following a post at jerome’s inside the usa that was discussing the silly california legislation that is trying to enforce a warning label for french fries (FRIES KILL! or something of the sort like on cigarette packaging) made me think about one of my favorite foods: FRIES.

fries can’t kill; they just can’t - i like them too much. according to jerome, the american studies have shown that when potatoes are fried they release a chemical called acrylamide, which is know to cause cancer in lab rats. i swear, if they want to put a warning label on a food, it should be on OREO COOKIES (no one will convince me that the “cream” in the inside is actually food) and the “tacos” at tacobell. that brown stuff is NOT meat and none of that can be good for anyone. c’mon.

if fries were to cause cancer in humans, don’t you think millions of french (and belgian) people would’ve perished long ago and over many, many, MANY years from fries consumption - AND someone would have figured out the cause? didn’t acrylamide exist since the beginning of the fry (possibly since 1680)?

anyway, the reason for this entry is that i’ve actually noticed a relatively new thing in france: the “all you can eat” phenomenon. sort of like unlimited refills except instead of getting more coke or coffee, you get… all the fries you want! yeah!

of course, this is good and bad. good because people like me who love fries can have as much as we want - bad, because people like me will eat too much and we all know obesity is becoming more and more common in france. admittedly, this all you can eat thing is overall not a very good idea in terms of healthy eating practices. it’s way too tempting to overeat.

while walking past the “leon de bruxelles” restaurant on st. germain in paris, my little nephew saw all the pictures of mussels and asked if we could eat dinner there so we did. it’s actually not horrible and, this is where i first saw the “frites à volonté” (all you can eat fries). we all ate a lot of mussels and fries but there were so many fries in the first batch, no one even finished those, let alone asked for more.

i made another sighting of the all you can eat fries policy at another family restaurant when we took a road trip and stopped for lunch at a road side restaurant found all over france. again, i couldn’t eat even all the fries on the plate so the all you can eat deal was basically moot. however, i’m convinced there are a lot of people who ask for more — simply because it’s free and they can.

this makes me nervous for the kids whose families frequent this kind of restaurant because it will be those kids who will be part of the next generation obesity problem.

i wonder what food will be next in line for “all you can eat” in france?

i hope it’s pastries!!! (ok, no i don’t. well yes i do)

i wasn’t going to write about this since it’s all over the news but it’s bugging me too much. this ad of 2 girls kissing (and also an ad with 2 guys kissing) have been banned from being posted in the metro stations in and around paris. that ban seems so UNFRENCH to me. if this was in the u.s., i wouldn’t be surprised, but we’re in FRANCE.

this makes no sense and i’m confused.

they say it’s “too shocking.” WHAT??! THAT???! IN FRANCE??? me thinks NON. what’s shocking, though, is that, in the land where people run around naked on the beach, and where EVERYWHERE i go i see a guy peeing on his car tire or just out in the public or where i’ve seen at least 10 couples having sex in public over the time i’ve lived in france or seen complete nudity and gay and heterosexual sex on prime time tv … this goes on and on– same sex kissing can be shocking or offensive in any way?

i find it extremely hard to believe that even the most conservative french person in france would be offended by this and i don’t know any french person who’d find kissing offensive, or homosexuality offensive. (of course i don’t know everyone.)

did i mention that the mayor of paris is gay?

so it makes me wonder if it’s just part of a mega PUBLICITY STUNT for the rainbow attitude expo. afterall, they definitely got free, major attention (i saw this news on tv) - even more attention than posters in the metro stations.

cathedrals all over france, like notre dame and sacre coeur in paris and the cathedral in chartres (just outside paris) among others, are clearly works of art today, but it’s hard to imagine that 700 years ago, the world was NOT expressed in monochromed shades of just black and white - these cathedrals, in fact, looked entirely different from today. many of the european churches’ exteriors were painted in bright colors.

