Lulu can never turn down a walk, so today she’s exploring Autun, France, located in the deparment of Saône-et-Loire in Burgundy with her French grandparents. (enlarge photo)

Established in the 1st century BC by Emperor Auguste, Autun was a city that would eventually overshadow and humiliate its rival (sister) town, Bibracte, which, at the time was known to be the rustic Gaulois capital. Bibracte is a mere 26 kilometers (16.1 miles) from Autun.

Known as one of the main gateways to the Morvan, Autun is another hidden gem, particularly for those interested in Gallo-Roman history (and beyond), and in a city whose architecture incorporates a harmonious fusion of many styles assembled in one place. “Must See’s” include the Cathedrale Saint Lazare constructed in 1119, the Grand Theatre, the 2 “Portes” (Entry Gates), the ramparts, the Rolin Museum, Museum of Natural History (Le musée d’Histoire naturelle), The Gem Museum (La Musée lapidaire), The Janus Temple (Le temple de Janus) and the monument, “La pyramide de Couhard.”

Autun is large enough to fill your days visiting the museums and cathedrals, but it is also a perfect town to take in many different walks or strolls to get a refreshing burst of nature or picturesque flavor of the superb architecture and history.

[link: Autun (in French)]

Lulu Lundi* features our favorite Boston Terrier Lulu somewhere in France every Monday.

You can find this adorable sheepdog with his mum selling beautiful flowers of all kinds at the weekly flower market in the old town’s Cours Saleya in Nice, France.

He couldn’t be showing a more laid back nature that is typical for the Riviera where life can often involve lazy, hanging around days looking at pretty flowers in the warm sun… At least for dogs!

See the other weekend dog blogging #23 dogs kindly hosted chez sweetnicks They should be posted after 9pm Sunday EST. Thanks, Sweetnicks!

It has been a while since I last posted for the “French Pastries 101 Series” so today’s installment will cover, La Tarte Tropézienne. A simple pastry that is actually easy to prepare, it’s a cake with thick pastry cream sandwiched by two layers of brioche, a fluffy, buttery, sweet bread, and lightly dusted with powdered sugar on top. (The Tropézienne pictured had crumbly rock sugar.)

The Tropézienne is actually Polish, having been brought over to France by a Polish baker named Alexandre Micka living in St. Tropez. In 1955 he was hired to cater for a film crew working on a movie by Roger Vadim, starring unknown actors at the time. Each day the baker was requested to make even more of his very popular “tarte.” One of the people working in the film, a 21-year old unknown actress, suggested to the baker that he name the tarte, “la tarte Tropézienne.”

The popularity of the Tropézienne would eventually spread all over France, and the film would go on to launch the international career of the actress: Brigitte Bardot. The movie, Et Dieu… créa la femme (And God Created Woman) would later become a national hit and world-wide cult classic.

[Related: Recipe for la tarte Tropézienne and read more about La Tarte Tropézienne]

See other posts for French Pastries 101

Getting blasted by a fire hose in long and narrow tiled hall is not my idea of joy. Why and how that is therapeutic, I’ll never know. Anyway, that is always what I imagine if anyone brings up the subject of station thermale. I cringe. What I do know is why they feature the hose on the media: it makes good television. It’s the money shot, and definitely better than watching someone soak in a jacuzzi.

I think I’d ALMOST rather eat the calf’s face than getting hosed.

Looking through the ads for a local supermarket usually doesn’t involve me interjecting an, “ACK!” “WHOA” “WHA?” or “EIUWW!” The ads were different today.

I wonder. Does a calf’s face taste good? Do you eat its nose?

I’d find it extremely difficult to purchase these (foot and a calf’s head) and handle them, let alone eat them. [These too]

Just this morning I received an email from someone (thank you Mat!) with a link to a website for information on the highway speed radars all over France. As you can see in the photo, they are hard to miss, however, if you have your pedal to the metal, it might just look like a blur and you’ll be oblivious to its existence. At least for a while. In that case, you’ll simply receive a speeding ticket in the mail later, because those radars don’t just measure the speed of your car, they take a photo of the speeding vehicle’s license plate then issues the ticket based on information in the system. Every hour, the all the photos are uploaded to the government servers to then be processed.

Here’s the link that indicates the locations of all the radars in France by region:

Controle Radar (in English and French)

Of course, this is not giving you permission to speed just because you know the location of the radars. There is still highway patrolling with hand-held radar guns, and while they are not allowed to hide (like they do in the U.S), you would swear they were hiding.

While I was looking into this radar issue, I serendipitously fell upon a hacker forum and read a funny story. A guy was recounting a time when he was speeding on the highway and saw the radar…but it was too late. The radar got him. Crazed and desperate because he knew he was driving so fast that his license would be revoked*, he decided to take matters into his own hands. Literally.

He went back to the radar box and found the IP address of the radar on it. He then used that information to hack the box. The photo of his car had not yet been uploaded, so he had time to alter it before it was sent. Using a photo editor, he changed one number on the license plate. Apparently, the speeding ticket went to someone who claimed his vehicle was unable to reach the speed that it allegedly was going. Others claimed the same thing happened to them (in French).

* If you speed more than 30 kilometers over the speed limit, your license will be revoked for 3 years.

