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Taxi drivers at the Eiffel Tower protest a move by taxi companies to charge them for gasoline (1934?). In January 1934 a new tax on gasoline provoked a strike by taxi drivers and other car-dependent workers. The avenue de l'Opera was blocked, causing a huge traffic jam.

Source:
CEGES-SOMA (Centre for Historical Research and Documentation on War and Contemporary Society), photo no. 45278:
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Gaito Gazdanov's Paris / 39

Rich and poor

On many occasions I was astonished by the attitude of the taxi drivers to their customers from Passy and Auteuil.

While exhibiting a kind of class hostility toward them they were nevertheless unconciously convinced of the so-called superiority of these people. I discussed it with them several times.

One evening I was waiting patiently with my comrades outside a theatre; we knew there would be a lot of customers; we could easily tell from the number of private cars waiting for their owners.

L’Arlésienne was being performed and I wondered aloud how a work like this could attract such a large crowd. An old driver who heard my remark answered:

“Listen, my friend, these are not people like us. You can’t understand this play and neither can I. To do so requires study.

“There may be words in it that you have never heard before. To you it would seem like nonsense. For them it’s different, we’ll never be like them. It’s not worth bothering your head about.” [194-195]