Les heures joyeuses

Unlike some countries I visited (no, I won't give names!), people in France don't typically drink just to get drunk. Make no mistake, I'm not saying French people don't drink but when they do, it's an additional pleasure to gathering with their friends or eating out. Or should I say was... Because apparently, the situation is changing. Up to a point that the government is thinking of banning happy hours and increasing the taxes on alcohol. Needless to say that a few months after the ban of cigarettes in cafés and restaurants, this new measure is not exactly welcome...

Talking about France, and its evolution, I received an email from the Paris correspondant of CNN international who is interested in the global view of non French people on France and the French. If you'd like to contribute, please have a look at the first entry in the comment box and give your opinion.

Speed!

OK, that kind of ramps is surely not typical of Paris (I'm sure you can find it in most cities around the world) but I kind of like this photo because of its composition and the graffitis in the background. I'm glad it's Friday, and I'm getting ready for our coming up theme day ("My corner local shop"). Talking about corner shops, I just learnt that I have "lurkers" at Café Bastille in San Francisco, let me wave at them from here ;) Have a wonderful weekend everyone, here it's cloudy AND rainy ;(

Windows on the world

Intriguing isn't it? That is what I thought when I saw these odd "Men in black" wandering on the Passerelle Simone de Beauvoir (a new bridge over the Seine, inaugurated in 2006) with these wooden frames. Then I spoke to Avi Wanono, the instigator of this event. He is a student at L'Ensad, a school that teaches decorative arts in Paris and this was a project he made for his studies. It's called "Les Voyeurs" (subtitle: Spectacular events) - in French voyeur does not necessarily mean the same thing as in English - and the idea is to get passers by to "have a better look at the urban space". Pretty creative eh?! (See more photo in this little slide show)Congratulations to Avi but also to Adrien, Benoît, Eliel, Fabien, Gaspard, Florent, Jean-Baptiste, Johnathan, Noam, Smail, Victor and Yacine!

Celebrate your neighbors!

Ladies and gentlemen, let me introduce you to... my favorite neighbor! Her name is Thérèse, she lives 2 floors above from me and she is an engraver - She actually took over Bing-Guis, the family business that was founded in April 1870. The reason why I'm showing her to you today (despite the fact that she is a lovely lady, of course!) is that yestersday (Tuesday) was the neighbors' day in France. Principle? Talk to your neighbors! Or even organize a big dinner party and get everyone in your building to join in. Believe me, in a big city like Paris, where you hardly know if the guy next door is still alive, it's a pretty big achievement...

La Boudeuse

I can hear you from here... "He surely did not take this photo in Paris!" Well, all wrong, I really took it in Paris, by the quai de Bercy, more precisely. This boat ship, called La Boudeuse, is one of the rare 3 masts travelling the seven seas under French pavillion. Its goal is to "meet with the Water people around the world" (that is, people who can only be approached by waterways). How cool is that?! Of course in Paris, you don't find many people that can only be approached by waterways(!), but you can meet lots Parisians willing to pay a little to visit this beautiful boat ship, which is far better to finance future expeditions ;)

A day in Disneyland Paris

Two months ago, I won tickets to Disneyland Paris and since I had to use them before the end of May, I went today (Sunday). I'm not a big fan of amusement parks, but I must say, I had fun and what I feared the most - huge lines! - did not really happen, thanks to their clever Fastpass system. My favorite attractions: Space Mountains and "Honey, I shrunk the audience" (3D movie theater), but I liked the classics also (Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, etc.). Let me wish you a good week on behalf of Pluto. Goofy (that we call Plutot, in French)!

Festival de l'Oh 2008

Cool photo isn't it? I took it yesterday at the Festival de l'Oh ("Oh" is pronounced the same way as "eau" which means water in French). As you can guess, this festival is pretty water-centric: What kind of fish live in the Seine? How many canals around Paris? "...to drink or not to drink tap water?", etc. And to make it more fun, they also have several shows, like this one performed on a Péniche (a flat boat made for rivers) by circus artists. Pretty cool, even if it rained a bit!

A museum not to miss

Quite often, people who plan to come to Paris email me to ask me for tips about what they should do or see while they are here, thinking I surely know of some monument or museum carefully concealed to foreigners! Guess what? Today I have one: le Musée Antoine Bourdelle. Of course, you can find it in many guide books I'm sure, but I confess I had never heard of it. And if it weren't for an eye exam that I had to take on the same street (rue Antoine Bourdelle, of course!) I would have never visited it. Anyway, it's a great place if you like sculpture (Bourdelle worked with Rodin, for what it's worth!) and the venue is fantastic too. BTW, you're looking at Madeleine Charnaux's bust - one of the 1st French female airplane pilots - made with 3 different materials (2 in bronze and one in resin). More - bad! - photos here!

Raider of the lost island...

A few days ago, I noticed this old map of Paris in a shop window. It says "Nouveau plan de la ville de Paris, capitale du royaume de France" (new map of Paris, France's kingdom capital) but it's probably 600 years old, as it mentions l'Isle Louvier (after the name of its owner, Mr Louvier!), an island that was then next to île Saint Louis . Don't look for it if you come to Paris, this island does not exist anymore, as it has been "attached" to the right bank in 1847. I had never heard of this story until today. Thank you PDP ;)

Sooooooo Unique!

