The French are nothing if not inventive.The city pours an amount of money into constructing beaches in summer in the romantic city so that commuters, holidaymakers and tourists can enjoy it without the inconvenience or cost of a trip.
Good idea or an eyesore, especially around sites of historic interest? Would you consider the sight of the great unwashed, unclothed along the elegant streets of Paris, obnoxious or do you think it's a positive and inventive move?
Is it good for the kiddies?
Would it work in London, Manchester, Birmingham or wherever? Could the city fathers be persuaded or is Britain too bankrupt?
Who would have the deckchair concession?
The Paris-beach plans hadn't started when I lived there (for about 4 years mid-late 1980s), but I loved August in Paris because it was much easier to use the car and hope to find a parking spot near where one wanted to get to (restaurants, etc), even though I had to walk further to get to a bakery as the one in my street (I lived in the 16th) always closed in August and I had to get to one of the other two, only one of which was reasonably-convenient to get to as the other involved crossing a major avenue (one of the spokes leading off from the Arc de Triomphe).
ReplyDeleteHowever, I did often spend Saturday or Sunday afternoons in August sunbathing around one of the ponds in the Bois de Boulogne (close to where I lived); it was surrounded by gently-sloping grassy banks and attractive planting, ideal for this purpose. It was usually quite busy, but never too crowded and amazingly a part of the grassed areas was built over the Peripherique (the circular motorway that surrounds Paris, much closer to the centre than the M25 is in London). The French have never been shy of 'taming' nature, as the immense gardens and the massive long-pond at Versailles can testify.
Funnily enough a 'beach' was created in a central square in Inverness (15 miles west of here) a couple of summers ago (before the recession) and was reasonably successful and popular, given our precarious climate.
The climate in Paris is much hotter in summer (and much colder in winter) than London's, due to its greater distance from the sea I think, so the street cafes there are a permanent feature, with open sides in summer whilst closed and heated in winter, whereas in London they are really just temporary add-ons, apart from perhaps in a few areas such as South Kensington (which has a highish proportion of French residents), so the season for a beach in London would probably have to be much briefer. I lived for a year in a flat around one of the basins in Docklands (pretty close to the Tower of London) and that basin was used for canoeing classes in summer, although cafe-culture hadn't formed a part of the plans there, even though the dock surrounds were very attractively laid-out. It's not traditionally been a part of city culture here, I suppose because of our variable climate, but good luck to London if it wants to experiment with a 'beach' along a stretch of the Thames.
Birmingham has done it!
ReplyDeletehttp://www.birmingham.gov.uk/Media?MEDIA_ID=291695
Who would have the deckchair concession?
ReplyDeletem'Lud Baron Sugar of Clapton,
J.K. Rowling,
or Crapita - depending upon who had donated the most to Peter Mandelson's de-enoblement campaign.
I rather like the idea, fun for the kiddies, much like when they truck in snow sometimes in winter.
ReplyDeleteAs Sackerson said, Birmingham have done it. There are in fact two there I shall try and get you a photo next time I am there.
ReplyDeleteI think it's a good idea - something for the Parisians who, after all, have to put up with the rest of us all year. Give the deckchair concession to Mr Pastry!
ReplyDelete