Saturday, July 31, 2010

The sinking bus...


I did not really have the intention to go to see the bus that fell into the Seine, but I happened to pass by the "crime scene" this afternoon (Friday) and I could not help but stopping and taking a photo. For those of you who haven't seen my news flash yesterday, an Austrian bus fell into the Seine right at the level of the Eiffel Tower. No casualties as there was no one on board, but a pretty unusual scene. They had to find a crane large enough to extract the bus from the river, and it was not that easy... But they finally managed. The driver said he did put the breaks on, that he does not understand what happened... Anyway, if you haven't seen the video, check it here (huge success: 300 000 views in one day!). Don't know why, but this made me think of this commercial...

17 comments:

  1. Sad that the bus went into the river, but a hoot that you thought of the commercial! Wonderful.

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  2. Yes, I remember seeing that commercial a while ago; it still makes me laugh. How much you want to bet the driver forgot to use the brake, and left the transmission in neutral?

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  3. Excellent video!!! I think that I would have understood!! Really excellent...
    I'm glad to hear that noone was in the bus and that it can have been extracted from the Seine, under our always on the spot favorite Parisian reporter.
    I imagine the surprise of the poor Austrian tourists when they came back yesterday to the bus and did not see it! I hope their suitcases or personal objects were not in the bus... Not so funny for them, I guess.

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  4. I bet it was hard!! The physics are all wrong for this rescue (the bus must be incredibly heavy, especially filled with water) and the crane could have lost its balance and dipped forward ...

    Glad no-one was hurt and I'm sure Parisians will be talking about this for days. It's gotta be a first, no?

    I know we used to say the Seine is dirty and you could find anything in there, but maybe not a ... whole bus! ;)

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  5. I take it he was a Greyhound Bus Driver prior to this! (Very unfortunate though)

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  6. Glad nobody was on board! Thanks for the link to the hilarious language ad. The first time I saw that on youtube, I wondered why anyone would post a video with the "punch line" as the title. It kind of spoils the surprise. I guess someone else wondered too, because they posted it with a different title that doesn't give away the joke:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yR0lWICH3rY&feature=related

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  7. Well, that must have been quite the sight. Glad to know that no one was hurt. Love the commercial!

    By the way, this my first post here. PDP has quickly become a must see everyday. Slowly working my way from 2005 to the present.

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  8. Eric
    Here is one article.http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/07/business/global/07rent.html

    V

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  9. SO glad no one was hurt. But I love the way you just "happen" to be on the scene when the big news breaks. Great links too! (And I think JT probably got it right.)

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  10. Isn't that amazing, Alexa? I was just thinking the same thing. Eric always happens to be where the excitement is.

    I'm glad no one was hurt. From the video it seems the bus shot far out into the water from where it was parked. I wonder how that happened.

    I love the commercial.

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  11. Eric, you are the man. I must say, bringing us breaking news like this...awesome. It is an interesting story and a little funny in its own way. So thankful that no one got hurt. And the commercial--that is really funny.

    Hope you have a great day!

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  12. Excellent video and I laughed out loud at that commercial!

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  13. Maybe they were trying to do the same thing as that hybrid tourist bus that rides the Thames does in London ;)

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  14. I like very much this picture. Sometimes,I'd love to be extracted like that by a giant friendly hand ;-)
    love the ad. Thanks for the smile. I miss laughing when I'm not with you :) bisous.

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  15. My husband walks the dog in this very spot every day. However, we were surprised to find there was nothing on either regional or National TV.

    Your excellent report is the only one I can find on this subject! Curious!

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  16. Hi Eric,
    I love your blog and this story really made me laugh (or should I say "sis story made me laugh - as I am a 'sinking' German - ha, ha - I love the spot - seen it before). But there's one thing that's neally ironic: On the picture of "Le Parisien" you can read the following text on the rescued bus: "Safe at every time of the day" (Zu jeder Tageszeit sicher).
    I'm glad nobody was in the bus, as they probably wouldn't have been safe...
    Thank you for all your photos and stories :-)

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