Monday, February 19, 2007

L'année du cochon (Year of the Pig)


As you can see on several city daily photo blogs - it's the Chinese new year. In Paris, there is a pretty large Chinese community (between 250,000 and 400,000 depending on the source) and every year they organize several New Year parades. Yesterday, it started by the Hotel de Ville, today (Monday), it'll take place at the Place Saint Sulpice at 6 pm and next Sunday it will be in the Chinese quarter, located in the 13th arrondissement.

33 comments:

  1. Excellent photo, especially for Chinese New Year.

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  2. that's a brilliant photo Eric.
    have a nice week.

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  3. Gung hay fat choy - which is phonetically how you say "happy new year" in Cantonese.

    There'll be a huge parade tonight in San Francisco, which has the largest Chinese population outside of mainland China. It's always a great affair.

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  4. I had fully intended to go to Newcastle which is the regional centre for Chinese celebrations for the New Year, but I decided that it was a little too far to travel after my recent heart attack, besides I didn't want to step on Chris's toes by taking pictures in his city.
    So, I end up looking at Paris, oh well, maybe next year!

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  5. Oh, yeah, thanks for the reminder, Eric! I once had the misfortune of driving near the location of Chinese Parade in San Francisco and stayed stuck in traffic for hours, literally!!

    Is the portal open, now? I had no idea! That's great news!!!

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  6. So this is the year of the Golden Pig, a particularly auspicious one, which comes around once every 60 years. The Chinese maternity wards are said to be packed around this time, with all the new births.

    If you'd like to see how this year bodes for you and your particular Chinese horoscope animal , you can check this out for some fun.

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  7. "auspicious" is right kokomo! I've read that other than those actually born in 2007, it will be a rough year for the rest of us. We'll see if that comes true...I hope not!

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  8. Love the colours int his picture.
    I've read that the Pig grants a prosperous year for everybody, not only those born in 2007. I'm thinking about getting a mini cochon figure and strategically place it somewhere in my house. The chinese are known for being a wise people, so they must know what they're talking about!

    I'm off to the beach now, due to carnival holiday I don't have to work this week :-)

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  9. Eric, if you ever need a host in Rio, you've got it!

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  10. Thanks for the link, kokomo! I've gotta share that with my husband. He's in finances and he'll just love reading about the prosperous year he's about to have!

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  11. Hey buzzgirl, I thought that Canada had more Chinese, no?

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  12. Wow Michael, that reminds me of an avatar I just saw on LiveJournal: "Canada: We're bigger and we're on top. If this was prison the U.S. would be our bitch." That really makes me wish I was Canadian right now!

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  13. LOL Soosha! I'd be your b---h any day you know! ;-)

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  14. *blush* Never thought I'd live to see the day you'd say that!!!

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  15. No, Michael, it's San Francisco. I've just done some (non-Wikipedia) research, and that fact is cited over and over again.

    Our "Chinatown" is huge. So large, in fact, that there are actually three - the original downtown, one in the Richmond District, and in the Sunset District.

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  16. as I can see the Chinese New Year has started in Paris, too. Its a pity that in Budapest the Chinese community doesnt celebrate it with carneval.

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  17. Eric, I see you are more in Chinese Golden Pig than in Parisian Bœuf Gras !… Well the first is certainly more colorful and exotic than the latter. And Le Marais is such an agreable area, especially with the wonderful weather we enjoyed yesterday, isn't it ?

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  18. Wow! what a expression face! I love this close-up pic!

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  19. J'aime vraiment beaucoup cette photo.
    I'm proud to be a member of such a creative and interresting community!

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  20. Cultural celebrations of all kinds are all over the globe! Great photo and colours. Watched Carnaval parade last night in Mazatlan--lots of fun here, too!

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  21. Je vous en prie, Soosha_q. Good Luck to your husband. And Susan, let's hope for peace and prosperity for us all then.

    What a great time of year with all the celebrations for the New Year, in San Francisco, and carnavales in Rio, Venice, New Orleans. The photo really captures that spirit of renewal.

    And GG - If you don't mind, I am curious. I think you are being funny, but what is 'Parisian Boeuf Gras?" Is it related to 'Mardi Gras'?

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  22. > Kokomo : you are perfectly right, not about my being funny but about Mardi Gras !
    Le Bœuf Gras used to open the carnival of Paris. This tradition goes back to the Middle Ages and was stopped in 1952 (cf http://www.carnaval-pantruche.org/cphist.html, sorry this site is only in French). It has been re-introduced in Paris 10 years ago.

