The big summer roundup

Every year around the 1st of August in France, the big summer round up takes place: people who took their vacation in July come back to their home and the ones who stayed home in July (more numerous) leave their home. That is why, last Saturday, we broke a traffic jam record! No less that 994 Km (618 miles) of congestion were counted on the French road network at midday! Stupid, isn't it?! As an illustration I used this photo that I took yesterday (Sunday) morning while the yearly "traversée de Paris en Anciennes" (old cars parade) was going through Paris. This is an old 404 Peugeot (well, not that old, my father had one!!) with typical suitcases from the 60's on the roof rack! Have a nice start of the week, whether you're home or on vacation!

How French are you?

It's Friday, let's have fun! I came across this little "How French Are You?" quiz on a website and it really made me smile. And since a few days earlier I took this photo on the Champs Elysées (it belongs to the window of the French car manufacturer Renault) and I thought this was the perfect match. 

Buy French!

You know how I like to support young entrepreneurs! Well I found two of them on my street yesterday... They opened a brand new shoe store (Thomaas & Nicolaas) where they sell French manufactured (or at least designed) shoes (which is really not common these days...). But the real plus of this store is that you will find there models that you won't see anywhere in the world like in chain stores! Besides, let me remind you that on this very same street, you can also visit another extraordinary shoe store that I've already featured on PDP. I wish them a lot of success!

Cloclo for sale!

If you're not French - or haven't lived in France in the 70's! - you probably did not understand the title of this post... Cloclo is the the nickname of Claude François, a very famous French singer who lived between 1939 and 1978 (he accidentally electrocuted himself in his bathtub). You surely don't know him (even though he wrote and composed Comme d'habitude, the original version of My Way and Parce que je t'aime mon enfant, the original version of My Boy), but here he was extremely popular and still his... To a point that today they are selling some of his stuff at Drouot, one of the main auction houses in Paris. I live right next by it, so I did not resist going there and take a few shot. The place was packed with old fans!

French films

One thing I like very much about Paris is that we still have a pretty dynamic movie industry. This is due to specific financial dispositions (for example anybody in France can invest in a movie and get a tax cut), but also to the fact that even if the big American blockbusters are extremely successful, we still have a wide variety of choice when we want to go to the movies. We have what we call Cinémas d'art et d'essai like this one, the Studio 28, located in Montmartre. There you can watch "quality films", the very ones that led Phil in Modern Family to say "Why do I have to watch a French movie, I didn't do anything wrong" -;). Jokes aside, I'm glad these theaters still exist.

Eclairs to die for...

If you already came to France you probably had the occasion to eat an "Eclair", that is a sort of long puff generally filled with chocolate of coffee custard. Now there is - much - more to them... At the Atelier de l'Eclair, a new pastry shop located at rue Bachaumont in the second arrondissement where I had the occasion to see many kinds, including salted butter, vanilla, lemon... and, even more unexpected, savory ones (cheese, ham, salmon and even foie gras!). If you come here, I really advice that you give it a try (the place is very nice too). You may also order them on the Internet, but I'm not sure about that, for to be good, éclairs must be really fresh.

Scandal at Place du Tertre!

You remember my Montmartre sunset photo 2 days ago? Well the real reason why I was initially there, was to see for myself what is becoming a true scandal around Montmartre: Starbucks is going to open a coffee place at Place du Tertre! Yes, people, you heard it right, Star-bucks! Needless to say that an online petition has been created, that an association (Paris Fierté - Paris Pride?!) has already organized several anti Starbucks demonstrations, and that several articles have already been written to warn us from the American coffee invasion ;-) It is very unlikely that all this will prevent Starbucks to land on Place du Tertre though...  Besides, technically it's not right on the Place du Tertre, but just around the corner, at the very opposite angle from where I took this photo). 

Champagne for everyone!

From time to time, I've decided to give you shopping tips (and still focus on the photo of course, for those of you who are not interested in shopping or don't plan to come to Paris LOL!). The first one of this series is La Boîte à bulle, a new store you can find at 67 rue de Levis (a street known for it's market) in the 17 th and in Levallois (in the close suburbs of Paris). They sell 3 kinds of - very good - Champagne (brut, rosé and blanc de blanc) that they source from the Champagne region (of course), in the East of France. The store looks really great and Matthieu Lécussan (in the photo), the young entrepreneur who started this business recently, can tell you absolutely everything about Champagne!

More boules !

Summertime oblige, Parisians slow down a bit, even if they are not yet on vacation. They even leave the office a little earlier (here, during winter, it's pretty usual to stay in the office until 7 or 8 pm) to have drink at a terrasse or... to play boules, like this bunch of colleagues that I photographed at Place Dauphine (yes again!). A very delightful period in the year I must say; you should come ;-)

Old Cadum advertising

On the Grands Boulevards, at the corner of rue Montmartre and Boulevard Montmartre, if you raise your eyes, you will see this ad for Cadum. Cadum is a very old French brand (they were famous for their soap and even more for the baby character that they used to promote it), that every single French person knows. If this ad looks pretty new to you, it's because it has been totally restored  in 1997 for the shooting of a documentary dedicated to the brand. FYI, since the 26th of June,  Cadum now belongs to... L'Oréal!

