travel

To Have and to Hail

Serrurerie signToday I am one happy, happy, happy, happy woman.

Cynics may scoff at how pathetically easy it is to make me happy. Romantics might say, "You have Paris, isn't that enough?"

Yes, in other ways, on other days, I might be a high-maintenance gal. And having Paris at my doorstep is certainly a blessing that brings endless joy.

But today, my friends, I am supremely happy. The price of this serendipitous elation was exactly paris locksmithtwenty-nine euros.

I am the proud owner of my very own genuine Parisian Taxi rooftop sign.

I was riding the #94 bus to a meeting on boulevard Malesherbes when I spotted the small store. "Toutes Fournitures pour Taxis" said the shop sign. I bolted off the bus at the next stop and headed back down the street. Entering, I timidly asked the owner if I was allowed to purchase a rooftop sign if I wasn't a chauffeur de taxi.

Paris lock and key"Mais bien sur!" he chortled. "You just can't buy the lighting system that goes with it."

The shop, Imagis Plus, is primarily where all taxi drivers go to get the auxiliary equipment for their taxis. Lights, signs, lots of street atlases, floor mats, and sundry manuals and roadside emergency kits.

The avuncular shop owner was the funniest and friendliest I've met in a long time, and he regaled me with lots of great customer stories.

I'm so excited about my heavy-duty plastic Taxi Parisien sign. I might make it into a lamp (there are already holes on the sides). Or maybe I'll wire it to the rear fender of my bike.

The shop owner didn't have a bag, so I carried the sign in my hand as I walked to the bus stop.

Cost of the sign: 29 euros.
Smile on the bus driver's face when I placed it on his dashboard: priceless.

Polly is a Boston born Baby Boomer living on the Left Bank in Paris and blogging about it at Polly-Vous Francais. © 2006-2008, Polly-Vous Francais, all rights reserved.

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