Someone just told me it is normal to throw trash in the streets of Paris and someone will come and pick it up right after you, is this true?

No.

It's certainly not normal for me or anyone else I know to throw trash into the streets of Paris, and no, nobody comes along to scoop right up after you, but perhaps what you were referring to was the street cleaning squads that appear like clockwork every morning, early, to clean up Paris. You'll see them everywhere if you're up early - green trucks, green uniforms. Just because they show up to clean every day should not be taken as an invitation to trash Paris.

AR, I think you are thinking of Camelot. And the leaves blow into nice piles.

Yes, absolutely true. The are in the same union as the men to flush the toilet for you and the women who come to your hotel room to wash your back.

"SomeONE" comes and picks it up? Well, it depends what you mean by "someone." Paris has a very large population of birds--smart, alert, and very bold birds. Yes, they will pick up your trash, provided it is food, or looks like food. In fact, they will pick up your food even before it becomes trash. Have you wondered why not many Parisians stroll around eating as people do in the USA? Hmmm...you thought it was their reserved manners and elegant style? No, it is because if they walk along the street munching a brioche or a piece of pizza or a banana, some bird will certainly spot them and swoop down to grab the morsel on its way to the hungry pedestrian's mouth. And those sidewalk cafes! Hrmp! They are no longer for eating! For sitting and chatting, yes. Maybe maybe for drinking. But order food at your own risk. If food arrives, you must hover over it, chin to plate, and pile it into your oral orifice as fast as you possibly can, lest you lose it to some wily crow. (Oh, and this is why hats with veils are returning to fashion: the veils are quite useful, creating a little tent affording at least some slight protection from the greedy birds while the ladies are downing their snacks. If you're truly hungry, never ever turn your head to chat with your companion, or gaze at the skyline, or gawk at the stylish pedestrians unless you have finished everything on your plate. It can be quite emabarrassing to be outsmarted by a bird, you know, and crows are very smart birds indeeed. Don't say I didn't warn you now!

What an odd thread I found.

I was told the same thing. A friend I met over there responded that "I keep these guys working" when I asked why he'd just thrown his chewing gum wrapper in the street. (Though it still annoyed me, just as it does here in NYC).

I'm sure it's not really acceptable to strew your trash about the streets of Paris, but . . . <BR><BR>Last summer, we were at the Euston train station in London and couldn't find a trash can anywhere. We asked the security guy about it and he told us that they don't have any because of the risk of terrorists planting things in them. He pointed to an out-of-the way corner and told us to put our trash there, someone would come along to clean it up.<BR><BR>Well, travel is broadening. Having seen how calmly Londoners deal with their own longstanding terrorist problems, helped my teenage kids deal calmly with the new security measures here in the US.

A few years ago they had to close up/remove the trash cans in Paris for fear of bombs, also; today there are green,see-thru bags in which to dispose of your trash.

It's the birds that do it, I'm sure.

It would not be Paris without littered streets and the men in the lime green suits out in the mornings scooping it all up. They do use large size shovels as I recall.<BR><BR>Also, I suggest not staring at the scenery while walking along the streets of Paris. Instead, look down at the sidewalk. There is a very good reason for my suggestion, as anyone who has ever walked through a cow pasture knows. And it ain't just the little dogs that frequent the streets of Paris, either. <BR><BR>St. Cirq says it is not normal.<BR><BR>Well, all I can say is that Paris must be full of abnormal people in the Montparnasse area, because I have walked over large accumulations of trash toward evening. I think part of the strategy is that the paper covers the other stuff so you don't accumulate it on your shoes. <BR><BR>Rue des Rennes and Boulevard Montparnasse towards 6 PM (18:00) can be full of about anything you care to name in the way of paper products and various and assorted other forms of grunge.<BR>

Maybe that's the answer: it happens in certain neighborhoods but is not a city-wide practice.

I cannot believe that someone was serious. Nobody can be that dim. Naturally cities have street cleaners, but that does not mean that you throw your s**t on the streets. If there is not a trash can you put your gumpaper in your pocket and drop it into trash when THERE IS a can.