Monday, February 10, 2014

Go west!

This week our President (François Hollande) is heading West, towards the United States and more precisely towards Silicon Valley, where a lot of young French entrepreneurs moved to create or work in start-ups. He goes there to learn from the local eco-system, but also to try to collect a few dimes from the digital giant such as Google or Amazon...  I though that posting a photo of one of the "founding fathers" - and the 3rd President - of the country was appropriate. This statue of Thomas Jefferson is actually at the end of the Le Pont des arts Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor on the left bank. 

12 comments:

  1. Too bad you just got back from a long trip. You could have gotten yourself on the journalist entourage and come for a visit. Then we West Coast (sometimes called the Left Coast) would have been able to swoop you up for an evening out. Ah well. Next time.

    No joke about the French entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley. There's a whole LinkedIn group of them.

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    1. Yes I know, I know a few; there is a pretty large French community over there.

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  2. Le Pont des arts? ou la Passerelle Léopold Sédar Senghor?

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    1. Ooops, you're right Tim, my mistake. I edited the caption! Thank you.

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  3. Several of our founding fathers, chief among whom were Jefferson, Franklin and Adams, spent productive years in France.

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    1. Those were the times when France was an inspiration...

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  4. Tommy, of course, had his own issues where women were concerned, so he and Hollande could relate about mistresses and action on the side...

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  5. Yes, Mr. Jefferson seemed to have been a big fan of all things French. If Mr. Hollande had played his cards right, he could have had a lovely lady at his side for the big White House dinner and Michelle Obama wouldn't have to be worried about how to set the table for an unaccompanied single guy. I'm sure there will be at least a few ladies there who will be checking out Mr. Hollande to see what seems to make him so attractive to the opposite sex. Perhaps he can teach them how to sit astride the back seat of a motorbike for a romantic nighttime ride through the streets of Paris. :-)

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  6. This shot is especially apropos today—when Messieurs Hollande and Obama will be touring Jefferson's home, Monticello, together.

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  7. Jefferson, the original American Francophile. Excellent little book on his stay in France called "Thomas Jefferson's Creme Brulee" by Thomas Craughswell. Check it out

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