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In Steamy Paris, Modesty Flies Out the Window
AP ^ | 08-12-03 | JOHN LEICESTER

Posted on 08/12/2003 12:46:58 PM PDT by new cruelty

Edited on 04/22/2004 12:36:57 AM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]

PARIS (AP)--The motto of the moment in sizzling Paris could be, modesty be damned.

Struggling through a Sahara-like heat wave without the luxury of air conditioning, Parisians are throwing open their windows, giving an intimate glimpse into each other's lives. Some sleep on cool tiled floors, in wet T-shirts, or walk around in underwear or less, in view of neighbors across narrow streets.


(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Culture/Society; Foreign Affairs; Front Page News; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: boplenty

1 posted on 08/12/2003 12:46:58 PM PDT by new cruelty
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To: new cruelty
Mix the heat with their weekly(if that) shower habits, and Paris must smell like a good old fashion cow pasture.
2 posted on 08/12/2003 12:52:54 PM PDT by SengirV
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To: new cruelty
Ugh. Furry and sweaty.
3 posted on 08/12/2003 12:52:59 PM PDT by SquirrelKing (Don't sweat the petty things...don't pet the sweaty things.)
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To: new cruelty
A whole country full of sweaty - deoderantless frenchies....

I think I can smell it from here!!!

4 posted on 08/12/2003 12:52:59 PM PDT by Onelifetogive
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To: SquirrelKing
Blech. This can't be good for their tourism industry.
5 posted on 08/12/2003 1:03:11 PM PDT by new cruelty
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To: new cruelty
When were the French modest?
6 posted on 08/12/2003 1:09:00 PM PDT by alpowolf
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To: Onelifetogive
A whole country full of sweaty - deoderantless frenchies....

I think I can smell it from here!!!

Nahhh... Jet Stream goes west to east. Most likely it's the Chinese your whiffin'

7 posted on 08/12/2003 1:10:03 PM PDT by StatesEnemy
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To: alpowolf
When were the French modest?

You'd be surprised actually. When my wife and I were still dating we decided to do a "slumming it in Paris" vacation. Basically, bedding down on the streets or the parks. It was interesting to say the least. We didn't get much sleep, bedding down late and we hit the streets early each day. We'd keep our stuff in a train station locker and wander around the rest of the time.

To solve the shower problem we'd go to public indoor swimming pools. We'd do a dozen laps in the pool and then use the shower facilities to get a proper wash. I was very surprised to see that the Frenchmen didn't take off their bathing suits while washing. Instead they sort of pulled them out and soaped their privates and rinsed the soap away without ever exposing themselves. They were a little shocked to see me buck naked in the shower getting clean properly. I'm not a very modest person. My wife had a similar experience in the lady's shower.

I don't have any sort of rationale to offer as to why this was. When we lived in the south of France near the Med, it was very common to see women go topless and in some places (one spot near St Tropez in particular) the people ran around naked on the beach. Maybe it's just a Parisien thing? Who knows?

8 posted on 08/12/2003 1:31:34 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: new cruelty
Parisians are throwing open their windows, giving an intimate glimpse into each other's lives... or walk around in underwear or less, in view of neighbors across narrow streets.

It must be interesting to ride on the Metro trains that travel above ground for parts of their route (the numbers 2 and 6 for example). You pass by hundreds and hundreds of apartments. If they're letting it all hang out like this article says, it must be a voyeur's wet dream.

While living in Paris in 99 I stood on my balcony once having a cigarette and witnessed a man and woman having sex on their living room sofa in the building across the street from mine. What was interesting to me was- the man wasn't her husband. Her lover had already come and gone by the time her husband arrived home an hour later with a briefcase in one hand and a baguette in the other...

9 posted on 08/12/2003 1:37:12 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: Prodigal Son
I can tell similar stories from Japan. After I played badminton with a mixed group of Japanese and foreigners people would shower, but the Japanese would keep their shorts on. While they didn't troop around topless on the beach, they had no problem at all being naked in public baths. I can't really explain the inconsistency.
10 posted on 08/12/2003 1:41:51 PM PDT by untenured
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To: untenured
I think these types of incidents well and truly fall into that "things that make you go hmmm..." category.
11 posted on 08/12/2003 3:57:22 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
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To: new cruelty
just another reason why it sucks to be French...
12 posted on 08/12/2003 6:56:15 PM PDT by Aut Pax Aut Bellum (And People wonder why I carry a gun....)
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To: new cruelty
"I take a shower with a T-shirt on and sleep with it on."

So, this is how we could get the french to bathe more often?
13 posted on 08/12/2003 7:48:47 PM PDT by Arpege92
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