Strictement Interdit

"Interdit," which means forbidden, is a common sight on signage around the city. It's interdit to smoke in metro stations, or interdit to leave behind your dog's business on the street. Interestingly enough, the Parisians keep on doing it. So, I talked to my professor, and he explained to me that there are two levels of interdit in Paris, there's plain-old "interdit," and there's "strictement interdit" which you really don't do. For example, at the Musee Camondo yesterday, it was strictement interdit to use their antique elevator, as indicated on a placard. It's similarly strictement interdit to open the maintenance door in a metro station, or to go down a one-way street (but even that is fair game for the motoscooters). Interdit, on the other hand, is more like someone waving their finger at you, telling you that you probably shouldn't do that, which as we all know by the mountains of dog crap on the streets and the cigarette butts littering the metro stations, just isn't that effective.