supports stereotypes that many already hold about gendarmes? Isn't there something creepy about wading through Facebook profiles in search of such a person?
• Why take everything literally? Lots of Facebook content is second-degree and joking. The jokes may be in bad taste, and may even give offense to some, but they are intended as jokes. And some Facebook initiatives are attempts at self-invention, at putting on a certain face for friends.
• What if G.H. were on an official mission to infiltrate right-wing extremist groups in France? Unlikely, but not impossible.
• Why single out Facebook? What's special about this site? I imagine that there are many sites and discussion forums for right wing extremists. Was G.H.'s offense that he expressed his views openly, rather than only among like-minded people?

Ten years ago, France created the civil solidarity pact, known as the Pacs. The Pacs is a contract entered into by two people, whether of the same sex or the opposite sex, to organize their household. Some remarkable things have happened since the Pacs was created:

1. The Pacs is popular, and is becoming increasingly so. In 2007, more than 100,000 couples entered into a Pacs, and preliminary figures for the beginning of 2008 –I can't fathom why the data aren't available sooner– show a 44% jump over 2007.
2. Benefits of a Pacs sound much like what you'd expect from marriage: favorable income and inheritance tax treatment, shared eligibility for benefits that one Pacs partner enjoys. Unlike a marriage, however, a Pacs can be easily dissolved.
3. When launched in 1999, many commentators viewed the Pacs as gay marriage, or an ersatz marriage. Although same-sex couples do enter into Pacs, in 2008 the overwhelming majority –94%– of couples that contracted a Pacs were composed of a man and a woman.
4. Are heterosexual couples entering into a Pacs instead of marrying? I'd argue not. The number of weddings celebrated has fallen slightly (3%) in recent years, but exceeds 250,000 per year. And in a quarter of the cases where a Pacs is dissolved, the reason is marriage.
5. I'd suggest that the Pacs has become a secular form of engagement. This is supported by the average age of couples who first marry, which now tops 30 for men, and for women too. Just as France has an elaborate civil ritual to celebrate marriage, I'd take the position that the Pacs now is a civil variant of engagement.

As a follow-up on yesterday’s post on visions for the future of Paris, I wanted to recommend an outstanding book on the city’s history: Norma Evenson’s Paris: A Century of Change, 1878-1978 (published by Yale University Press).

If I were allowed to choose one book on Paris (for a sojourn on a desert island, for a mission to Mars, or to introduce a Martian to the city), this would be that book. Here’s why:

• Through a series of painstakingly researched essays, dense with footnotes, Evenson paints a portrait of Paris as a living city.
• Each essay deals with an aspect of urban planning: commuting, where people live, building heights, automobile traffic. Each essay is readable alone, in a single sitting.
• Paris is shown as in evolution. The century-long scope is ideal. 1878 is close enough to us to be comprehensible, and the 1978 cut-off date permits Evenson to present major post-war changes, especially the growth of the periphery.
• Evenson’s scholarship is remarkable. For those with time and patience, her notes and bibliographic references help researchers to pick up where she left off.
• The book is fun: Evenson tells stories well.
• The illustrations and photographs have been chosen with care, like courtroom exhibits.
• It’s now 30 years old and has stood the test of time: it’s as informative and enjoyable today as it was when released. It may now be out of print, but I’ve seen it in architectural bookstores and in libraries.