Pétanque competition at Hotel de Ville

"La Pétanque" is a traditional French game that originates from Provence, in the South of France (more on Wikipedia). The goal is to throw metal balls as close as possible to a small wooden ball called a "cochonnet" ("little pig"!). When throwing the balls, players must remain behind a circle with both feet on the ground. It's simple, fun and can be played virtually anywhere as long as there is enough space. Like... in front of the Hotel de ville (town hall) where they installed several Pétanque playgrounds for the weekend.

The debut of a successful business

It's always funny to jump in the past and see how the business that someone started a long time ago are still up and running and "pretty modern". That is the case of Le Printemps, one of the first Paris department stores created in May 1865 by Jules Jaluzot and Jean-Alfred Duclos who took the risk of investing in an area that was not very popular then. Only they believed that the new Saint Lazare train station would change all this, and they were right! They also "invented" fixed prices; for the first time customers would not have to bargain each time they wanted to buy something, simply pay the price on the label. How revolutionary!

Hep Garçon !

Hep garçon ! (hey waiter!) is supposedly the words you're supposed to say to attract a waiter's attention in a café... Nowadays, however, nobody would say that: first, because it's a bit rude and condescending and second because waiters are more and more waitresses! You just say "s'il vous plait" (please), or raise you hand in their direction and go "excusez-moi" (excuse me)... showing this way that you have respect for their job. I took this photo  at rue de Buci, right by a florist (obviously!). Have a great weekend everyone.

Yummy!

Yes, I spoiled myself today! No, I shouldn't have! But sometimes you just feel like giving up you good resolutions ;-) Besides, it was an exceptional moment ; I was meeting a good friend of mine at Café de la Paix, a very chic café at the opera... The cake in the background is called a mille-feuille (thousand sheets) and it's to die for when it's well made (this one was, believe me!), for it is very hard to make - look up on Wikipedia. What about my diet? Well, I'll start Monday!

Paris fashion museum

If there is one last "industry" where the French still have a pretty good position, it's la mode (fashion). No wonder then, that we hold on to it as much as we can... I already mentioned the Institut Français de la Mode, a school that is more a business school dedicated to fashion than an actual designer school), and here is the fashion museum. It's called the Galliera (after the name of the Italian Duchess who once owned the place - a stunning palace surrounded by a 17600 sq meter garden in the heart of the 16th arrondissement!) and it owns no less than 90 000 fashion pieces (from dresses to gloves, fans, umbrellas...). I've never visited it - and I won't before another year and a half for it's currently closed, but the outside is already something!

Will the Artist make it?

10 Oscar nominations, no less! That's what French film The Artist got, on top of 3 Golden globes. Needless to say we are pretty proud, for not only do (the French) love actor Jean Dujardin, but on top of that very few movies make it to the international scene like this one. Of course, some will argue that having success with a silent black and white movie taking place in Hollywood is not exactly representative of modern French cinema, but who cares LOL! All I can say is... Good luck to The Artist. I took this photo at Boulevard Saint Germain, by the way.

French Clothing

I always wonder how some brands manage to become so desirable that people suddenly all want to buy it! A lot depends on the money invested in advertising of course, but not only. Sometimes a little detail like a logo makes the difference... That's exactly what I thought when I saw this shirt at Old England at Boulevard des Capucines, near the Opera. I immediately thought of an American sportswear brand, but I found out that I was wrong. This logo belongs to Albert Arts, a brand that originates from... Nice, in the South of France. Sorry, I realize this post could have been written for a marketing blog, but the photo is nice too and... was taken in Paris!

Spelling Bee

Only in France? Yes probably... During the past months about 5000 7th grade pupils throughout France took part in a huge spelling bee competition. The final was broadcast yesterday evening on national television ! I'm sure it was a huge success as, for the French, getting the right spelling is like a national sport! Before, adults would even take part in it... Why? Because we suffer so much with our grammar rules and weird spelling that once we sort of master them, it becomes like a game...

Women protest

Despite our progress in France, you will find very few women in the government, in parliament or at the head of large companies... and they have globally less power on society here. The recent Dominique Strauss Kahn case, and the way it was dealt with in the French press, showed that we are also a very chauvinistic country. That is why feminist activists decided to demonstrate today (Sunday), near Beaubourg. Not a lot of people, but enough to make it to the news. I think we badly needed this wake up call.

Law and Disorder

The DSK affair is not the only legal case that points out the differences between the US and France. The whole respect of the Law in itself is also very different... Hence this little story: due to the number of deaths on the road, the government started installing automatic radars in 2003. But since they are very unpopular, they  put a warning sign (like this one I photographed at rue de Maubeuge) a few meters before each of them and allowed GPS to map them! It worked in the beginning, but now the number of deaths is increasing again. The Government then decided to remove the signs and to prohibit radar maps... And this started a nuclear war! Why? Because it is hard for the French to understand that if you don't want to get caught, you just need to respect the law...