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  23. Merci, GG, for the info. I will check out the website.

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  24. The San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade is actually Saturday, March 3, 2007...starts at 5:30PM[so tomate farcie won't get stuck again! ;-) ]it is usually during the full moon after the new year[which is a new moon]and so on and so forth.

    Buzzgirl...To show you how quickly San Francisco has been gentrified, I had accounts on Taraval in the Sunset 20 years ago and there wasn't one Chinese business out there. It was ALL Irish and Italian and they weren't very happy about the impending changes!

    Speaking of Mardi Gras I saw Les Enfants du Paradis (known as Children of Paradise in its English release) a 1945 film by French director Marcel Carné last night in SF[What a spectacular film!!]set in Paris in 1828 and the closing scene is of Mardi Gras on the streets of Paris! What an amazing sight it was!!

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  25. kpgallant : Garance à Frédérick Lemaitre : "Paris est tout petit pour ceux qui s'aiment comme nous d'un aussi grand amour."

    J'adore !

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  26. > Jean. ;))

    > Jazzy. Thanks, you too.

    > Buzzgirl. Wow, I'm impressed. I didn't know your Chinese was that good! No really surprised there a big Parade in SF...

    > Curly. Well, wise decision I think! But it's really worth it though. The colours are absolutely amazing. Like you say, next year.

    > Tomate. LOL on your traffic story. Well you should have dropped your car and just watch the show... Don't forget this year it will happen again...
    Yes the portal is active, not "officially" opened yet though. Still some fine tuning to work on.

    > Kokomo. Yes so they say. I'm always amazed to see how supersticious the Chinese - and Asians in general - are. Here in Europe we're much less into this even though you find a horoscope in each magazine...

    > Susan. Don't worry too much, I think this "auspicious/ non auspicious year" thing has not been scientifically proven yet!

    > Monica. You are so lucky. Not only you have the carnaval but on top of that you don't have to work! And thank you for your hospitality BTW ;) Very nice of you.

    > Soosha. LOL. Keep us posted.

    > Michael. Well, there is a pretty big Chinese community in SF anyway if I recall.

    > Soosha. Ooooh. Where is this taking us?!

    > Michael. Here you go!

    > Soosha. Me neither Soosha, me neither...

    > Buzzgirl. And it's nice too isn't? In SF you really feel like you're in Chian when you enter the Chinese quarter. It's not like in Paris where you still feel like you're in a Paris street.

    > Lavender. And a lot of them had that intense expression. really fascinating.

    > Zsolt. Is there a big Chinese community in Budapest?

    > Nasty GG. I did not know about this boeuf Gras thing until I read something about it in the paper this morning. Besides, you know me: if it's French, it's boring! LOL

    > Dsole. Yes really impressive. I love this parade.

    > Bleeding Orange. Well welcome. We're proud to welcome Grenoble - and your beutiful photos - in our community.

    > James. Thanks.

    > Kate. I suppose it was not for the Chinese new year was it? More a local Carnaval right?

    > KPgallant. Thank you for Tomate ;) Ahhhhhhhhh les Enfants du Paradis. So beautiful. I'm like [nasty] GG, I adore this film.

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  27. See
    go.philly.com/newyear
    for pictures of our parade yesterday. Usually go but didn't because I went to the opera last night. I love this parade and the noise of the firecrackers that people throw as the dragon progreses.

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  28. Love this photo! The reds and purples are awesome, and the turquoise in the crown is gorgeous! Well done! Happy New Year Everyone!

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  29. Ouaisss...je suis d'accord maintenant!! J'ADORE...Les Enfants du Paradis!! Everyone that loves PDP should see it! ;-) Tonight, Nathalie Baye in
    Le Petit Lieutenant!!

    "Paris est tout petit pour ceux qui s'aiment comme nous d'un aussi grand amour."

    First time I saw the whole film on a BIG screen! Wow!!!

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  30. GG: What a great website! Paris *should* have it's own carnavale! Hope the tradition continues.... encore la vache s'amusait! Meuuuuuh! lol:)

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  31. What fun to imagine le Place Hotel de Ville and Place Saint Sulpice with the parades. I sat at le Cafe Mairie (sp?) on Place Saint Sulpice and watched the world several times.
    I hope Johnny and his partner have a great visit.
    Weather? it was 80+ F in Los Angeles all weeked, just fabulous. Now back to Minneapolis, 30. C'est la vie.

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