Letter From Paris
Paris Kiosque - April 2007 - Volume 14, Number 4
Copyright © 2007 Harriet Welty-Rochefort - Used with permission.
You can say what you like about French President Jacques Chirac. Some say
they'll miss him, that he was a good president. Others say
« good riddance ». There's one thing, though, that
no one can fault him on : He courageously made it his goal to enforce security
on France's very dangerous highways. Thanks to
Chirac's support of campaigns for road safety, the number of
dead on France's roads has diminished by half.
Now, though, Chirac's on his way out and all is breaking loose.
How loose ?
Auto Hebdo, a specialized automobile magazine, recently sent some of
its reporters out on a month long mission to clock the speed of six presidential
candidates as they travelled back and forth to various campaign meetings.
And here's the verdict :
Front runner conservative Nicolas Sarkozy led the pack as Worst Offender. His
chauffeur was clocked driving at 130 kilometers an hour at night on a slippery
road where the speed limit is 70 kilometers an hour. A normal person caught
speeding like this would get a 1500 euro fine, six points off his twelve point
license, and up to three years suspension of his driver's license.
Far right candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen's chauffeur was tracked
doing 185 kilometers on a highway where the limit is 130. Not only did the
chauffeur break the speed limit, but he aggressively flashed his lights at all those
going slower (ie, most normal, law-abiding citizens) to get them out of his
way.
Centrist candidate François Bayrou came in third with 120 kilometers an hour in
a tunnel limited at 70 kilometers an hour.
Behind him came the Left : Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal
at 158 kilometers an hour in a 110 kilometersan hour zone, and Trotskyist
candidates Arlette Laguiller (130 kph instead of 90) and Olivier Besancenot
(135 for 110).
Left or right, when it comes to speeding, the candidates are all alike : in a hurry
and with no compunction about breaking the law that the rest of their
countrymen are supposed to respect - and get fined for if they
don't.
I would imagine that in a country like Sweden or Denmark or the U.K. or the
U.S., releasing such figures would cause a scandal. The citizens of these
countries might even demand that the candidates pay their fines, get their
licenses suspended, and the points taken off their driver's
licenses.
Mais non ! We're in France ! Even the editor-in-chief of
Auto Hebdo claimed that the goal of the investigation was to
« lead a funny investigation without giving lessons. »
As the Presidential elections approach, the French are vociferous about many
things in this country that they feel are unfair or unjust : low salaries, high rents,
unemployment.
They're ready and willing to take to the streets to demonstrate on
any one of those subjects.
But nary a word about these candidates for France's highest
office unleashed on France's roads at speeds that would get your
average Jacques Dupont in serious hot water.
Maybe because the French just assume that politicians are
« above » everyone else and don't have to respect
the laws of the land, laws they help to make and enforce É for everyone else.
Or maybe because the French love speed.
The same week Auto Hebdo released these figures, the TGV, the famous
French bullet train, broke rail records when it whizzed from Paris to Strasbourg
at a breathtaking speed of 574.8 kilometers (357 miles) an hour.
The big moment came when the train attained its top speed about 200 kilometers
from Paris on the Eastern European TGV line which will start services between
Paris and Strasbourg in June. I'll be on it next September so will
be able to tell you then about what it's like to be on a train that
goes as fast as a plane.
The idea behind the rail record was, of course, for the SNCF, the French railroad
company, and Alstom, the French engineering company that built the train, to
strut their stuff and peddle their wares worldwide.
Speed sells !
It also kills - which is why, very frankly, as a citizen of France, I
personally am shocked by the deafening silence surrounding the « speed
records » of the French presidential candidates in their chauffeur-driven
cars.
Not for the first time, the thought that France is still a monarchy in many ways
crossed my mind. Why should an elected politician have to account for his
actions ? I mean, really !
On the question of speed, I can only say : Come back, Jacques !
Harriet Welty Rochefort is the author of
French Toast: An American in Paris Celebrates the Maddening Mysteries of the French and French Fried: The Culinary Capers of an American in Paris.
French Toast was hailed by the Los Angeles Times as "wise and devastatingly
funny". For world-famous chef Alain Ducasse, her second book French Fried
"in a lively and hilarious style ... gives an inside look at the world of
French cuisine and wine." Both books are published by St. Martin's Press.
Coming to Paris? Harriet gives
tailormade wine and cheese tastings to individuals as well as to university
groups. For more information, visit her webpages:
www.frenchfolio.com and
www.understandfrance.com .
If you've had some funny, startling, satisfying, or dismaying
food experiences in France you'd like to share,
you may contact Harriet directly at
harriet.welty@hwelty.com.
Editor's Note:
Dear Readers, while our writers are always
delighted to hear and to receive comments, both about their columns in the The Paris Kiosque,
as well as your experiences in Paris,
they are unable to answer requests for travel information.
Thank you for your understanding.
Museum Passes