PetiteBrigitte

Call me old-fashioned, but one of the things I love about Paris is the general nonchalance of the average citizen. Glass of wine for breakfast? Pourquoi pas. Public displays of affection? Bien sur. Take your dog into Dior? OK.

Not anymore. Paris is banning cigarettes indoors, and this time they mean it.

Thats right Hemingway, Fitzgerald, deBeauvoir, Sartre!! Go outside if you want to smoke! No more writing your masterpieces in our cafes!

I am all for banning smoking in the workplace, hospitals, schools, institutions, etc. But taking the Gauloises out of Deux Magots and Lilas is as unFrench as baseball. Smoking in cafes is a national pastime, like wine with dinner. When I see a french woman smoking, I think elegance and cool. When I see an old man enjoying a cigarette after his meal, I want to take a picture. Smoking is part of the national identity, let them stop on their own, and let us watch until they do!

Does it bother you that much?