new smoking ban

I'll report back. Let me say I'm dubious about the likelihood of compliance.

jphbucks, as were the young women interviewed for the article. They were both actively smoking in a park.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2025/jun/29/france-implements-smoking-ban-at-beaches-and-parks-in-step-towards-tobacco-free-generation?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other

However, to the disappointment of some anti-tobacco activists, the ban does not cover the terraces of bars and restaurants where many French still happily smoke.

What if the terrace is located on a beach?

"Let me say I'm dubious about the likelihood of compliance."
That's what people said when the previous ban was introduced. Needless to say, compliance was almost instantaneous and 100%

I've lived in three countries where tobacco bans have been introduced, and every time it's the same.

What if the terrace is located on a beach?

Excellent question!

And regarding the smoking ban on the beach, the law specifies that it applies to

"beaches bordering bathing areas during the bathing season."

Since there are sometimes beaches where bathing is prohibited, and bathing season is a rather vague definition...it could be a headache for the municipal police to enforce the law strictly speaking.

There's no way this is going to be enforced

So, Gitanes, Marlboros, and other cigarettes are banned, but not vape pens. Whether vape or cigarettes, the biggest users last year in France (and also in Italy last year, and England and Poland this year), seemed to be young women - college age. Others are wising up with age, or maybe dying off.

In the meantime, we still eat inside restaurants in Europe, as far away from the doors and windows as possible. Dining al fresco means being in the smoking section. Blechhhhh!

My wife said when she was walking through a lower-class section of Bordeaux yesterday she saw a man and his two young children (the kids were younger than 10, she's certain) all puffing away on vape pens. The man was chatting with a friend while his kids were sharing the second vape. My wife said she doesn't remember being so angry and yet also unable to do anything to change the situation. Very sad. It's certainly child abuse.