Smoking in Paris???

Cheryl -

The smoking ban actually went into place on February 1st 2007. However, hotels, bars and restaurants have an 11 month grace period to comply. Thus, in some place smoking will be allowed until the end of December.

You cannot smoke in the train station, airports and places of work at this time. You may find that many restaurants in tourist areas have begun complying.

If you're talking about the indoor smoking ban, that went into effect in February of this year, but clubs, bars, restaurants, and hotels have until Jan. 1, 2008 to enforce the law.

I was told this will not cover outdoor smoking, sidewalk cafes etc, is this true?

When I was there in July, people were definitely lighting up.

....and i hope you've figured out how to say "side car" in French..or planned an alternative cocktail.

We were in Paris in late September. We ate outside all the time. The cafes had ashtrays on all the tables and the hotel had an ashtray. I haven't seen a big difference. The French hate rules and this one really grates on them

Outdoor smoking bans are a rarity, particularly if you're not standing directly outside a building, letting your smoke drift into the windows.

Lack of enforcement is a problem (or a plus, depending on your perspective). Here in Berlin, no one really expects the smoking ban to be enforced at all, if/when one ever gets passed.

Smoking bans outside are NOT a rarity in Canada ,,, it is the law here, NO smoking on any outdoor patio, nor within 20 feet of entrance.

Just returned from a week in the suburbs of Paris last Saturday. Even in the non "tourist" areas of the Ile de France are opening non smoking areas in bars and resturants. The hotel I was staying in refused to sign in guests who were smoking in the lobby, even though they did have reservations. My French colleagues were quite sanguine about the change and fully expected it to be enforced.

Ken

Just to comment on Pat's message about smoking in Canada. Where I live in Canada indoor smoking is verboten but is allowed on restaurant patios, terraces, etc. Hospitals and other health facilities make smokers indulge their habit a few meters from the entrances, but office buildings, shops, and the like always have smokers huddled (in winter) around the doorways.

Last time I was in Paris, (last June), all restos, bars, cafes, were smoke-free, unless you count the waiters & bartenders who were sneaking a puff behind the bar. Personally, though not a smoker (anymore) I don't mind anyone smoking whether near me or with me but I realise I am in a minority. I wish like the OP Cheryl that I could be a "social smoker" but I was a dedicated and completely habituated smoker and still after 23 years I mourn the loss of what to me was a pleasure!

I spent time in Bordeaux, Bayonne, St. Jean, and Paris this summer (July-August). I had no trouble smoking stogies in the cafes while enjoying red wine and coffee.

Indeed, there were still smoking areas in the Rue Cler cafes that I patronized. And the only people who got upset at my cigar smoking were uptight Americans... :-)

I was there in October 07 and you could not tell there was a smoking ban anywhere. All the hotels, restaurants and cafes had ashtrays and smoking. I think they were still smoking in the train stations also.

On January 1, 2008 smoking will be banned in cafes, hotels, restaurants, stores, etc. in France. There is an article about this in the current online edition of the Int'l Herald Tribune.

I'm sure you can smoke outside with your drink. In April and October, when I was in Paris, I saw lots of people standing outside smoking. Some hotels (H. Leveque, for one) have gone completely "non-smoking."