i think you;ll find most countries in Europe have areas where, if you need to get around, a car is a practical necessity, with the possible exception of the gloriously flat Netherlands (which also seems never to have been a car crazy culture to begin with, for reasons that are unclear to me). But it might also be the case that the US in unique among the western democracies in having so many large cities nearly totally car dependent, and such a large part of the population that has simply never used public transportation, even to get to school.

It Italy, it is common to hire taxis if you don't have a car. Plus, your taxi driver would go look in on your dog for you if you were tied up at work. So will the police in many villages.

Also curious to me is why the UK, which has one of the best public transit systems in the world covering I would think at least half the country, destroyed it.

Looks like rain forecast for Sunday.

Oh goody. Other people might be miserable or have difficulties. Keep your fingers crossed for an opportunity to celebrate meanness, selfishness & lack of a generous attitude. Big laughs ahead.

Put a sock in it, massimop.

For someone who does not live in Paris, you sure have a lot of useless information at hand - serpillere.

Well. Today seems more like Paris With Not Many Cars than Paris Without Cars, but it was nonetheless delightful. Fuzzbucket will surely be crestfallen that there were no downpours to rain on the parade, just an occasional mist that didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the scene.

I picked up a Velib (bike) around midday and rode up the Rue du Faubourg St Antoine to the Marche Bastille, walked around there for a bit, another bike over to Ile St Louis, then back to my hotel near the Gare de Lyon. There were a few cars on the road, and many were definitely going faster than 30 km/h, but it was a lot of fun cycling. Joining me on 2 wheels were plenty of families out for a leisurely cycle as well as a few of the lycra-type enthusiasts (for reference, I’m a 70-year-old fat man), plus the usual throngs of people on 2 feet doing their daily shopping.

One of the nicest features of the day is the noise, or more to the point, the lack of engine noise. I hear the wind blowing through the leaves or the chatter of people walking down the street, and only occasionally a car passing by or a klaxon hooting. Wouldn’t want it like this every day or even most days -- this is a city, after all -- but it’s a refreshing change.

Only in Bizarro World is this a "nightmare."

Only for people who are elderly and infirm is this a nightmare.

It rained pretty heavily in my neighborhood today. Nobody was outside. I walked my dog, though.

Quite frankly if tourists and Parisains can't handle walking or can't figure out how to use public transport then they should just hang out in a cafe, sip wine, munch on baguettes, take a deep breath of fresher air and enjoy the day for a few hours.

Mon Dieu what did people do before cars?

The elderly and infirm probably don't drive and if they need to be driven some where during the 7 hours I am sure they can get some sort of waiver.

I thunk you are making a big deal out of nothing.

Well, it turns out DonTopaz -- who already identified himself as elderly -- has his positive experience of the day dismissed as insensitive to the elderly, and people who have lived in Paris and know how obnoxiously pollute & noisy the streets can be are insulted for pointing out the "nightmare" label is robust self-centeredness masquerading a concern for tourists & the weak.

Reading news reports quoting Parisian after Parisian who appreciated the day and enjoyed it, looks like fuzzbucket should get out more.

Good point massi. And nice report Don Topaz.

May I just interject that 70 is not really elderly.

It's getting younger every year Belinda!

I hope OP doesn't intend to travel to Venice.

Actually, Belinda, I think that 70 is elderly, especially when traveling solo.

I will say that I saw lots of other elders on bikes during the day, like me cruising along at about 8mph (admittedly, the Velibs are heavy and slow). I think that we all appreciated the chance to do a little riding on the streets without the usual traffic -- no way would I get out there on a normal driving day. It also made things enormously easier for us as pedestrians -- pedestrians who move significantly more slowly than most everyone else.

As for fizzbucket (is he related to Hyacinth?), the phrase that comes to mind is "le malheur des uns fait le bonheur des autres."

All I did was report the news.
No need to pile it on.

I had a nice day, thank you - went to the market, walked my dog down to the river...

It's fuzzbucket - not related to anybody else.

Traffic was down only about 50% in my own area, but I live near the northern city limits, and there were the usual Belgian, Dutch, German etc. cars piling into the city, unaware of anything special.

In any case, I don't think there was any enforcement of the ban except in areas where they put up physical barriers. This was probably just a test run to get reactions from Parisians and others and to plan something better organized for the future. After all they can't lock down the city when buses, taxis and even ubers are allowed to drive on such a day.

We were out yesterday and thoroughly enjoyed the experience! We were surprised, how've, at how many vehicles were still running about. I found it hard to believe there were that many taxis and Uber vehicle in the world, much less just in Paris.

I guess my expectations of traffic free streets crowded with pedestrians strolling along were nieve. Walking on the street would have been a silly and dangerous thing to do; defiately hazardous to your health. As I expected, the business of vehicle speeds under 30 kph were a myth, as taxis scurried about in an effort to milk the day of every sou.

It did drizzle a bit yesterday, but not enough to put a damper on anything other than to a giant vide grenier we stumbled upon. Evidently this one was an annual event. The vendors we kept busy covering and uncovering their goods as the mist came and went. We were riding a bus on our way somewhere when we a saw the booths along the sidewalk. We exchanged a look and jumped off to spend a delightful hour or so wandering rhrough the many streets full of delightfully obscure junk and clothing. There were a number of professional vendors, of course, but an equal number of real folks cleaning out their junk.

We also stopped by the Arc just to see the fashion show action. The streets were blocked to allow photographers to pose their models with the Arc as a prop. Amazing to see the traffic circle completely empty at times! The photographers seemed to not appreciate having those expensive lights out of doors when the drizzle woul return.

I did see a lot of cars and taxis rolling at more than 30 km/hr.
Buses did, too.

The Arc de Triomphe fashion show had one side - the left - for paying customers. The right side was for VIPs.

It's never going to come to full fruition, in my opinion. It's just the Mayor's pipedream.

I wasn't out yesterday because the greasy streets in drizzle with leaves plastered to them are just asking for old ladies to fall on them. However,I approve wholeheartedly of what ever Mme. Hidalgo can do to reduce traffic levels in Paris. Seems like no matter what is tried, the traffic increases. Pollution? During the frequent temperature inversions hovering over the Paris basin, from my hill, I can see the yellow cloud of particles and whatever else hanging over the city.