Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Something about to disappear soon!


I know this will come as a big shock to some of you, France is going to ban smoking in public places as of January February 1, 2007! That is, in 60 days, I will not be able to take a photo like this one anymore (well, in fact there will be an adaptation period for bars, restaurants and clubs, to give them enough time to build an enclosed room for smokers). Needless to say, this decision is highly controversial. But, after all, so many other countries have managed to do it, why not us? And just for the fun, here are two videos on "the making of" with a related topic...

This photo is part of the City Daily Photo Blogging monthly theme day. 55 Daily Photo sites are participating in the 1st November theme, please use the links below to visit them. Due to time zone differences and other factors, the theme photo may not be displayed until later if you are viewing early in the day.

Porto, Portugal - Seattle (WA), USA [Kim] - London, UK - Greenville (SC), USA - Albuquerque (NM), USA - St Paul, (MN) USA [Kate] - Shanghai, China - Phoenix (AZ), USA - Twin Cities (MN), USA - Sequim (WA), USA - Stayton (OR), USA - Bandung, Indonesia - Dallas (TX), USA - Stavanger, Norway - Singapore, Singapore [Zannnie] - Budapest, Hungary - Paris, France - Tuzla, Bosnia & Herzegovnia - Melbourne, Australia - Auckland, New Zealand - Singapore, Singapore [Raymond] - Dubai, UAE - Vantaa, Finland - Oshawa (Ontario), Canada - St. Paul (MN) [Carol] - Singapore, Singapore [Keropok] - Delta (CO), USA - Rotterdam, Netherlands - Queens (NY), USA - Tenerife, Spain - Santiago, Chile - Nelson, New Zealand - Akita, Japan - Hyde, UK - Sydney, Australia [Sally] - Manila, Philippines - Aliso Viejo (CA), USA - Nottingham, UK - Brussels, Belgium - Sharon (CT), USA - Sydney, Australia [Nathalie] - Edinburgh, Scotland - Evry, France - San Diego (CA), USA - Santa Clara (CA), USA - Saarbrücken, Germany - Joplin (MO), USA - Indianapolis (IN), USA - Trujillo, Peru - Barcelona, Spain - Berlin, Germany - Vancouver (BC), Canada - Trier, Germany - Houston (TX), USA - Joensuu, Finland - Rome, Italy - Jakarta, Indonesia

68 comments:

  1. C'est à mon sens une bonne nouvelle (une manière d'amener ce qui suit). Voici le second effet kiss-cool : le blog toulousain fête aujourd'hui sa première année d'existence ...

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  2. Good choice for the Theme Day plus for the future health of Parisians. Now, doesn't that sound like a smug former smoker?!! Doesn't take long to stop missing it, tho.

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  3. i'm not a smoker myself but i'm not sure if it's a good idea to ban smoking anywhere in the world, tomorrow we can ban democracy as well, maybe it's not good for our health either... =P

    like the retro feel of the shot.

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  4. If smoking was just a personal vice, who cares? But for me, this can't come soon enough. Smoking is one of the most unpleasant habits, and its prevalence is one of the only things I really dislike about France. To be honest, I find it difficult to imagine most French taking a blind bit of notice.

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  5. Eric

    Thanks for taking this. Did my e-mail give you an idea, or had you aleady thought of this one? A coincidence, eh?

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  6. Well I say yeah to that. I'm not even sure what the rules are here in Aust as they keep tightening them, but as I have never smoked, I'm glad other countries are also tightening their belts on this horrible habit!

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  7. I actually developed asthma from working in a smokey environment before they changed the laws here. It was a huge relief to be able to go out without inhaling others' smoke. I think it's a great thing. People adapt :)

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  8. All I can say is, we never should have let them start with the elevators...

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  9. Pour moi (comme mathieu) c'est une bonne nouvelle (correction la date est passée au 1er fevrier 2007). Bravo eric, c'est une superbe idee pour le theme

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  10. I haven't smoked in 3 years, it was a personal choice. I still want one everyday.
    To be fair, if it's all about health, alcoholic beverages and advertising should be banned, too.
    Here in the US, you can't smoke in an outdoor football stadium, but you can drink until you vomit. The TV commercials are at least 60% for beer, and so are the advertising signs around the stadium.