did that make it more fun to go to church? i doubt it. anyway, the cathedral in amiens, france, another “notre-dame”, located 120 km (about 75 miles) north of paris, and also inscribed as a world heritage site by UNESCO is not only the tallest gothic cathedral in france of its kind but is also particularly remarkable in that it offers a light show that illuminates the sculptures which decorate the façade of the church to show how they would have looked 700 years ago, when their polychrome (multi-color painted surface) would have been visible.

each color symbolized an idea or ideale and careful color placement was meticulously executed, for example, the virgin mary is dressed in blue and red because she represented the queen of heaven (the blue sky) and christ’s passion and the suffering of martyrs (red). more information about the colors and overall detail about the cathedral can be found at the amiens website (in french).

the light show is available from june 15 to september 30 so you have 2 days to see it, or you can catch the lightshow during christmas time, easter and all-saints day.

amiens is not well-known for tourism but it is a beautiful, growing town with winding canals and quaint surroundings, and well worth a quick visit. its claim to fame is tied to the pioneer science fiction writer, jules vernes; he was a member of the city council of Amiens from 1888 to his death in 1905. He is buried in the Madeleine Cemetery.

some amiens trivia: the video game (for nintendo game cube), “eternal darkness: sanity’s requiem” takes place in amiens, france.

“The sound of the sea, the curve of a horizon, wind in leaves, the cry of a bird leave manifold impressions in us. And suddenly, without our wishing it at all, one of these memories spills from us and finds expression in musical language… I want to sing my interior landscape with the simple artlessness of a child.” ~~Claude Debussy

This quote by the french composer, claude debussy, reminds me specifically of his “Images” and also, “Children’s Corner” from 1905-06 (you can sample excerpts at that link) and how, if you listen carefully to it, it can catapult you back in time to childhood when life was simple, playful and carefree. he, incidentally, dedicated this work to his daughter, claude-emma upon her birth.

“reflets dans l’eau” (from “images”) is blissful simplicity in music; it is hypnotizing ear candy and, for the moment you listen to it, clears the complexities of every day life instantly, where “stress” begins to distance itself from you and your memory then becomes non-existent.

though Debussy is only second in line to my all time favorite french impressionistic composer, Maurice Ravel, i still hold infinite gratitude to him for inspiring my unparalleled Ravel, and his consequent (more complex) works, including “Mother Goose Suite” and “Daphnis et Chloé,” some of ravel’s many masterpieces.

NOTE: if this seems like a strange post, it might be because i’m under the influence of flu medicine, FERVEX (it’s sort of like theraflu, tastes as bad but gives you a pretty good druggy buzz). i’m disoriented (oh, and i have the flu).

this photo was taken in the heart of fréjus’ old town square, during their weekly outdoor market held on fridays (you might notice the vegetable crates in the background). while you’ll be able to find mostly produce sold in this open market, there’s much more too. You are bound to find something at the market you like, whether it’s edible or giftable.

at this market, it’s hard to miss the gobs of spices, herbs, fresh produce, local crafts, lavender, and of course, wine. fréjus is located in the south of france, specifically, in the region of the côte de provence wines, so if you’re not into provence style knickknacks, fruit and veggies, dairy, spices, or olives, wine might be what you’re looking for. if you happen to miss the market, there are several shops in town and many things to do in fréjus like:

visiting the cathedral, cloister, palace and the merovingian baptistery built in the 5th century, take a hike in the nearby malpasset valley, see the chapel of jean cocteau or check out the port then sunbathe on the beach.

fréjus is situated fairly close to st. raphael, st tropez, mandelieu, cannes, the lerins islands and just a bit farther (about a 40 minute drive) to nice, so it would be an excellent and conveniently located base for exploring provence and the riviera.

