Panhandling in Paris

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Like any large and densely populated city, Paris is a haven for panhandlers of all sorts. The two most common categories seem to be middle-aged French men begging on the Métro, and young “gypsy” women begging on the sidewalks in touristy areas. Most of the latter appear to be from Eastern Europe, judging by their often-heavy accents; while French gypsies certainly have their share of panhandlers, they seem to be far less common on the streets than their distant Eastern-European cousins.

This young woman, apparently one of the Eastern-European gypsies, was one of half a dozen to accost me in a single short span of twenty minutes in the Latin Quarter. All of them had the same, tired technique: They asked you, “Excuse me, do you speak English?” and when you said yes (as American tourists inevitably and thoughtlessly did), they began their little speech or showed you a paper with their speech printed on it. Their story revolves around poverty, hard-luck, etc., and invariably ends with a request for cash. It’s amazing to me that they managed to beg a living this way, but there were dozens of them working the touristy areas of the city, so it must be profitable for them.

This particular panhandler was the sixth to try the same thing in twenty minutes, as I’ve said, and I finally decided to irritate them a bit by pointing a camera at them and taking their pictures. The one you see here was not thrilled to have her picture taken, although her reaction was ambivalent; I think she was half flattered that anyone would want to take her picture, and half worried that I might be a police officer or something. In any case, I’ve disguised her smiling face to make her unrecognizable, so as to protect her privacy. She is waving the little paper that contains her standard spiel. She later asked for money for food (which I did not give her), although I should think that if she had spent a bit less on leather jackets she might have had more money to buy groceries.

In 2003, the government cracked down on the large number of Romanian gypsies panhandling in this way and deported those who were illegally in the country, which has made areas like the Latin Quarter far less irritating to tourists and residents. Of course, there will probably be others to take their places.

Photographed in April, 2001.