A glimpse across the Channel on the current state of Paris through the eyes of one of its own, French broadcaster and national treasure Stéphane Bern. According to Anne-Elizabeth Moutet his indictment on the state of Paris is particularly damning given his standing - a much loved and respected figure and symbol of national unity. A kind of Gallic David Attenborough if you will.
“The city has become a rubbish bin,” he told the popular Le Parisien tabloid this week. “Emblematic street furniture, from benches to newskiosks to wrought iron railings are being replaced by ugly modern pieces.
“I’ve never seen so many trees sawn down, so many flowerbeds torn off. How can you pretend the city is building new ‘ecological neighbourhoods’ when this starts with tearing down all the trees? The city is noisy, dirty, violent; the streets and pavements are full of potholes; historic monuments are sold off to commercial concerns.
Bern is moving to the country, to an 18th century former royal school he has been painstakingly restoring, giving up a book-lined flat in the heart of Pigalle on the Right Bank of Paris. “Despite the heartache, I am happy to go. I was going mad in Paris.
While Bern might not wish to point the finger, plenty in Paris are unafraid to say they have had more than enough of the city’s failed Left-wing regime. Besides being mayor of Paris, Hidalgo is the Socialist Party’s official candidate for President, despite denying just last year that she had any national ambitions. For her troubles she is being rewarded with four or five per cent in the polls, an embarrassment for the party of Mitterand and Hollande.”
The parallels with London are uncanny!
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