French traditions bite the dust (farewell to the smoke-filled café)

Posted by Charles Bremner on October 02, 2007 at 03:07 PM in Europe, France:

"One of the sure-fire themes for correspondents in Paris is the death of French institutions.
"Generations of reporters have filled slack news days with dispatches on the demise of the great French café, the baguette, the béret, the concierge, the Gauloise sans filtre, the language, driving habits, the snail, the truffle, movie, cuisine, wine, couture, and so on. Next February, when tobacco is banned in all indoor public places, it will be time for 'farewell to the smoke-filled cafe.'
"After ending 'the era of', you can sometimes revive it. In recent years, this has applied to most of the above as pendulums have swung and fashions changed. Even bérets enjoyed a return a few years back. The Gauloise and the nosey concierge have not returned and it's pretty unlikely that we will see smoky cafes again. Bad driving seems to be making a come-back, though.
"Sometimes it is sad to see a tradition disappear at a ministerial stroke. I wrote about a new one in the newspaper today -- the end of the car license plates that advertise where the owner lives...
"There are sound arguments for centralising vehicle registration. It conforms to the European Union's push for a lifetime Vehicle Identification Number and also to President Sarkozy's campaign to shrink the bureaucracy and the public payroll. It will also mean less time waiting in queues at the prefecture to change la carte grise, the registration paper, when you move département.
"But it takes away one of the little pleasures of French life. After a few years in France, you automatically scan the final two digits of cars around you, noting outsiders and sometimes guessing what distant province they might hail from. This probably doesn't make much sense to US, Australian or Canadian readers. They wouldn't replace distinctive state plates, with their slogans and boasts about sunshine, gardens and lone stars, with anonymous federal ones (I have always found Quebec's 'Je me souviens' to be one of the most obscure).
"Le Parisien newspaper summed up the general French reaction nicely. 'For many people, these number plates are one of those little things which are so anchored in our daily existence that we cannot imagine living without them.'"