Every day is garbage day in Paris. Not just Tuesdays and Fridays--every day. Because most homes are very small, everything (including waste baskets) is also very small. Additionally, I don’t think many people have a garbage disposal (that’s something I really miss) so every day on your first trip down 48 steps, you carry a bag of garbage plus the wine bottles.
There’s a closet in the building’s courtyard in which several heavy plastic green garbage containers are stored (here's Suz depositing the daily garbage). Glass and wine bottles are recycled; I’m not sure about paper recycling. Every day, the building attendant drags full garbage containers out the courtyard and through the building entry hall for pickup on the curb.
Along with tons of green metal forms holding green plastic garbage bags for trash along the streets of Paris, you also see large, round, green metal receptacles for people to dispose bottles. Occasionally, one of the big green garbage trucks (not the little green trucks used for washing the sidewalks and streets) comes along and lifts—with a hoist—the green metal receptacles to empty all the bottles.
Yup, that’s garbage in Paris. Must be a slow news days, you’re thinking… And Suz is thinking that because I’m so enthralled with the little green men, I might be taking off with one of them… I’m also very interested in all the gendarmes standing around with their riot gear when the demonstrators are out and about. Is it the uniforms??
