On normal days, the intersection of the Boulevards St Germain and St Michel is the busiest, noisiest and most polluted in Paris, with 70,000 cars passing through the heart of the Latin Quarter.
Yesterday it was quiet, but almost festive, as cyclists and rollerskaters glided by under a bright blue sky. A mile away, traffic jams built up behind barricades proclaiming 1998 "the year of the pedestrian" and asking "Couldn't we live in Paris without cars?". Only taxis, buses, emergency vehicles and cars powered by electricity or liquid gas were allowed through 148 barricades blocking off several districts of the capital.
In 34 other French cities participating in the national "In Town Without My Car" day, clowns performed on the theme of air pollution, lawns were planted on central throughfares and alternative transport including boats, horse-drawn carriages and hot-air balloons were provided free. In Grenoble motorists could exchange their car-keys for bicycles, while in Strasbourg tram-users were served croissants and coffee during the rush hour.
Spoilsports in the right-wing opposition described the initiative by the Environment Minister, Ms Dominique Voynet, as a gimmick, a judgment doubtless shared by Peugeot and Renault.
Several major cities governed by right-wing mayors, including Lyons, Nice and Bordeaux, boycotted the experiment. But Ms Voynet, a leader of the French Green Party, said it "marks the slow but irreversible reconquest of our towns" and vowed to stage a Europe-wide car-free day in the year 2000.
Yesterday's car ban symbolised a dramatic change of attitude in France, where opinion polls show that 69 per cent of the population would like downtown districts to be permanently off-limits to traffic. Yet a comparable percentage of French people drive to work every day, and do not wish to give up their cars.
Parisians are exasperated by constant traffic jams, parking shortages, frequent tickets and air pollution. More than 46 per cent of Parisian households do not even own a car, double the car-free rate elsewhere in the country. The French Federation of Automobile Clubs estimates the annual cost of maintaining a car at 40,000 francs (£4,761), and many residents of the capital now prefer the cheaper solution of renting a car for weekends and long holidays.
The car is losing its value as a status symbol and bicycles, rollerskates and scooters are becoming more fashionable. In Strasbourg the proportion of bicycle and public transport use now approaches that of Amsterdam.
France's pro-environment, anti-car backlash coincides with the return of the tramway. Tram lines were ripped up in Paris suburbs in the 1930s, but the regional public transport company RATP now plans to spend 14 billion francs (£1.66 billion) to rebuild them.
