ça passe ou ça casse . . . by Jane Tolbert

A narrow street in Belgentier (Var), France, where I feared encountering a resident or pet emerging from a doorway or someone laden with shopping bags of baguettes or fresh product.

Often, when cars and people meet in situations like this, they joking comment, "Attention les pieds" (watchout for your feet) or "ça passe ou ça casse" (it will get through or take it out).



Parking in alleys requires small cars, rear view mirrors that fold flat as well as the ability to straddle a sidewalk without leaving too much of your fender in the main road. An invaluable skill is also to park your car in the space the size of a tiny envelope in less than 10 seconds flat. It's not that traffic won't stop, but it's more than someone else might get into the space.

Older parking garages accommodate only small cars--the length of newer cars makes it nearly impossible to back in and out of spaces or negotiate the spiral shape of the garage ramps.

Europeans have always seemed more environmentally minded, but their selection of a car has also been affected by the price of gas and the size of the roads, and until recently, the tax on engine size.



Street scenes like this one in Juan-les-Pins attest to the value of a small car.




With more than 80 percent of Floridians commuting in a car to work, thinking small is becoming the next big thing. Everyone who has a parking permit for the University of Florida campus knows that it as only the permit to locate a space. Parking lots have spaces designated for zip cars, scooters and car pools, leaving few options for faculty and staff who drive cars. Due to the lack of parking spaces, an increasing number of people have opted for scooters or bikes. Even the Smart is making inroads. In Europe, it offers the ease of parking both parallel and perpendicular to the curb. In the States, it can beat out competition for tight spaces.





In a world of uncertain gas prices, a growing sense of social responsibility and climate change, small is becoming the next big thing, or so it seems.




Although large cars might carry some status, they are impractical in many French cities and increasingly in the States. Here, a US pickup truck and a French Twingo face off on the Cap d'Antibes. On both sides of the Atlantic, the behemoth SUVs seem to be going the way of the fur coat—garaged or closeted.

But small cars do offer one main disadvantages--their small size precludes taking luggage or even a large purse. Fortunately, I do not have a chauffeur, or I would have to worry about him also.