One of the things that is a little hard to get used to is the bars on windows. Yes, bars on windows. I don't mean just in the mean-streets of Paris (actually, I never saw what I would consider "mean-streets" in Paris…but I know they have mean-streets in the banlieues). I mean every little town. The first floor buildings almost all have bars. And if a window does not have bars it has wooden shutters that would keep out almost any voleur. I'm told this is for insurance reasons. You get a substantial discount. However, these aren't trivial bars. They are 1"sq. cast iron bars. It would take some serious demolition to get through them. In other words, they are expensive.
Doors are yet another amazing feature. Our door in Aix is almost 3 in. thick and has 3 distinct bolts that run through the jam when locked. NOBODY is getting through this door with a crowbar or kicking it down. And that is just the apartment door. The building door is even more intimidating and appears to have some sort of braces that one could use to really batten down if a foreign army is knocking on the door.
Why??? What is this need for all of the security? The per capita murder rate in France is 25% what it is in the U.S. and rape is one-third the U.S. rate (DSK not withstanding). Assault is 20% as likely. Perhaps there is less violent crime but more burglary and theft? Nope, one-third as many robberies. They do have a slightly higher auto-theft rate than the U.S. but then their cars (which they do NOT adore like Americans) are almost all on the street.
So what makes the french so security minded?
