A Car-free Paris…for one day

(These opinions are mine alone.)

It’s Sunday in Paris and the city is banning cars from almost half the city centre today, according to an article in The Guardian.  I’m going to head out soon to see just what it’s like to walk along the Seine without keeping a constant eye out for approaching cars and motorbikes.

I suspect it will also be much less NOISY downtown because of this. The motorbikes  are horrendously loud and add to the discomfort and cacophony of being in a large city. I was impressed, earlier this month, that London is — in fact– quieter than Paris, because there are fewer cars (and virtually NO motorbikes) in its city centre.

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So, yes, downtown was amazingly free of traffic yesterday. So unusual, to see the streets filled with only bicycle riders, and a few taxis and buses. One photo above shows Quai des Gesvres, a normally always-busy one-way street which runs along la Seine; one shows Place de la Bastille, also usually clogged with traffic in a giant traffic circle.  As you can see…pretty quiet.

And blessedly QUIET it was, downtown. It was so much nicer, walking around down there, without the noise of motorized vehicles. One could wish it were that way all the time…