Jump to full article: The Washington Post, 2006-10-17
Author: Art Buchwald
Intro: It may be hard to believe, but I was a restaurant critic when I worked in Paris for the European edition of the Herald Tribune in the 1950s.
I was there when Paris was burning. That is to say, every Frenchman and woman filled the cafes and dining rooms with smoke all day. . . .
For all of us, the cigarette or cigar was the best way to end a fantastic meal.
The French have a saying, "A day without tobacco is like a day without sunshine." . . .
In the good old days, I smoked cigars -- six to 10 a day.
I thought nothing of lighting up a Havana after a meal in a good restaurant.
. . .
It is hard to imagine France as a smoke-free country.
Only the old movies will show people smoking. If "Casablanca" were filmed today, Humphrey Bogart's nightclub would have signs all over it saying "Sans Fumee" (No Smoking).
Imagine the hookers in Pigalle standing in doorways, biting their nails.
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