Thursday marks an important health and cultural shift for France when a new law comes into force banning smoking in public places. Offices and other public buildings come under the new legislation but cafes, bars, restaurants, hotels and casinos are exempt until 2008.
The state is to aid would-be quitters by handing out coupons for the [...]

Imagine French cafes free of cigarette smoke, without smoldering butts or ash underfoot.
The prospect — an imminent reality — raises a question that smoker and philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre might have enjoyed contemplating: Will France still be France without widespread smoking in public?

A new ban on smoking in French offices and other public buildings begins next [...]

Many adults in France are in favour of stricter regulations for the public consumption of tobacco, according to a poll by Ifop. 77 per cent of respondents support the proposal to ban smoking in restaurants.
In addition, 66 per cent of respondents are in favour of a smoking ban in cafes, bars and brasseries, and 61 [...]