*lundi (monday) is dedicated to posting photos of my favorite boston terrier in france, lulu

whenever i’ve asked an english-speaking french person (who hasn’t yet had cheesecake) if they like cheesecake or would like cheesecake, the reaction is usually this: “BEURK!” (equivalent of YUCK or EIUW!) i suppose what comes to their mind is something like a drippy, smelling sugary version of cake made with camembert or maroilles or vieux-lille (PEW!!!!!!) - which are probably the STINKIEST cheeses on earth. (even smellier than my name).

that’s a shame, i think, because that might mean that some visiting french in the u.s. would simply pass on tasting a real, new york cheesecake or cheesecake from the cheesecake factory (VANILLA BEAN is to die for!) based on what they THINK it is.

i miss it even though i had a TON of cheesecake when i went to california just last month. my favorite cheesecake factory in marina del rey is conveniently situated within minutes of my mummy’s house. a blessing and a curse!

since my (french) sweetie got over his initial reaction to the THOUGHT of cheesecake, he then became a convert, a true cheesecake-aholic par excellence. he misses cheesecake too, so i decided to make one and found a copykat recipe for the cheesecake factory cheesecake. yay! after much trial and tribulation (conversion is not my forte plus I HATE MEASURING - why does the u.s. have measurements in weight instead of in volume??? i seriously went insane), it’s now baking in the oven.

it will be ready tomorrow, since the recipe calls for letting it sit or “ripen” (i guess. like cheese!) for 24 hours. of course i had to use all substitutions and had to try to find the closest equivalents to cream cheese, sour cream and vanilla wafers (for the crust) but i think (i hope i hope i hope) it’ll turn out ok, at least.

UPDATE
9/25 - so, the cheesecake came out…okay. on a scale of 1 to 10, 10 being the best, i’d rate it 6 - so it needs some tweaking.

9/26 - i realized later that i used fat-free st. moret and i halved the recipe because the original calls for 6 packets of cream cheese (they are smaller here though it’s still a lot ‘o cream cheese!) 5 large eggs and a TUB of sour cream - that was a bit much so i made a smaller version. i used creme fraiche but i think the closer substitution would be fromage blanc. i’m going to order the correct springform pan too. 36 hours later the cheesecake actually tastes better so i’d upgrade it to 6.5 i am planning to perfect this and feed it to reluctant french people

a few weeks ago, i walked by this shoe repair shop in paris and had to stop and smile and take a few pictures of it.

the establishment is called, “cordonnerie moderne,” meaning “modern shoe repair” but the facade and “marketing” posters were so defiantly unmodern, i had to love this place immediately.

i suppose 50 years ago (give or take a couple of decades), the sign and facade WAS modern but today, it’s one thing and one thing only: cool.

cordonnerie moderne is on the right bank, not far from l’opera, so the neighborhood in which it’s situated, is not too shabby, to say the least and it looks as though it DOES get business despite its negligence in standard marketing principles. so their “method” still works somehow.

if you look at the “window display,” and i say this loosely, you will notice a bunch of randomly thrown shoes in a total chaos-sy state of disarray. it’s awesome.

it’s as if the owner challenges you to take your broken Franco Sartos, Manolos or Helmut Langs into this establishment, and says, “GO AHEAD. I DARE YOU TO LET ME FIX YOUR SHOES!!!”. frankly, if you think about it, someone who WOULD display the messiest, most unchanged exterior of a business, let alone a shoe repair business (that is some serious stuff here), like that, well, doesn’t seem to NEED standard marketing or fancy window displays, really - so, he has just simply GOT TO BE GOOD.

just yesterday while drinking our morning coffee, we noticed it had a more bitter, burnt and overall less than usual yummy flavor. you know, the deep, rich coffee goodness, with a subtle nuttiness of chicory that we’re used to: real, quality french coffee. our standard was tasting different in a very, very, bad way. it reminded me of something i couldn’t quite grasp at first. ah yes, then i remembered: our coffee sort of reeked of….the dreaded (cringe, gag, kill me now)… s’bucks. it was that extremely BURNT, kill your stomach, nasty, BURNT, ashes from hell, (did i say BURNT?) s’bucks.

