Paris, city of romance, rues new image as the dirty man of Europe
The French capital, despite efforts to deal with litter, graffiti and dog mess, is grubbier than ever
Parisians living on the Boulevard Saint-Martin, a main east-west axis north of the Seine, last week found that the plane trees along their street had been “tagged” with graffiti. But it’s not new. Apartment doors, shop fronts, flower boxes, benches and lamp-posts have been covered in tags for weeks. Months even.
Along the boulevard to the landmark Place de la République – looking shabby despite a £20m facelift six years ago – the homeless dozed in doorways or on benches, sleeping bags pulled over their heads. The pavements were littered
