Three hundred deckchairs, 240 parasols, 68 palm trees, 2,000 tons of sand and -- voilà ! -- les Paris Plages ! Beaches without a shore. Or sea breezes. Or seashells. Or a sea. They are sand bounded by an asphalt promenade pervaded by the smell of flesh broiling in coconut butter.

PARIS BEACH BAN RULES
THONGS TO BE BEYOND THE PALE

PARIS July 31, 2006 (Telegraph) - In a country where going topless on real beaches is almost de rigueur, incredulity has greeted news that city hall officials and police have been moving among sunbathers, warning them of the ban on "indecent" dress.

"Sand, sunbeds, parasols," sighed the tabloid daily Le Parisien. "On the beach along the Seine, Bertrand ["I ♥ Mumia"] Delanoë has deployed the full panoply of the perfect seaside postcard. But beware, it is a beach only in name and those who want sun-bronzed bottoms are unwelcome."

[The] order forbidding the exposure of flesh declares: "Behaviour must conform to good morals, tranquillity, safety and public order." The penalty for going nude, topless or in a thong is 38 euros (£26). No fines have yet been imposed but the beach does not close until Aug 20.

Mr Delanoë was already under fire for launching an operation to remove tramps' tents, ostensibly for health reasons but widely seen as an attempt to sweep away signs of poverty and squalor from the chic riverside.

Recommended faux-beach swimwear can be found here. Sexy.

HOMELESS TENT CAMPS IN PARIS
DRAW AUTHORITIES’ IRE DURING HEAT WAVE

PARIS July 25, 2006 (Boston Herald/AP) - France, with a population of nearly 63 million, has about 86,500 homeless people, according to a landmark 2001 study by the INSEE statistics agency. The Abbe Pierre Foundation [Fondation Abbé Pierre pour le logement des défavorisés], which works with the homeless, said this year that the figure is closer to 150,000.

The government fears the tents give people a reason to stay on the streets, expose them to sanitation problems and encourage them to live in groups - a problem because it is harder to persuade them to get help.

Tent camps have become a familiar sight in Paris since the aid group Doctors of the World, or Medecins du Monde, first distributed tents in December to shelter the homeless and make their plight less invisible. ... The tents have popped up under bridges on the Seine River, near the stretch of quay where City Hall sets up a sandy beach every summer. They appeared on chic avenues and on the Canal Saint-Martin, a trendy area for nightlife.

But complaints about the tents have been pouring into City Hall, and four tents were burned this weekend in circumstances that are still unclear.

M. Delanoë elsewhere explains his policy:

"I am not looking to chase away homeless people, I am looking to support them. But I must also respond to requests from residents ... at some point, if homeless people - and I am not condemning them - have delinquent attitudes, then it is irritating. ... We need to find a way to be civilised together."

We are dumbfounded when large cities -- not just Paris -- having failed to redress homelessness, turn around and promote and defend it as a lifestyle choice. Shelters and well-intentioned tent distribution are not solutions. They are accommodations for homelessness.

A successful model is the Salvation Army. But smart-thinking humanist sophisticates would rather live with homelessness -- or rather have the poor and sick live with homelessness -- than concede a jot to a faith-based remedy.

The poor will always be among us, just not in the tony neighborhoods, please.

PFFT (What is this?): Sunburns 4 | Tents burned 4 | Rayonnement français 0