Hookah bars in Paris fight smoking ban

by Iva Skoch on

I was surprised Parisians have accepted the new smoking ban as willingly as they have.

There is, however, one resistance movement: Hookah bars. Some of them have continued to break the law by continuing to offer customers tobacco in water pipes, IHT reports.

Hookah or shisha bars, which began springing up in France more than a decade ago, became increasingly popular across Europe, both among immigrants from Islamic countries and among the hip student crowd. France had 800 hookah bars before the smoking ban, half of them in Paris or its suburbs, but perhaps one-third have closed since the ban took effect.

So far, Sarkozy’s government shows no inclination to negotiate since declaring in December that there would be no exceptions to the smoking ban. Apparently, “it’s a matter of public health.”

That seems harsh. These are, after all, as close to private smoking clubs as you can get.

Which country smokes the most?

by Anna Brones on

What would we do without The Economist and its great sidebars? This one shows just how much certain countries smoke. According to ERC, a market research company, the heaviest smokers come from Greece, with an average of 3,000 cigarettes per person in 2007. At 20 cigarettes per pack, that makes 150 packs in a year; a lot of puffing.

Despite recent smoking bans in many places, European countries still manage to hold 18 of the top 20 spots. The most surprising statistic? That France smokes less than the U.S. Whatever happened to the stereotypical image of the French, dressed in all black, a serious look on their face and a Gauloises glued to their fingers? It could have something to do with the price of cigarettes; a pack runs about 5 euros in France, equaling just a little under $8.

Click here to see how these results changed from 2006.

Which countries *cough* smoke the most?

From the New Europe: Eating bugs and worms because you can afford it

by Iva Skoch on

The luxury restaurant market in the Czech Republic is apparently looking for new, creative ways to cater to their clients and be “distinguishable from others.”

The strategy? Putting insects as an item on luxury restaurants menus, the Prague Daily Monitor reports. The Brno restaurant manager Martin Kobylka says: “We want to shock people. A lobster, a crab or a crawfish are offered everywhere, but a cricket in caramel or a chocolate cake with a cockroach are unavailable in this country for now.” (I love that the name Kobylka actually means grasshopper in Czech. It is about the coolest name for a guy who wants to market mainstream insect-eating.)

Chocolate cake with a cockroach sounds like a delightful way to end a first date. Especially if you are really not that into her.

France ponders breathalysers in clubs

by Abha Malpani on

It is possible that from this summer, all alcohol serving establishments in France will have breathalysers so people can take breath tests before they leave clubs. 350 bars/clubs around the country have already had trial runs.

In France, the legal drinking age is 16 and you can get a driver’s license when you are 18. For years, the country has seen people killed on the road because of drunk driving and this decree is particularly to reduce the number of people driving when over the limit.

Solving the problem by focussing on keeping the roads safer as opposed to controlling alcohol consumption seems more practical, keeping in mind that France has one of the highest rates of road fatalities in Europe.

In principle the idea is great, but how can you force people to take breath tests before leaving? When youngsters drink and drive, they know what they are doing and their over-confidence that “nothing is going to happen” is what lets them drive home instead of taking public transport. So what will make them take a breath test? Will they put someone at the door who makes them do it before they leave? Will it be free to use?

A bar in Boston has taken a similar initiative into their own hands by selling a device called “Breath Scan” in their vending machines — two for US$7. It looks like they are selling, which is at least reassuring.

But once they’ve taken the test, what’s to say that they will still not drive home?

In Dubai (where the population is 70% Westerners from Europe and the US), drink driving is a huge problem — even though the limit is zero and the punishment is a month of jail plus a fine! Such rigid rules haven’t discouraged people from drink-driving, so although France’s initiative is great, I’m not sure how effective it will be.

Buying a Swedish island… or just spending time on one

by Anna Brones on

Whenever I hear about rich individuals owning whole islands, I always wonder how one actually goes about buying such a piece of property. Do you just walk into your real estate agent and say, “you know, I’m really in the mood for an island, do you have any available?” Seems like an odd question.

If you are in the market for your very own island — and who wouldn’t want one? — the island of Hanö, off the Blekinge coast in the southeast of Sweden, is currently for sale. The idyllic island includes 6 kilometers of beach front and even a 19th century lighthouse. Although Hanö is protected under Natura 2000, an EU ecological network which protects the island and limits planning to the fishing village, whoever ends up buying the island will still obtain hunting rights to the many deer that wander it.

The island is being sold by the Swedish real estate firm Svensk Fastighetsförmedlingen, who is going so far as putting an ad for the island on national television station TV4. So how much does the island of Hanö actually cost? The real estate agency has not made a comment on the asking price, instead it will all depend on incoming bids, which need to be made by June 20th.

Even if you’re not in the market for an island, Blekinge is still a beautiful part of southern Sweden that definitely merits a visit. Last summer I spent some time island hopping in the region that has a similar, but much more rural and laid-back, feel as Stockholm’s archipelago. If your summer plans include a visit to Sweden, consider heading south for some traditional Swedish relaxing.

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