Today on Monday Mysteries we take a look at a style of a pedestrian crossing sign that we spotted in Paris, one that mysteriously seems to come with a bit of an attitude.

Now I’ve previously blogged here on 22tue about the special pedestrian crossing signals called Ampelmännchen that are in use in many, if not most, of the former East German towns.  They have become a big tourist attraction since they were re-introduced in those areas starting in 1999; here’s an article from the LA Times from back then with more information about them.

Aside from those special Ampelmännchen, though, the pedestrian crossing lights in Germany are pretty straightforward and match the style of those found in the UK and France:  the “stop, don’t cross” symbol is a male stick figure “facing” straight ahead, with his arms by his sides, lit by red lights. The “OK to go now” is a striding male stick figure light by green lights. Here’s a photo I found on the web of them (note that the “dreamstime” marking is a watermark because I haven’t paid to buy a copy of this photo):

Typical pedestrian crossing figures in Europe (photo from dreamstime.com)

However, on our recent trip to Paris, from time to time we kept running across the red light guy who had a little more style and flair that normal. With his arms akimbo, he seemed to be saying, “I say stop! Go ahead, I dare you to go forward.”  He was scattered around town, and only to be found every once in a while, far outnumbered by his more standard brethren seen at most corners.

But below is one we saw near the Louvre. BTW, even though the “Go” figure isn’t lit up, you can see it’s pretty boringly regular; we never found a non-standard green figure in Paris.

Crossing figure for “Stop” near the Louvre, Paris

Usually all the red bulbs in the Stop figure were lit up, of course.  However, I liked this one a lot:  with so many of the red bulbs burned out, he seems to have a certain je ne sais quois, a bit of French fashion flair with his jaunty red collar and cuff.

OK, well, maybe that’s a bit of an exaggeration. But in his general stance with his hands on his hips, he definitely has a bit more of an attitude than the typical, arms-by-their-sides crossing guards.

Now,  the German term Ampelmännchen, “little traffic light man”, doesn’t seem to have a cute single-word name that I can find in either English or French. Suggestions welcome. After all, our little French crossingmen with an attitude deserve a term of their own, n’est-ce pas?