“A wasted day”this is how Patrick Leroy describes his Sunday. With his wife, the Toulon native was passing through the Alpes-Maritimes this weekend. They were taking advantage, among other things, of the last week of summer, which was also the European Heritage Days. On this occasion, they had checked off the Villa Rothschild in Cannes, the municipal media library, known for its elegance and its garden. To their despair, Patrick and Véronique, who have a PMR (Person with Reduced Mobility) card, were refused access.
Inaccessible PMR parking
“This is nonsense”says Patrick Leroy, annoyed and disappointed for his wife. “There were spaces available in the gardens, just in front of the entrance to the Villa, reserved for people with reduced mobility, but no one wanted us to park. They refused to open the gate. Ultimately, these spaces are useless.” Before arriving, they had done their research. The website of the place clearly indicated accessibility for this type of case.
In France, since the law of February 11, 2005 for equal rights and opportunities, establishments receiving the public must be accessible to all types of disabilities.
The City of Cannes assures that “The disabled spaces located inside the park are not in fact accessible.” It is actually “the site, which is open to people with reduced mobility, like all municipal cultural facilities.”
Security reasons
The city council cites security reasons for this decision. “The entire park area is closed to vehicles. This is necessary and essential in order to allow visits to the garden and the building in the best possible conditions. No vehicles are then present in the car park.”
A bias for greater comfort, but which is not compatible with Véronique’s situation. “The only options were to park around, on the street. But that was not possible, and too far for my wife,” explains Patrick. “She can’t walk much, she has had several operations on her leg, she has a PMR card for these cases.”
Faced with the large crowd, Patrick and his wife, aged sixty-three, decided to turn around and return to other cultural sites.
