ninme

The Times - French smokers abandon bars, clubs and restaurants for private parties

Smokers in France are uniting to beat a ban on lighting up in public by organising open-house parties where they can puff on their Gauloises until the early hours.

The parties, held in flats and houses but also in clandestine clubs, often draw dozens of people for a drink, a chat, a dance and a cigarette. Some are paying, others are free, but all welcome the smokers who are deserting bars, bistrots and night clubs.

The movement has flourished since the introduction of a smoking ban in all public places on January 1, and has been compared to the speakeasies that secretly served alcohol during the Prohibition in the US in the 1920s. Internet networks have sprung up to link the partygoers and inform them of planned festivities.

One such network was created on Facebook by a 30-year-old Gauloises-smoking DJ who gives his name only as Shandor. “We set up the group because of the smoking ban,” he told The Times. “It was clear to us that it was going to be very complicated to go to a nightclub now. “A whole evening without a cigarette is very hard — especially when you’re drinking — so you’re better off at a party.”

The group — Pour le Grand Retour de la Fête en Appart’ en 2008 (“For the Great Comeback of Parties in Flats in 2008”) — originally included a few dozen people. Now it has 1,182 members. “It’s taken off so much that we’ve had to create a second, secret group,” said Shandor. “You can’t really have 1,000 people in a small flat.”

1,198 members now (since this was put online, I imagine it’s been joined mainly by myself and assorted British (and one Mexican!) journalists).

France introduced a ban on smoking in the workplace on February 1 last year and extended the measures to its 200,000 bars, cafés and nightclubs 11 months later. They report a drop in custom of between 10 and 20 per cent as a result.

So, you know, that’s really stupid.

The French government: committed to ruining French culture!

Augh I never published this! I had this ready at like 2 o’clock!