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  11. Your right, I would never have dreamed that such a ban would be considered in Paris. We are debating a similar ban in my home town and I personally am in favor of protection from second hand smoke.

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  12. Eric, what a brillant idea for your monthly theme day!
    Cruising along the cities all around the planet today is loaded with emotion, even sadness.
    Très joli sujet.
    Obviously Smoking in Public Spaces is not part of the ones to be missed...

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  13. Eric, I'm not sure which shocks me more: that smoking will be banned in paris, or that it's 2007 in 60 days time.

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  14. Nikon said: "alcoholic beverages and advertising should be banned, too".

    Now let's don't get crazy Nikon! Don't you believe in freedom of choice!

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  15. now i can go to a restaurant to

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  16. Fortunately, I do not smoke anymore...

    Nice pick, eric...

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  17. Eric, nice job - you found the coolest ashtray and an interesting subject for the theme! I won't miss the smoke.

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  18. Oh my God!!! The Robins William's video crack me up! I mean, laugh out loud funny!

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  19. eric! this is crazy! i was thinking i would have been able to take the same picture for the theme day had smoking still been allowed in new york :)

    here's some information on the ban though: in new york many clubs and bars allow smoking after 1 a.m. because no inspectors come at this time so you have the option of going to a smoke free environment or not; after all democracy is about choices, non?

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  20. I just watched it again...so funny...but maybe the wine is helping too!

    By the way, I went to a restaurant tonight in Atlanta that allows smoking(one of only two places I know of here that does). They way they get around it here is to not allow children in the restaurant.

    Oh! It was so nice to enjoy my dinner and wine with cigarettes!

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  21. Please excuse my terrible grammar tonight...it is the wine!

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  22. Susan...I don't know which is funnier...YOU or the Robin Williams video! It's early in the morning here so it's definitely not the wine making me laugh.

    Love the ashtray Eric and the zinc countertop. Is that your cigarette?

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  23. Ah, yes...le zinc. Eric once again you have managed to make a shot which could have been taken anywhere in the world, ineffably Parisian! Bravo!

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  24. Perfectamente! And I love the red ash tray with classic yellow car and the steamer in the background. I'm glad for all Parisian's great health sakes that you are moving in this direction. It was such a shock visiting Paris from California how differnt in our sensitivity to smoke had become in just 10 years of mandatory smoke-free environments. Seattle put its own ordinance into effect last December, and people, although very vocal for the first couple months, have seemed to adjust as if this were always the way things were done.
    -Kim

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  25. A smoking ban in Paris? Goodness, that's up there with news like hell really is freezing over. :) But, yeah, I'm with Ham on this one: I imagine Parisians will take very little notice of such a measure.

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  26. Bien vu, c'était pourtant simple, mais tu y a pensé le premier...

    Soon, you'll be able to picture those grapes of smokers out of parisian bars : great subjects to come !

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  27. I believe the world will come to an end if you can't light up a cigarette in a Paris Cafe...

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  28. I totally agree with this decision. I hope they will introduce it in Hungary too:)

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  29. I heard about that on the news.Here in japan, there is a smoking are and non-smoking ones so when we go to restaurants we are asked first if we smoke. Some establishments do not allow smoking at all. There are small ,enclosed spaces for smokers at airports and some office buildings and I find it pitiful for all the smokers who crowd that places. But its better for them I guess than not smoking at all.

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  30. :P
    nice shot!!and i love that red ashtray!
    :))
    it could be the collection, not for smoking... i do not smoke.
    and thx Eric, with your help, now i cant see the photos on most dailyphoto blog, but via www.dailyphotoblog.com, i still can see some small version.
    not very clear, but i can see at last!!
    ...Jing

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  31. Eric, good on you for chosing a great theme for today and even better, one that sparks debate- a parisian friend of mine says that people will purely ignore the law... I look fwd to seeing what happens.

