Parking in Paris

Parking in Paris is not for the faint hearted. As in any major city, too many cars, motor bikes and scooters in Paris compete for too few parking spaces.

The result: an inborn genius of Parisian drivers to park in spaces that are no more than millimetres longer than their vehicles.

The traffic authorities recognise the problem and have dealt with it intelligently by eliminating marked parking spaces. This makes perfect sense because, if parking spaces were marked, it might be easier to enter and leave parking spots but fewer cars would be able to park – legally at least. And, in any case, what self-respecting French man or woman is going to observe a dumb traffic law … or a perfectly reasonable one for that matter?

Tourists are fascinated by the process of parking. Parking in constrained spaces can be more amusing to watch with its immediate plot and transfixing action than standing for hours in many museums. They see a driver zoom up to a vacant, micro-sized parking spot, instantly intuit that there is enough room to squeeze in, then set about a steady oscillation forwards and backwards like a manic bee, each time battering the car ahead and behind, making the space progressively bigger until VOILA! the deed is done and the car parked.

Parking difficulties can also give rise to dark genius. Just because the law says cars should park parallel to the kerb doesn't mean it must be so. There is always room for inspiration. Why not park rear into the kerb? Not only does this mean you can manoeuvre into even tighter spaces, you can also drive in and out in one shot. Chances are the parking inspectors won't even notice.

The only requirement is that you should not concern yourself about encroaching on the footpath.

An obvious response to the parking problem is to make cars smaller and smaller, like the Smart Car shown above. Another option, of course, is to forego cars altogether and travel instead on motor bikes and scooters, which Parisians do en mass.

Just when everyone thought the Smart Car was about as small as a grown person could reasonably be expected to squeeze into, Renault has produced something even smaller. Based on a design for a motorised go-cart, the all-electric “Twizy” is just one person wide, which makes driving between lines of traffic a whiz.

It has space-age design, though it is not clear whether the design includes windows. And if you commute by Twizy, not only should you maintain good working relations with your chiropractor, your mother-in-law would need to travel separately by train or bus.

But a major feature of the Twizy is that it doesn't require parking. All you have to do is fold it up and put it into your hip pocket.

Perhaps this is the future of parking in Paris!

Posted with Blogsy