the quality of our standard coffee brand was starting to suck.

and it reminded me of other things that are starting to suck. there’s an article today in the independent called, ‘adieu, la france’ that sort of shares my sentiment about france in that things are disappearing. however, i don’t think “things are disappearing” per se, but rather, it’s quality that is disappearing, without a doubt. in the same sense that the REAL BAGUETTE is disappearing, its replacement IMPOSTER baguettes are here to stay.

however, all is NOT lost! while quality is becoming a rare commodity, you can STILL find original french essentials if you look hard enough. i will find my french coffee, but i’ll have to try out some new ones and it may take some time. it’s somewhere, i know it. so, yes, you just have to search deeper and wider for quality now. for example, as you can see above, i saw lulu wearing a REAL FRENCH BERET. i am not kidding. she even did her best at finding a striped black and white shirt. it’s not quite on par with the french equivalent but it was a noble attempt.

i also had to take a picture of the label on the beret to prove that is it, in fact, an authentic beret of the french kind. i don’t know how old this beret is but i can tell you that it is as real as french B.O. in paris’ metro in the summer.

i don’t know where i’d be able to find another one, to tell you the truth, but i am going to be in search of one more real beret so i can give it to my nephew in new jersey, who…just really wants one. i’ve found countless others that are cheaply made and are branded with “made in china” a phrase that is becoming more and more commonplace in france these days. non, to that, i need the real deal.

the subject of wine has been all over the news lately, and i’m beginning to wonder if this is really a crisis. yes, there is a “wine lake” surplus in france and yes, the u.s. just agreed to change their labeling of wines to offer a more fair marketing campaign which will attempt to help boost sales of french wines.

the other day on the news, there was a story about the AOC (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée), which is the entity that gives a “seal of approval” for quality wine. apparently, the AOC asked the wine makers/farmers to produce LESS wine. the farmers didn’t like the request, and in return, decided to vandalize the AOC office. i kid you not, though, all traces of this event have disappeared and after an extensive search, nothing has come up. this came as no surprise to anyone in france, i’m sure, as french farmers are notorious for that kind of stuff - it can even get much, much, MUCH worse.

an overproduction of wine will only drive prices of wine down, which will hurt the wine producer in the end (so to speak) in terms of profit. but i’m wondering if farmers receive subsidies from the french government based on their production whether it sells or not. so that’s why they wouldn’t agree to decrease their production - even knowing that wine consumption is down and global competition is harming the french wine industry - they still know they’ll be left with even more of a wine lake. hmmmm. anyone know?

yesterday, we received our usual snailmail spamming from stores and included was a thick pamphlet from a large supermarket chain announcing their COLOSSAL SALE of….none other than WINE. yup. here it is: buy one case of wine and get another case for FREE. i don’t drink wine, but the sale seems so hard to resist, that i even considered buying several cases. of course, i won’t because wine (at least FRENCH WINE) is filled with hazardous substances (and i’m not even talking about alcohol) but that is another post to be written in the very near future.

tags: french wine france

the last day of the “foire” (faire or carnival) in le creusot was sunday so we decided to head out there to have a carefree day of carny food, ferris wheels, games and general fun. after paying the 4 euros ($4.86) entrance fee per person, we were in search of the usual carny fare: cotton candy, chocolate waffles - NO funnelcakes in france!!! :(, fries, games, large stuffed animals and rides.

instead, we were greeted with car dealers (mercedes, volvo, alfa romeo, peugeot and so forth), do it yourself stores, and recruiting groups for the army, special forces and airforce. i’d say roughly 65% of this “foire” was military recruitment, 20% car dealerships, 14% “bricolage” (home depot-ish) stores and 1% carnival activities (i think it was actually less than that since there were some restaurant booths). there were NO RIDES.

