"EAU LA LA!"

From the New York Times:

In the latest in a series of unusual efforts to make Paris green, the city is now offering residents free sparkling water to try to wean Parisians not from red wine, but from overconsumption of plastic bottles.
....

“We chill the water between 6 and 8 degrees Celsius,” said Philippe Burguière, the spokesman for Eau de Paris, “and then we inject carbon dioxide into regular tap water to make the bubbles thin and tasty.” Those temperatures translate to 42.8 to 46.4 degrees Fahrenheit.

The new water fountain is part of an operation “aimed at promoting tap water in a country where we invest a lot to preserve its quality,” Mr. Burguière added.

The fountain is connected to the public water system and uses six taps to provide both sparkling and flat water.

The idea was conceived in Italy and grew very popular there, Mr. Burguière said.

Italians, who are known as the world’s biggest consumers of sparkling water, have installed 215 fountains of the same type in the country’s northern regions.

Sounds like a great, green idea to me. Leave it to the Italians to teach the French a thing or two.

Did you know that an Italian taught the French how to cook? Back in the day when Catherine de Medici, of Florence, married Prince Henry of France, who later became King Henry II, she took her cook with her. The cook proceeded to show the French how it's done.

Of course, there are spoilers who say that the story is not true. Well, that's my story, and I'm sticking to it.

But I digress. The Italian and now the French practice of giving away water, even water with a sparkle, is wonderful. The sellers of bottled water may not agree, but, hey guys! you have to do your part, too, in going green - for the common good, you know.

The title of the post is from the headline of the story in the Times-Picayune newspaper, but I cannot find an online link.