Next time your bus is late, don’t blame the bus driver
As the usual symphony of car horns started going off outside my window yesterday, I thought nothing of it. Saturdays are big wedding days at the mairie around the corner, and apparently, wedding parties honk their horns as they travel through town to the reception.
But this time the horns were louder, they seemed angrier, and they didn’t seem to be moving past by house. Instead, they seemed parked outside of it. I peeked out the window to see what the commotion was all about, and a double-parked car was blocking a bus. Chaos ensued for about the next 20 minutes.
This is the direct route from the bus station to the east—the port, Monaco, Menton, the Corniches. Needless to say, a lot of buses use this tiny street. Note the bus blocking the tramway.
As expected, the tram comes and is also blocked on the rails.
The bus that’s blocking the tramway decides it’s best to back out and clear the tramway. This leads to it blocking about three lanes of oncoming traffic.
By this time, the incessant horn honking and incredible car back-up have also attracted a bit of pedestrian traffic. Finally, some guys decide to do something about the situation. The car is locked, but that doesn’t mean it can’t move: about six of them yelled out an “un deux trios” and heaved the car to the side. A few more heave-hos, and the bus was able to pass through, to the cheers of the crowd.
By the time the double-parking offenders have returned to their car (about 15 minutes later, with shopping bags) the traffic has dissipated but the crowd remains: mostly, I think, to see who the idiot was who left their car double-parked and went outside of horn-hearing distance. The young couple unlocks the car, hops in and drives away—probably without ever knowing the drama their careless actions caused.