Do I really need to tell you who designed these shoes? No, I know, you all guessed Jean-Paul Gaultier (don't forget to pronounce the "L" in Gaultier, he's very picky about it!) did. Despite being a great designer (you may not like what he does, but you cannot deny he's got talent) he also happens to do other things. Hence his presence in Eurotrash, a program for the British Television (Channel 4) and soon, he's going to co-present the Eurovision song contest for the French television! Hilarious! BTW, these shoes cost 615 €. I know you would ask...

Surfing the wave

Remember last week's photo in La Défense with the human butterfly? Well, I told you I would show you a few other shots that I took there at the same time. Here is one that I love. The guy is actually on the rooftop (click here for a broader view) of one of the oldest buildings in the area (inaugurated in 1958) : le Cnit (for Centre des nouvelles industries et technologies). It was a very modern building at that time, but now, even after a complete renewal in the late 80s, it still needs some work...
BTW, I finally managed to upload the full length version of the picnic video. If you're interested, it's here.

Pol Bury's fountain

It's a classic, but every time I pass by it, I can't help admiring this superb fountain, made of two sets of huge metal balls that reflect part of Le Palais Royal where it is installed (in the Cour d'Orleans, more precisely). It was made by Belgian sculptor Pol Bury, who died in 2005 at 85. I love the fuzzy couple in the background.

Human Bar Code

Are you looking for a cool gimmick for your next demonstration? Well, leave it up to the French to provide you with ideas! Hence, this bar code used by one of the teachers that demonstrated yesterday (Sunday) near the Opera. I suppose the "hidden" message is "don't treat us like a product"! Precisely, the demonstrators were protesting cuts in the education budget which amounts to 80 billion € (that is 24% of the annual budget for France- 334 billion euros). If you're interested in the French education system, here is what Wikipedia has to say.

A night at the Museum

I'm back! And what is the first thing I did after dropping my suitcase at home? Well I rushed to the Arts et Métiers Museum to take a photo! Why? Because, like in many cities in Europe, last night was "The Night of Museums", an event that was created in 2005 by the French ministry for culture. The principle is to open some of the museums late at night (until midnight generally) and to let people go in for free. Huge success, as you can see in this photo that I took around 11:30 PM in front of the Foucault's pendulum.

Back home!

Everything comes to an end, especially vacation! Well mine is no exception and if the plane did not crash I should be home today. I like to post an Eiffel Tower to celebrate my return to civilization, so here it is. I included a couple of French flags too, to make it even more French LOL! Happy to be back home and to with you again ;)

Léon Gaumont

In Paris, you always visit the same cemetaries: Père Lachaise, Montpartnasse and Montmartre. But there are many more... such as Le Cimetière de Belleville, a little cemetary where I found the grave of Léon Gaumont, a famous French inventor and engineer who got involved in the cinema business at the end of the 19th century 1895, to be exact). His company (La Gaumont! ) produced as early as 1910 the first "news" that people could watch in movie theaters. They still had them when I was a little boy (yes I'm showing my age!!). He was a friend of the famous Lumiere Brothers of Lyon, direct competitor of Charles Pathe, and produced films from 1895 until he retired to the Riviera in 1929 (Judex, Vampires, Tih Minh, Onesime, Bebe, etc.) and his company remains one of the oldest exisitng film companies still operating under the same name.

Highest Point in Paris

What is the highest point in Paris? Montmartre? La montagne Sainte Geneviève? None of those... It's 40 rue du Télégraphe, in the 20th arrondissement (148,48 m - 162.4 yards). Montmartre is only second (130 m - 142 yards). The interesting part is that this "summit" is precisely located in La rue du Télégraphe, because that is where the first telegraph was used by its inventor, Claude Chappe. I could not believe it was already 2 centuries ago, in 1791, between Paris and Lille (north of France)!

(Almost) all about Eve...

I found this stunning statue in Le Square de la butte du Chapeau rouge, a park located in the 19th arrondissement from where you can enjoy a nice view of Paris. This statue is part of a monument (a "water chest of drawers" as they call it) that was made by sculptor Raymond Courvégnés in 1938. And the lady is Eve, the first woman. The things you learn on PDP... LOL!

A butterfly to support cancer fighters

Last week I got a call from a representative of Tribu Cancer, an association that supports people who have cancer. They invited me to come to La Défense (a business district slighty outside Paris) and take a photo of an event they were holding to gain awareness. They gathered enough people to "draw" a butterfly that could be seen from far above. And guess who was far above?! I'll show you more, when I come back from vacation.

Concours Lépine (Foire de Paris)

If you're in Paris, this is the last day you can visit La foire de Paris (the Paris Fair), probably the largest in France. The greatest part - in my opinion - is the Concours Lepine (named after the guy who created it), a competition for inventors. Walking down the aisle of this part of the fair is like watching the Shopping Channel all day, only 100 times better! Frankly, who would have thought of inventing this "Champagne cork stopper" that prevents corks from hurting people when they pop out of the bottle?! Il Signore Michele Procopio (who is actually Italian) did, and he sells them for 25 € each. Pretty cheap!