i felt badly for all the little kids there expecting the same things we adults were expecting. oh, you want a hotdog and some candy, little boy?? nah, you don’t want that. wouldn’t you RATHER have a gas mask, bullet proof vest and shoes for walking on land mines???

known as the “mimosa capital” (the flower, not the drink) of france, Mandelieu-la Napoule is sometimes overlooked because of its close proximity to the glizty, glam, bling bling (and definitely IMHO overrated - do i hear DOG POO EVERYWHERE?) Cannes.

practically another world in mandelieu, it is simply much more laid back, not having any attachments to the entertainment world and without that pressure, it can just be what it is: a beautiful, mellow french riviera beach (and port) town.

though, if you’re into luxury shopping, then you’ll have to squish into Cannes. if you can handle the sidewalks and parking situation, Cannes is actually excellent for shopaholics.

on the other extreme, most of the activities in mandelieu focus more on nature, like hiking, biking, water sports and golfing but there are key events as well, for example next february 4-13, 2006, mandelieu presents their annual mimosa festival.

their annual comics festival “festival bd” takes place april 29 to may 1, 2006 but there are many other events held here.

looking at the photo here, behind lulu is the “chateau la napoule” that was constructed in the 14th century but was destroyed and rebuilt 8 times over many centuries. In 1918, an american artist, henry clews, acquired the ruined property and completely restored it, adding his own eclectic tastes in the designs. the chateau la napoule is now a franco-american art foundation.

i took the photo for “why travel to france” in the top left at the chateau la napoule.

spring is probably the best time to visit mandelieu so you will find some space to relax and take in the scenery before the hoards of sun-worshipping frenchies start rolling into town.

on friday, following a decision to ban “unsafe” airlines, France placed a ban on camair, the national airline company in camaroon - joining 5 other blacklisted airlines by france including: North Korea’s Air Koryo; Mozambique’s Air Mozambique and Transairways, the U.S.’s Air St. Thomas, Liberia’s Int’l Air Service and Thailand’s Phuket Airlines.

apparently, camair failed to submit an audit of cameroon’s operating conditions with satisfactory conclusions - due on september 15 and it was reported that, “several failures to meet international norms notably in the fields of loading, transport of dangerous materials, navigation documentation and tire maintenance.”

at the same time, air france delayed, then cancelled all its flights to cameroon causing a problem with stranded travelers needing to return to cameroon.

“Trade unions at Cameroon’s national carrier late Friday condemned the French ban on their airline and threatened reprisals against Air France.” (what REPRISALS would those be?)

So. today (sunday), camair resumed flights to paris after france lifted the ban.

[via turkishpress and AFP]

after discussions between the eu (more likely, FRANCE) and the united states, it was decided that beginning in 2008, wine producers in the u.s. are not allowed to use the word “chateau” on their wine bottles unless there is a real castle within close proximity to their grape vineyards. other banned words are “noble,” “vintage” and “classic” unless they are true. (how they will prove this and who will check, remains to be seen).

as far as the “chateau” issue, i imagine they will simply BUILD a castle (based on how “castle” is defined in wikipedia or something. just kidding. i dunno.)

this deal has to be directly related to france, its “wine lake” (surplus of wine), declining numbers of wine consumers and simply, the growing global competition. france has so much surplus wine, they had to give away 400,000 free bottles of wine a few months back.

Existing wines may keep the names “burgundy,” “champagne” and “claret” but new wines will have to be named something new. that should be interesting.

in this deal i wonder what the u.s. got in exchange for this agreement? (i mean, the REAL DEAL) and not what was stated in the eu observer, “In return, the EU will recognise the wine producing methods that are accepted in the US.” (does that mean really NOTHING or is it just me?)

