Tourists flock to France's last functioning phone booth

In a small French commune near the Swiss border, tourists have become interested in a particular object. The only functioning phone booth in the country has unexpectedly gained immense fame.

The phone booth is in Murbach in the Upper Rhine department. Until recently, the town was primarily known for its magnificent landmark - the 18th-century Benedictine abbey. Now, tourists have begun showing interest in something else.

AFP reports that the functioning public phone has recently gained unexpected popularity. The booth stands next to the city parking lot. In Murbach, due to the terrain, cell phone transmitters are not possible to install, although there is Internet access. Booth number 468 is used for emergency calls. It has no slot for coins or cards, which were once used in such machines.

Booth number 468, however, has its phone number, which can be called. According to AFP, the phone has kept ringing since the media published it, said Esmeralda Mura, a representative of the Esmeralda mayor's office. The official left paper and a pen in the booth so someone who answered the call could jot down the conversation.

As AFP reports, the sound of the ring is heard regularly, though sometimes to no avail. Occasionally, someone picks up the receiver out of curiosity.

One person who happened to answer the phone in the booth was Jean-Paul Grasser from Strasbourg, who had a brief phone conversation with a stranger calling from Amiens. The 80-year-old Grasser tells AFP that such a conversation brings back good memories for him. Without going into detail, he recalls that 30-40 years ago, when he had to conduct some secret phone conversations, he did so from just such a phone booth.

Alex Thibaud, a 46-year-old entrepreneur, also calls booth 468. He was heard by an AFP journalist who picked up the receiver. The businessman argues that relations between people used to be better, but today, technology has attached people to smartphones. Tour guide Thomas Studer says that the town tours previously ended in the medieval garden area. Now, the last stop is the phone booth.