European elections... Yes oui can!

Today is a very important day for Europe because for the first time, we are going to vote for the President of the European parliament which is the closest thing we have to being a President of Europe. To do so, we first need to vote locally, in each European country, for representatives that will then elect the President. Unfortunately, even though we all share more or less the same lifestyle and the same currency, there is no such thing as a European nation nor United States of Europe. You feel French or Italian or English before you feel European here, which explains why so few people bother to vote for these elections and why there are many small, sometimes odd political parties. Like this one, whose sole platform is to legalize cannabis! I bet they have high hopes...

And the new mayor of Paris is...

Anne Hidalgo! She was the deputy Mayor of Bertrand Delanoe, the previous mayor that managed Paris for 14 years. Needless to say that she probably knows the job! Her tag line is "Paris qui ose" (Paris that dares - doing things), we'll see! Welcome to the job Anne! More in English here.

Election time

It's election times... At the end of this month we have to elect the future mayor of Paris... In fact it's a little more complicated: we vote for a mayor in our arrondissement (there are 20 in Paris), then these mayors elect a super mayor who becomes Le Maire de Paris. The French political scene is not too inviting at the moment in France (is it anywhere?!), but I'll vote because it's a right only few people have in the world... 

Coal delivery at the Elysée!

Yesterday morning around 6:30 am, just before President Hollande (France) was scheduled to meet with Kanzler Merkel (Germany), there was a special delivery at the Elysée (the building where President Hollande works and  meets people): a truck load of coal (5 tons!). As you can imagine this was not meant to feed the President's central heating system, but to protest against the fact that France - and Germany to a lesser extent - don't do much to boost renewable energy. It was all organized by Greenpeace France, an activist association that is very good at providing the media with strong images. Proof is... that they even made it to PDP ;-) Now if you wonder if I woke up at 5am to be on time to take this photo, well, no! It was taken by Greenpeace photographer Pierre Baëlen.

The mayor of Paris...

I very rarely showed you the mayor of Paris for I thought you probably weren't that much interested in French (local) politics, but for once I'll make an exception. First because, he was this morning at Place de la République for its reopening (it's been totally renovated, I'll show it to you later...) - he's the man in the grey suit shaking hands (he a politician, remember?) - and because he'll leave his office next year which gives way to a new race between two - or three - female candidates (and if you want to know how I took this photo, visit my Facebook wall!)

Liberty Equality Fraternity, really?

 France is not a very corrupted country, but from time to time, some newspaper manages to dig out some dirt and find something. At the moment, precisely, there is huge scandal in France because an investigation website discovered that the (now ex!) minister in charge of the budget had an account in tax heavens havens (namely Switzerland then Singapore). I found this funny sign on the Pont des Arts (it makes fun of the French Republic motto), and I thought it was very timely (AND offers a nice view on the Seine ;-))

More elections...

It's Sunday and we're voting again... Not for the President - he was elected a month ago - but for our Representatives at the Assemblée Nationale (French Parliament). We have no less than 577 "députés" (Representatives), whereas Germany a,d the UK have roughly 600 - and only 435 in the US. They not only vote the laws but also manage their "Circonscription" (regional councilConstituency). They remain in power for 5 years, unless the President of the Republic calls for new elections, which is extremely rare. This photo shows the back of the Assemblée Nationale, which is rarely shown, even though it's worth the look...

New President

That's it, as of today our new President, François Hollande, is in charge. The whole "coronation" took place today which involves a trip to the Elysée to switch places with the former President, then a car ride between the Concorde and the Arc de Triomphe, then a few handshakes with the crowd (we call that a "crowd bath"!) and a few other traditional stuff. As you can see, yesterday's sun was gone today and obviously the French protocol does not include the use of an umbrella... We have an expression in French that goes "mouiller sa chemise", which means "to put in some hard work". I think it could not be more appropriate, providing the amount of work that awaits for him!

And the new President of France is...

That's it! The polls didn't leave much suspense to be honest, but at least now we're sure; the next French President for the 5 years to come is François Hollande, from the socialist party. He will officially start his new job on May 15 (which does not leave much time for the former President to move out!) and even possibly on May 11 with an unofficial encounter with Angela Merkel from Germany. If you want to know what this new election will change and what "French socialism" really means, I recommend this article. I wish him (or rather us!) good luck.

Le débat !

I know that you probably don't care about French politics, and I don't want to bore you too much with it (so far I think I mentioned them only twice or three times!), but I can't resist posting a photo about "The Debate", that is a 2 hour "verbal fight" that usually takes place between the two candidates to the second round of the French elections. It took place last evening and even though I'm taking a break in Morocco at the moment, I could not help but watching it (hence the photo!). One of these two little men on each side of the screen is going to be the next French President on Sunday! 