[via guardian unlimited]

last year, 59 cities in france participated in “Bien dans ma ville sans voiture,” which is part of a successful global campaign, “World Carfree Day” to convey basic awareness of the environmental impact of cars (air pollution, noise pollution, traffic…) and how citizens can adopt alternative transportation means (bicycles, blades, walking, etc) that will help reduce harmful pollution from greenhouse gas emissions.

europe in general has dedicated the week to the environment with its european mobility week beginning september 16 and running all week with a grand finale of “carfree day” on september 22, 2005. i hope your cities participate!!

participating cities in france:
Alès, Amiens, Angers, Annemasse, Auxerre, Avignon, Basse Terre, Beauvais, Bernin, Bessancourt, Bordeaux, Bourg-les-Valences, Bourges, Buc, Cannes, Chalon-sur-Saône, Chambéry Métropole, Clermont-Ferrand, Clichy-la-Garenne, Communauté d’Agglomération de Brive, Communauté d’agglomération de Nevers, Communauté d’Agglomération du Pays de Lorient, Communauté d’Agglomération du PAys Rochefortais, Communauté d’agglomération Grand Rodez, Communauté d’agglomération Orléans Val de Loire, Communauté d’agglomération Perpignan Méditerranée, Communauté d’agglomération Saint-Brieuc, Communauté de l’agglomération d’Annecy, CORRENCON-EN-VERCORS, Dijon, Evry, Feyzin, Fontenay en Parisis, GARGES LES GONESSE, La Rochelle, Les Mureaux, Longwy, Lyon, Montreuil, Nantes Métropole, Narbonne, OBERNAI, Orvault, Pantin, Paris, Paris 18e arrondissement, PUTEAUX, Reims, Romans-sur-Isère, Rosny-sur-seine, Roubaix, Saint-Etienne, Saint-Genis-Laval, Saint-germain-en-laye, Saint-Leu-la-Forêt, Saint-Paul-de-la-Réunion, Sophia ( communaté D’agglomération), Toulon, TOURS, Tulle, Verdun, Villers-Cotterêts

click here to find out how to participate in europe

[via treehugger - thanks, warren!]

reading on j-walkblog about the questionable (evil) reasons for the oil industry using fractions (specifically 9/10) for gasoline prices - made me wonder about why the u.s. gallon = 3.785 liters and the british gallon = 4.546 liters. i didn’t care for wikipedia’s explanation because there a section there that states that the gallon was “REDEFINED” during the reign of queen anne. i’d say there’s some MISSING DETAILS. we all know that the u.s. gallon’s measurement would be decided based on how “advantageous” it would be to many industries including the milk industry and later, the OIL INDUSTRY (aka EVIL EVIL EVIL), the bottled water companies as well as many, many other businesses. THAT’S how things get “redefined.”

in an effort to reduce road accidents and irresponsible (risky) driving, the clever road safety people placed these “signs” randomly along many roads and highways in france.

sometimes, you’ll see several of these panels bunched all together - like a group of standing dead people (well, panels of them) on the side of the road. a bloody RED X chest and head!

i’m not going to mince words here: I HATE THEM I HATE THEM I HATE THEM!

personally, i find that they are simply counterproductive, in that they are extremely DISTRACTING and TRAUMATIZING and in fact, i might venture to say, probably CAUSE ACCIDENTS.

I’ve decided to dedicate Mondays (Lundi) to posting a photo of my favorite boston terrier in france, LULU. she travels quite a bit. here, she’s chasing her favorite enemy, a squirrel, up a weeping willow tree in bourbon-lancy.

A unique environmental group in paris is letting out the air in tires of SUVs in and around paris. it’s a statement against the unnecessary existence of SUVs, called 4×4 (quatre quatre) in france. not only do they fear it is detrimental to the environment, but also, french roads were never meant for such large vehicles, causing even more accidents. in addition, they’ve decided to target old cars saying they pollute excessively as well.

personally, i fail to understand why people even want to deal with the cost of filling a tank of gas for an suv in france, let alone drive one in the city. is the “you are what you drive” mentality seeping slowly into the pysches and greedy veins of unthoughtful, unenvironmentally-friendly and materialistic french people?

back to “les dégonflés,” which is a cute play on words of “deflated” and “cowardly” (more playfully like a “chicken” and afraid of something). they now have a site:

Les Dégonflés (in french, lots of comment activity)

[via parisist]

With a surplus of milk, dairy prices dropping and a sluggish industry, life for dairy farmers in France hasn’t been easy, and many farmers have had to leave the profession for a more stable income.

