THE MOTOR COACHES OF PARIS.
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The Opening of the Season at Easter when Sightseers from Great Britain and America Looked to the Motor Coach to Provide the Most Comfortable Way of Getting Round Paris and its Neighbourhood.
THE MOTOR coach business in Paris is still in a. curiously undeveloped state, so far as longdistance trips are concerned. The long trips which are run in the summer are, in nearly all cases, due to British or American enterprise. French charhabancs owners in Paris seem to confine their attentions to tile numberless race meetings which are held in the vicinity of the city. In this respect nearly every garage runs several vehicles, and, as racing is continuous throughout the greater part of the year, and most of the race-courses are within a very short run of Paris & the business is a good one. Most of the cars make a number of return trips in the day.
Country motor coach trips do not start until Easter. From Easter onwards until the autumn a series of daily triPs are run out to Fontainebleau, Versailles, eta., whilst country runs are organized to the 'war • area and to distant spots ,such as Cherbourg and the chateau country of the Lire.. The whole state of the motor-coach business in Paris at present may be described as chaotic. The long trips are often dependent upon the weather and upon the number of fpeople who book seats. If a sufficient number of seats is not booked, the coaches do not start—that is all There is nothing yet in any way resembling the large and well-organized fleets which serve the London public. The organization of Paris services bears no cornparisOn with the excellent provincial services run by railway companies such as the and the Midi.
British Enterprise in Paris.
Perhaps the most comprehensive series of motorcoach tours from Paris is run by Messrs. Thos. Cook and Son. Their fleet comprises Daimlers and Renaults, 14and 18-seater motor coaches, which are run for Cooks by P. Hearne and Co. Other tourist agencies running motor coaches include Dean and Dawsons, Pickfords, the American Express Co., Teniple Tours, etc. One or two French firms, such as Bon Marche, the famous drapers, and Messrs. Germain; organize tours, but at present French participation in the business is very small.
This state of affairs is likely to be altered very shortly, in view of the enormous expansion which is going on in every branch of the French motor industry. The Syndicat d'Initiative de Paris put one or two motor coaches into service for the Fon B22
tainebleau run towards the end of last season. Although they/did not appear until the autumn, they were very popular, and the Syndicat intends putting many more of them on the road this summer. The coaches in question are run for the ,Syndicat d'Initiative by the omnibus branch of the Paris municipal transport concern, the Societe des Transports en Commun de la Region Parisienne. They are very fine vehicles, with 32-seater bodies. mounted on the standard H-type omnibus chassis. Both chassis and bodies are built in the big municipal omnibus works in the Rue Championet,
A Great Summer Expansion Expected.
It is probable that this summer will see a very considerable expansion in the motor-coach industry here. The municipal concern itself is entering into the business, having ordered 30 motor coaches to cope with the expected crowds of visitors for the Olympic Games. The fleet which Hearne and Co. run for Cooks is being augmented this year by a number of 14-sclater Whites. The American Express Co. also use 14-seater • White coaches, and they are contemplating the employment of several more this season.
• There certainly seems to be plenty of scope for the orglnization of proper services. Not only does Paris receive a greater number of holiday visitors all the year round than any other capital in Europe, but Parisians themselves would not be slow in making use of proper coach services if such existed. It must be remembered that, up till a very few years ago, French chars-à-banes were very crude affairs. Comfortless, straight-backed seats, and very often no doors, were the usual thing so far as bodywork was concerned, and these bodies were mounted on any sort of old rattle-trap chassis that came to hand. French eoachbuilders have recently shown, however, that they are capable of turning out the finest possible coach bodies, and so soon as a few more of these productions get on the road it will help to remove the bad impresion left in the public mind by the earlier vehicles.
As already mentioned, the long-distance trips are almost entirely run by the tourist agencies, and, as a result, the passengers are all holiday visitors, and no attempt is made to run services for the ordinary resident in Paris. The Parisian, after all, does not invariably Taut to go to the races, neither does he want to drive round in a char-it-banes and see the " sights " of his own city.
The most delightful and interesting tours and districts lie within quite easy distance of Paris in every direction, either for short or long coach trips, but as to regular and properly conducted services, they are simply non-existent at present. The coaches which do the round Paris trips and the short runs to Versailles, St. Germain, etc., comprise almost every make of chassis under the sun, suitable or unsuitable, whilst as for the race-meeting ears, many of these are such terrible-looking machines that the average Londoner would simply refuse to ride in them.