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  32. That's not your cigarrette is it?? I guess it's a good thing, but it pokes another hole in the fantasy version of Paris!

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  33. J'ai une crainte principale à l'avenir, et c'est que le monde musulman souhaite dominer l'univers. Qui s'inquiète du tabagisme, ou de l'énergie nucléaire, ou de mettre le feu aux autobus à Marseille. Nous sommes des imbéciles à penser que notre futur sera identique que notre passé.

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  34. Very apropos selection. Best wishes that the cig ban will improve everyone's health!

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  35. It may seem like a big deal now, but a year after the ban, it won't be. You'll see more people clustered outside restaurants to share a cigarette before dessert, that's all. And the health of the restaurant workers will improve. I used to smoke heavily. I quit ten years ago and haven't missed a cigarette since then, ever.

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  36. (Yeah, the icon is a bit dated.)

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  37. At the UK dining patio they built a glass enclosure for smokers. It was funny but sad to see the students puffing away, coughing, and rushing away after a quickie (cigarette type). Now, even their cage has been removed. I can't wait to check out Paris in the Spring. The law is one that is hard to enforce.
    I like the photo and the videos really cracked me up to the point of laughing out loud. Especiall the BJ one and the Robin one. My mood has been elevated for the day.

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  38. Hurrah!

    Not before time. It seems to have worked in Ireland so why not France.

    We were shocked recently on holiday in Greece to find people (mostly Germans) smoking over breakfast.

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  39. I've just quit smoking - 2 months ago - so it's a bit early for me to say "yes, that's great to ban smokers, smoking is soooooo bad". Well, smoking gives pleasure... And I have to fight against that souvenir of pleasure...

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  40. There's a ban in Singapore but the stalls are allowed to provide some tables for smokers. I would have preferred a total ban.

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  41. Nice photo. Our state is voting on a smoking ban on Nov 7th. Along with everyone running for office the Smoking signs are everywhere!
    Thanks for stopping by my site. Have a good day!

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  42. Smoking was banned in Philadelphia a month ago so it is too early to say what effect it is having citywide.
    In the complex where I live, we have a private club so are not affected by the ban.
    I was in the restaurant for brunch on Sunday morning and there was no one smoking and no ashtrays out.

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  43. Great topic, mon ami. Smoking is a choice, as many said here. Likewise, not smoking is a choice. The difference is that when somebody smokes near you, you are forced to inhale tobacco smoke. Not so with drinking. This is an obvious and simple difference that smokers refuse to recognize. Go ahead and smoke, but not near me. To paraphrase the Frenchman in Monty Python's Holy Grail: shall I fart in your direction?

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  44. c'est génial ça! Je reviendrai beaucoup plus souvent à Paris et en France...après le jour de l'an!!

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  45. Eric, as an ex-Smoker, I have nothing good I could add to this string of comments. I'd still love to have one no matter what.

    Congratulations on the FilmLoop article Eric! I especially love the photo of you!

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  46. The FilmLoop profile is cool Eric (yes, I used the word "cool" again). I guess for this post I should have said, "smokin".

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  47. Colorado banned smoking statewide earlier this year in all bars and restaurants. The only exceptions are "cigar" bars that derive more than 50% of their revenue from selling tobacco products, and casinos in the state's three mountain towns of Black Hawk, Central City and Cripple Creek. A court challenge a month ago was defeated - hooray! Despite smokers' arguments that the bar business would decline because of this ban, that has not yet come to pass. My friends and I now feel comfortable visiting places that were formerly too smoky to enjoy, like El Chapultapec, a famous local jazz bar.

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  48. Oh what is this world coming to?

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  49. Hi everyone, I cannot answer every single of you, here are some quick replies after what I wrote in your comments.


    Santy I added you, as for Joe in Rome, but late. Sorry.

    Vicky, in fact this thought came to my mind right after I knew what the theme day was going to be - which I remind everyone, is not picked by me but democratically chosen via a poll.

    LOL Blondetown and Sally, I know soon another year will end, it's terrible.