Marcel Besnard, who was a dairy farmer in Brittany, turned to information technology - but his original profession remained, “a passion.” He began experimenting with a new drink idea in 2003 and today he is the proud inventor of a drink he’s called, LACTIWEL, a beer made with fermented milk. He sells 300 wine-size bottles a week.

[via the tocqueville connection]

2 days ago, wednesday, if you had a pulse and were awake at least part of the day, news of apple’s new ipod nano probably didn’t go unnoticed. the adorably cute (i want one!) mp3 player made its world-wide debut. loudly. 2 versions are available: a 2gb and 4gb, costing $199 and $249 respectively. Apple stores across the globe are expected to sell the players at equivalent prices. and in most cases, they are being sold at such prices.

except in france.

it’s insane, i know. for something that is $249 in the u.s., the european counterpart should be priced at 249 euros in europe so let’s look: what’s the price in germany: 249 euros. price in belgium: 249 euros - france 319 euros ((no, i’m not gonna say ‘priceless’) :-). apple does say, THINK DIFFERENT but c’mon france!! (btw, the 319 euros is USD $396 according to today’s exchange rate)

wtf france? well, it seems to stem back in time to 2001; remember the napster years? the topic of music piracy was hot on the agenda and the french recording industry was seething and expressing their money-hungry concerns to france’s lawmakers. trying to make a short post here: basically - france passed a law that added a “royalty” tax to CDs and some computer equipment that was supposed to act as a cushion to the music industry against piracy (the music industry later receives the tax “subsidy”). the taxable equipment list included the category of flash memory cards, which is inside the new ipod nanos (in fact, there are 2 flash cards inside the 4gb ipod nano and 1 in the 2gb one). strangely, the category of “hard drives” are only taxed 8 euros (as is the 20 gb ipod!!) compared to the flash memory tax of more than 50 euros.

why. WHYWHYWHY in france can i buy a 20 gb ipod for 329 euros but the nano with its 2 gb capacity for 319 euros (just 10 euros and 18gb less)?

[via news tf1 (in french)]

This year’s ‘nuit blanche’ (literally, “white night” meaning sleepless night) will take place on saturday, october 1 in paris. the fourth nuit blanche to-date, it is an event that brings millions of people to paris because basically, it’s paris’ massive city block party. theaters, museums, concert halls, cafes, libraries, art/lighting displays, even swimming pools will be open from 7pm to 7am the next (sunday) morning.

organized by city hall and paris’ mayor (Bertrand Delanoë), the all nighter (whose moniker is originally inspired by saint petersburg’s “white nights” of summer) sets to create a festive and cultural evening that truly showcases the strength and beauty of the city of light - with free events from light shows, art exhibits - to concerts, dancing, festivals and rollerblading scattered throughout 5 zones of paris.

the metro lines and night buses will run all night (check the actual transportation schedule and details when it’s posted on the city’s website) with many of the lines free of charge.

schedules of events can be found at several information points most likely at: Gare Saint-Lazare, Gare de Lyon, Gare Montparnasse, Gare de l’Est, Place de la Bastille, aux Halles, Cité internationale and the Hôtel de ville (city hall). (again, please check the city’s website for exact locations to obtain detailed information).

i don’t know if this will be true for this year, but last year the city made 1000 bikes available for free (for the night), and boat rides along the seine cost 5 euros.

since events are free, tickets are not needed, but do expect to wait in long lines in some cases.

