Head-Count in France

It's small and cozy and it's in the Marais, near
the Place des Vosges.

You, Me and Taxes

Paris:- Sunday, 21. February 1999:- I have whined often enough about the high rate of all forms of taxation in France - not all of them originating with the European Commission! - but I was startled to read last week that visitors have extra taxes to pay for the privilege of visiting this fair land.

Paris, for example, introduced its 'taxe de séjour' in 1994 and collected the tidy sum of 118 million francs with it in 1997. Generally, the tax amounts to seven francs per head per overnight stay.

One third of the money collected in Paris goes to tourist promotion, and two-thirds is spent on maintaining museums, monuments and other sites. (None of your tax money, pays anything towards this magazine, by the way.)

As far as per-head receipts go, Cannes and Nice are not far behind Paris. And there are odd places, such as a little town in the Seine-et-Marne department, which collect relative potfuls - thanks directly to Mickey Mouse.

Meanwhile, even with Euro-harmonization, the all-encompassing value-added tax is expected to drop only 'marginally.'

For the last census of this millennium, France will mobilize 115,000 temporary head-counters and send them out to find out how many and who we are, from Monday, 8. March until Wednesday, 3. April. The last census, in 1990, counted 58.1 million heads in France.

The intention is to count everybody who lives in France, regardless of nationality and regardless of domicile; and including those with none.

In the past, only one percent have escaped being counted. The operation is expected to cost a bundle, and the preliminary results will be available between June and December of this year.

Last Tuesday, France 2 TV-news featured a sound-clip from the Pope John-Paul II's new audio-CD, to be distributed by Sony. There was a 10-second burst of blurry static, so it is impossible to predict the Pope's hit potential.

I have read somewhere that the Pope used to be an enthusiastic singer when he was younger, but this time it seems as if the recording company has contented itself with synchronizing some of the Pope's recorded prayers with new music tracks.

Sony intends to distribute 25 million copies of the CD, which is entitled 'Abbà Pater.' Radio Vatican is likely to be the direct beneficiary.

Since the opening to the public on 9. October last year, the new Bibliothèque Nationale has been having a bumpy run-in period. The latest incident occurred late last month when two 'hostesses' were jostled by crowds pushing into the law section, and a strike was called.

The sections for economy and history are also said to be too small. Workers have had to improvise a chit-system for entries and exits in order to be able to tell if there are free places in these specialty areas.

In general, the library's computer system is not yet functioning as planned. There is no proper mesh between the horizontal reading rooms and the vertical towers stocking the books. The 'back office,' the system of internal corridors for staff, are described as poorly lit and incredibly long.