    Interesting what you say about NYC Magikthrill. I hope we'll respect the law here - often in France, we tend to "adapt" it!

    Susan don't worry too much about your grammar you know, it's a blog, not a piece of literature!

    Thanks Michael and all the others who noticed the ashtray (and Le Zinc!). I tell you a little more about this photo. I have known for a month that I wanted to use a cigarette for today's theme as I mentioned earlier. But, of course, I procrastinated and there it was, yesterday evening (well the day before yesterday now) at 10 PM I still did not have my photo!
    I called a friend (who smokes) and said "don't ask me why, I need you to go down the street, find a "café" and I'll meet you there!" So he kindly did...
    You should have seen the bar tender looking at me while I was taking this photo, it was absolutely hilarious!

    Chris : j'ai eu très peur que d'autres français y pensent aussi, je dois dire !

    Nathalie, I don't think this time people will ignore the law. A vast majority of the people (according to polls) are in favor of this law. We'll see. After all it's forbidden to smoke in the metro and everybody respects it.

    Jenny, no, it's not my cigarette. I smoked until the age of 27, and I am slightly older now (!) (that makes me a long time ex smoker)

    Fredb, you'll see, soon you'll become this anti smokers fascist that all ex smokers tend to become once they quit!

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  50. I forget who said it, but I remember it went something like this...

    "Isn't having a smoking section in a restaurant like having a peeing section in a swimming pool?"

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  51. And wasn't it Mae West who said, "If you smoke after sex, you're doing it too fast." ?

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  52. The videos are too funny, and in some way they're true. That's the image many people have of French, a smiking guy with a beret (no offense).
    With that law you're going to begin changing that image.

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  53. Eric said, "Fredb, you'll see, soon you'll become this anti smokers fascist that all ex smokers tend to become once they quit!"

    Ahhh! So true...unfortunate for smokers like me. It seems the world is against me.... :(

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  54. Michael: lol! I choose to stay elusively neutral on the whole smoking subject as I have been both smoker and non-smoker and understand the arguements of both sides. (Though I have recently caved and started smoking again due to stress, I quit while I was pregnant and never EVER smoke in my house or around my son. I will quit again!) Any which way I LOVE the last comment Michael posted. And I DEFINATELY love the ash tray!

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  55. Impossible! Will there also be laws requiring folks to smoke a few meters aways from buildings?

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  56. I am an ex-smoker. I quit 20 years ago and it was the best thing I ever did.

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  57. Hey, that car looks a bit like the one I shot for the 1st :)

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  58. soosha_q, I won't judge people for their personal choices, because they'd have a lot of material to work on with me. But I did find the joke funny.

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  59. Eh, we all have our faults! Or quirks, as I prefer to call them. Makes life more interesting!

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  60. Eric, I believe you had something to do with this new ban. Just so you could get the most hits for the November theme!

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  61. I have mixed feelings about that one. On the one hand, if "you" don't step in, people will never realize how much they have to gain by quitting smoking. On the other hand, I hate to see the Government tell people what to do.

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  62. I should say, that is a great picture, too! :)

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  63. Tomate,

    All smokers know what they have to gain by quitting. Trust me. All smokers (real smokers...not kids playing "adult") want to quit...and most have tried multiple times.

    So, I am in complete agreement that the government should not tell people what to do.

    It should be up to the restaurant owner to decide whether smoking is allowed or not allowed. Just as it is each individual's choice which they would like to patron (smoking vs non-smoking). But instead of non-smokers voicing their demands to specific restaurants/bars, they have gone through the government to mandate it across the board. I am fairly certain that this started in America as it has been going on for some time (based on local (city/county) laws). Absurd in the land of "supply and demand" and the "land of the individual"! Of course if I wasn't a smoker....I would care! But I am a smoker!

    Next thing you know, they will outlaw alcohol for the "benefit of society"! Oh! They already did that once! lol. See how well that worked?

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  64. Correction: I meant to say I would NOT care if I weren't a smoker ;)

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  65. Disgusting! The cigarette not the photograph.

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