[via International Herald Tribune]

Nearly 900 foreigners unaccounted for in Katrina aftermath: report

While consular officials consulted by the daily reported some 160 French citizens and 96 Britons missing, Mexicans, especially illegal immigrants, were expected to outnumber all other nationalities, the daily said.

Read the full article here [via khaleej times and AFP]

having always ultimately admired developers (and their products) that create assistive technology: software specifically for people with disabilities, i am even more in awe today after seeing technology work in-action, particularly with David Niemeijer’s “Assistiveware.” he’s released a video so you can see how it works and it’s brilliant.

Paris-based, Marie-France has Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) also known as Lou Gherigs Disease, and she is paralyzed and is unable to speak. She uses a variety of equipment and software: Switch technology* whereby she uses her jaw (clenching) movement to send orders to her Mac, along with the assistive software specifically for her needs. Marie-France is able to overlook her household and take on chores that many people with disabilities would not be able to negotiate without assitive technology, such as online grocery shopping, household finances and keeping in contact with her (and her husband’s) friends and family. She uses instant messaging and with her assistiveware, her Mac can speak out loud at her command.

from the video, it looked like she was quicker “typing” than her husband

*Switches are designed for users with physical disabilities who can only control the computer with one or two specific movements. Hardware used with software that scans through options on the screen allowing the user to trigger the switch when the option they wish to choose is highlighted. Switches can be used in conjunction with on-screen keyboards and word prediction software. The scanning software can be used to create customized screen layouts for use with a variety of software. However, every clickable spot in the layout must be identified manually in advance.

Related: Assistive Technology for Mac

france is experiencing a sudden increase in gasoline prices just like the u.s. the thing is, gas in france (and in other eu countries) has always been quite expensive but prices suddenly went up and around our neighborhood, it’s 1.43 (euros) per liter and it’s probably much more in large cities - and if i did the math correctly, that is the equivalent $6.75 PER GALLON! europeans are relatively used to paying a lot for gas but since the price went up suddenly, many people are fearing that there will be some sort of shortage and/or even more price hiking. SO. our friends in montpellier were fearing that this could happen and went to the gas station to fill up. and they found a LONG LINE of cars waiting for gas! anyway, they waited for 1 and a half hours. i can’t imagine a shortage (france owns the huge oil company, TOTAL - but it’s going to cost people too much money to drive their cars. if it continues, will people just quit their jobs because the commute isn’t worth it?

i was going to write about the death of the president from a “country” called, “the free republic of saugeais” that no one has ever heard of, let alone knows where it is - but since i don’t know anything about it, i guess i’ll talk about the “grande braderie de lille” that takes place every year in the north of france. it just ended over the weekend.

this event happens at the end of summer annually and carries on for a weekend filled with live street music, hoards of happy people, rows and rows of merchants and residents lined in the streets selling their goods a la marche aux puce (sort of a mega swap meet sprawled over the heart of the city of lille). but what distinguishes this event from others is that there’s a competition among the restaurants to see which one of them can come up with the biggest pile of mussel shells. so, during this time, you’ll see heaps of black shells piling up on the SIDEWALK. yes, really.

first, if i were to recommend going to this event, i’d highly recommend that you go EARLY in the competition especially if you want to shop without gagging or even eat peacefully outside. secondly, i actually do recommend that you eat some mussels (early in the braderie of course) because you’ll find that the best mussels in france are from the north. yes and you want to be able to eat your mussels when there is no HEAP or at least a little heap. third, if you can handle it, however, it’s sort of wild to see the giant piles of shells.

i did catch the tail end of this event a couple of years ago, which was NOT the best moment to be there considering the olfactory assault.

though, i did have a blast anyway in lille, which i think is one of the most underrated cities in france.

[photo courtesy of photoway. merci, richard!]

to view more photos of lille’s braderie, click here: slideshow

for a complete background about the braderie of lille please read Elisabeth’s post at her blog, “as my world turns”