Tuesday, 22 June 2004
Just Like Norman Rockwell Would've Pictured It
It was a swell evening and all, but nothing at this year's Fête de la musique compared to one funny sight that I witnessed at last year's edition.
It was toward the end of the evening, after having meandered through the area around the canal St. Martin. Near place de la République, a barricade stood against the few cars braving the streets packed with music-loving pedestrians. République was hosting the finale band: Simply Red, back from wherever they'd been hiding since the Eighties.
Anyway, the funny thing had nothing to do with bands back from the dead, and everything to do with the average Parisian.
Standing beside the barricade, a small group of police officers were giving out directions and generally making sure no one in search of a parking spot moved the steel assemblage. It was all a relaxed affair - so relaxed, in fact, that the one woman cop among the four had pulled out a cigarette.
Now, it's generally known that no Parisian who smokes ever had a light on him. And it's generally accepted that it's polite behavior for strangers to approach you on the street and ask for a light. I think that statisticians have run the numbers and concluded that Pierre Dupont, of the 11th arrondissement, provides the sole lighter for the 750,000-odd people living on that side of the city.
So, I guess it must have been good ol' hapless Pierre who was passing by the barricade at that very moment. Because, just like that - in the ultimate Parisian gesture - the woman cop leaned over to him and asked for a light. Of course, I don't think it's accepted behavior to ask for a cop's number in return.