French elections, 1st round

Do you remember this post? Well, 5 years have passed and it's time to vote again... The French elections take place in two rounds, today (Sunday) is the 1st round and we have to chose between 10 candidates! According to polls the winners of this first round will be François Hollande (left) and Nicolas Sarkozy (right). Nothing very surprising... And you, if you were to vote for the French elections, who would you vote for (I only kept the 5 main candidates!).

Look at the sky....

In 2 weeks we are going to vote to elect - or possibly reelect - a new President of the Republic, and even though there are pretty strict rules in terms of access to the media (all candidates must have the exact same airtime for instance), there are no rules when it comes to bill posting. I don't like it too much as I think it really dirties our walls, except when it's funny or aesthetic. I thought there was both of this in this photo that I took at rue Mazarine. The man in the poster is a left candidate (his name is Jean-Luc Mélenchon) and the graffiti has probably been added afterwards (it says "look at the sky").

Difficult times...

France is not exactly doing too well at the moment (highest unemployment rate since 1999, a 2012 yearly budget short of 81,7 billion €, terrible perspectives...). It's very unlikely that President Sarkozy will be reelected in May, when we're going to have new elections. Who will be in his shoes in May? It's hard to tell for sure, but most likely François Hollande, the former head of the Socialist party. The extreme right or left parties may also play a large role as people don't know who to turn to to escape this very grey times that we're going through...

Building Europe...

President Sarkozy and Obama were interviewed on television last evening and it was a first. This shows how tough the times are. We're trying to build a unified Europe, but it's not easy (like it was probably not easy to build the United States over 200 years ago). They talked about friendship, confidence and trust. Of course these are politician words, but still, it felt good to have some support (even if the US economy is not exactly in better shape than the one of Europe actually. But who's counting?!) Have good weekend everyone, how about a little Ouzo with your Pasta?

Free, at last!

Unfortunately, it's not the first time I mentioned that some French people are held hostage somewhere in the world... (remember Ingrid Betancourt?). Well two of them (Stéphane Taponier et Hervé Ghesquière) have just been freed today after 547 days in Afghanistan, among the Talibans. I took this photo in September 2010, during a demonstration to support their cause, but never used it because I did not think that adding more publicity (even though PDP is not exactly CNN LOL!) would help. Now I'm glad to use it!

From Sofitel to Rikers Island...

My week vacation in the States was good, but intense and I must say I'm happy to be back home to my daily routine LOL. Here, the news has suffered a real tsunami, after the head of the IMF (Dominique Strauss Khan Kahn, a French politician who was to run for French presidency) has been accused of assaulting a chamber maid at the NYC Sofitel last Saturday. It's a big shock here, not only because the French find it hard to believe, but also because they discovered how American justice works. In France, for instance, it is forbidden to show people with handcuffs on TV and it is not allowed to film a court room. Now, whether he's guilty or not, the odds that he runs for Presidency are very very slim...

Old cars pollute too much

Look at this car. Beautiful isn't? It's an old Citroën Traction Avant, a very famous French car that was built between 1934 à 1957. There are still a few ones running in France (and everywhere apparently!) including Paris. But pretty soon, they might disappear from our scenery, as the French Ecology Minister is planning to ban all cars that were manufactured before 1997 from getting into Paris and 7 other big cities in France. The goal being to drop the level of pollution. Probably a good idea, but I will regret these old cars.

Dead hostages return

Two poor young French guys got killed last Saturday in Niger after they were kidnapped in a bar by what is believed to be Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) - see more here if you're interested. Why them? For no reasons, they were simply picked up by chance... I had no intention of mentionning this sad episode as, unfortunately, tens of people get abducted and die everyday in the world, and then I saw this paper in the middle of the street, just like this (I did not touch anything), partly wet because of the rain. It simply moved me.

New Government

As of today France has a new government. Don't go thinking President Sarkozy resigned or anything, no, in France we have a weird system: the President is elected every 5 years, he then appoints a Prime Minister who appoints the other ministers. When things go a little shaky (like recently with the retirement law that put many people in the streets), the President calls for a new Prime Minister who then appoints new Ministers... This time though, the new Prime Minister remained the same as the old one (François Fillon), only the rest of the team got reshuffled (more on France 24). Are you still following? Anyway, it gives me the opportunity to use a photo that I took about a month ago while Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand (the nephew to François Mitterrand, the former French President) inaugurated le Studio 13/16, a place dedicated to Teenagers in the Beaubourg center. He happens to remain at the very same position in the new Government...

War?!

If you watched the French news, you may have heard that once again our country is almost under siege! Due to the new law about retirement (we will have to work two more years starting 2018), people have started demonstrating, then going on strike and now the country is almost paralyzed. It is now very difficult - if not impossible - to find gas/petrol and they say that soon food will also be short. I did not really think the situation was as bad as what they said on television, but this morning I have been unable to fill the tank of my scooter...  I'm not too worried about not being able to fill my stomach though, as I have some spare energy around my waist!