Yaris and other Subcompacts of France (lots of pictures)

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by auxmike

Looks like you had a great time!
Paris looks very congested and a bit grimey.
I went to Barcelona in '99 to see family and found it a lot like your Paris pics. They put huge dumpsters curbside for residential garbage. The whole area smelled like garbage!
Parallel parking; looks as though they wedge each other in. I expect a lot of scuffed bumpers over there...

It was actually far cleaner than our cities here. The only stink we encountered was the street cleaners on the Champs Elysees. They have these mini garbage trucks that scoot around the wide sidewalks sucking up trash. When they cruised by you, you'd get the dumpster smell. Other than that, I found the streets and Metros to be pretty clean. Very little of the human urine smell, so prevalent in the NY subways.

As for the parallel parking, I don't think I could park a car where they do. And, yes, just about every car on the street has a chewed up bumper as a result.

[CTScott]

Originally Posted by tomato

the 4CV is a rare sight. I can't imagine who would own it these days except a collector. Plus looks like it's in excellent shape, has been restored.

Did you by any chance see any 2CV? These are getting harder and harder to spot, even in France.

(the 2CV is one of my favorite cars for sentimental reasons, not because it's fast! hehe)

I learned how to drive mostly during a vacation in Brittany on an old beat up 4L aka Renault 4, also not exactly a speed demon ;)

I didn't specifically notice any, but I recall seeing quite a few older and boxier cars, so I may have. That 4CV was perfect inside and out. The owner had an info sheet in the widow.

[big lo]

Cool pics, CT glad your home safe.

[Altitude]

I like how prominently small cars are displayed at the dealership. Around here, the poor Yaris and cars like it are relegated to some obscure spot in the dealers lot. The show room is reserved for big ass trucks and bigger cars.

[Yaris Hilton]

I love the 4CV!

[tomato]

Originally Posted by Altitude

I like how prominently small cars are displayed at the dealership. Around here, the poor Yaris and cars like it are relegated to some obscure spot in the dealers lot. The show room is reserved for big ass trucks and bigger cars.

my impression is that the vast majority of cars are small, not only in Paris, but also in the rest of the country. There are many narrow streets. You can't tear down anything that classified "historical" in France, that's against the law, so a lot of the "old districts" stay as they are and the streets stay small.

In certain country villages and towns, if you go to the center of town, you'll find that a Yaris would barely make it through some of these streets, in some cases it just won't. I'm not sure I have a picture in my HD, I'll look.

The very narrow streets in Paris have been transformed to pedestrian-only areas.

[BluYrs]

Originally Posted by CTScott

I just returned from a week in France. One of the most exciting aspects of being in France was seeing the inverse ratio, versus here in the US, of subcompacts to large cars (and SUVs were a scarcity). --- I noticed very little modding of subcompacts, other than Smarts.

That's the thing about France (other EU countries too, but France in particular). Cars are mostly viewed only as a means of transportation. That's why you see so many people going to work in a 10-year old dark blue Clio, although they could easily afford a BMW.

Nice gallery too.

[2009BBPliftback]

thanks for all the pics! Its a whole other ballgame when in comes to cars in Europe.. my kind of ballgame

[Steveh27]

Thanks for the great post w pics. Next year we're supposed to get a few more subs; Ford KA, Chevy Beat (to be renamed Spark I think) & I think a Chrysler version of the Fiat 500. Wish we could get a subcompact SUV 4WD like my 95 Geo Tracker or the late 90's 2 door Rav4.

[RedHatch08]

^
Yup. Plus Ford Fiesta, Mazda 2, Honda CRZ...