In message , Richard
writes
On Wed, 2 Feb 2005 20:34:29 +0000, Ian Jelf
wrote:
You'd be amazed how many people *are* fascinated about RMs in London,
trams in Amsterdam or the few surviving open platform buses in Paris [1]

They've all gone, I'm afraid. They were an unusual version of the
absolute classic French - and particularly Paris - bus, the SC10.
More at
http://busparisiens.free.fr/sections...ticle&artid=12 and
http://www.navily.net/matroulantbus.php#sc10 for any Francophones out
there.

Thanks for the update, Richard.

Speaking of the "original" Parisian open platformed buses, Robert Jowett
in his book "Paris is Worth a Bus" said that, when they were withdrawn,
Paris would have "lost its soul".

That phrase keeps coming into my mind when I think of the demise of
London's Routemasters.

I think Boulogne (sur Mer) had a newer bus with a rear platform but
Google doesn't know about it.
I saw an elderly Saviem "Standard" in Boulogne in 2003 but it was one of
the ordinary (closed rear) ones.
--
Ian Jelf, MITG
Birmingham, UK

Registered Blue Badge Tourist Guide for London and the Heart of England
http://www.bluebadge.demon.co.uk