Other Info:
1. If there is a radar, there is DSL in that area.
2. Some of the radars are FAKE!
3. All About Automated Radars (in French)

UPDATE
Ok, i was just informed that this whole story was a hoax. It was funny though! Thanks, fboze! (hoaxbuster)

Of course, the hoax could be a way for pirates to continue the hack… (sorry, the conspiracy theorist in my doesn’t want to die!)

New York singer-songwriter-guitarist, Jonatha Brooke, will perform live on George Lang’s RTL France radio program Les Noctures. The program will air tonight at midnight Paris time. That’s 6pm EST for the U.S. audience. Catch the live show via the web. For more information, click on the RTL link below. Once there you will be able to listen live by clicking on ECOUTER RTL EN DIRECT. Here’s the link:

RTL

Jonatha, a singer that merges pop, rock and soul with folk, will also be performing in Paris on February 22nd and 23rd at 11pm at the bar/restaurant Charlie Birdy.

I first heard her when she was in a brilliant duo called, The Story, when they performed live on my favorite station, KCRW. She’s gone solo since and has become a bit of an underground sensation. If you’re in Paris tomorrow, she definitely worth a visit. It is a perfect middle of the week, late night activity! [Jonatha Brooke (official website)]

Charlie Birdy
124, rue La Boétie 75008 PARIS
Metro : Franklin-D Roosevelt
Telephone: 01.42.25.18.06

[thank you for the tip, balah!)

This has trouble written all over it…

From the Telegraph:

France’s drinkers can now buy a potion which supposedly stops hangovers and makes alcohol disappear from the blood system up to six times faster than usual.

Made from a “secret recipe” based on plant extracts, Security Feel Better comes in tiny bottles and is recommended for use before, during or after a heavy lunch or party…

[Read the entire article]

[Security Feel Better Website]

UPDATE: This product has been banned in France. (but you can still buy it in neighboring countries.)

Emphasizing the handy no-hands unlocking system for their model Megane, the French car manufacturer Renault released this funny spot. To watch the silliness, visit Renault, click on “entrer,” then “en mode fenetre” (window mode), then click on the photo at the left (the guy waving).

[via adrants]

A few months ago, I remarked on how it is nearly impossible to find tee-shirts in France with French on them. Remember? There was (and is) no shortage of shirts with bad English on them, however. I still think there’s a definite unexplored market here but to lessen my pain, I stumbled upon this Parisian T-shirt Gallery.

Though you may see some popular celebs on T-shirts here, Liberty Shirts is not your typical T-shirt shop. Their selection of T’s stand out because most of them have a biting political statement oftentimes extremely politically incorrect but there are a few in there that are priceless and some that are simply hilarious. (Note: People who are easily offended, should not visit Liberty Shirts.) Most shirts are 19 euros ($23) plus 6 euros ($7) if you order online from an EU country. They also offer les tee shirts lumineux, shirts for 39 euros ($46.50) that light up and animate in the dark with the help of a small box you put in your pocket that powers the lights. To save on the shipping fee, go directly to their gallery in Paris:

Liberty Shirt
16 rue de COTTE
75012 Paris France
M: Ledru Rollin

Tel: (33) (0) 1 46 28 72 66
Hours: Tuesday – Saturday 10am – 8pm, Sunday 10am – 2pm

It occurred to me recently that I haven’t seen a white egg (shell) since we’ve arrived in France. We now get our eggs from a farm but for the first two years we bought them in the supermarkets. I’ve seen all shades of brown eggshells and some that come very close to white, but none that are the pure white egg that is so commonplace in the U.S.

The conspiracy theorist (and paranoiac) in me wondered why this is the case and initially I’d thought that the U.S. must bleach their eggs. I mean, they are literally snow white. And the practice of bleaching food is not uncommon, i.e., white flour, white sugar, etc. Oh wait, I forgot, the U.S. apparently DOES bleach chickens too. I am not lying:

According to Alternet:

…It is common U.S. practice to use chlorine and other substances to rinse poultry to eliminate dangerous microbes. EU regulations allow only potable water for such purposes. Some argue that the key reason behind the chlorine dip is to increase the bird’s water retention – and thus profit…

There seems to be a general consensus that eggshell color is directly related to the breed of chicken laying the eggs. Leghorns are the small-bodied (cram more of them into cages!), white egg layers and are apparently the best for commercial production because of their size and prolific egg production – so that is the breed of choice for American egg producers. Additionally, if there were unhealthy brown egg layers, the pigment rubs off of the egg. The battery cage system so standard in the U.S. is not conducive to heathy chickens. (The battery cage system exists in Europe but EU legislation is proposing to eliminate that practice by 2012. It was completely banned in Switzerland in 1981.)

Does that mean that there are no Leghorns in France? I wonder if there are organic eggs with white eggshells in the U.S. Theoretically, that would be possible, but I don’t remember white organic/free range eggs in the U.S. Anyway.

I also wonder if white simply “seems” more clean (pure) to Americans, therefore, bleach white eggshells just seem to jive with consumers. The sad thing is that the whiter the shell, the more porous it is, compared to shells with more pigment. That just means it’s easier to contaminate white shells than brown ones upon touching them.

Some Links: The incredible edible egg yolk, Wikipedia: All About Eggs, Recipe for French Egg Dish: Oeufs Meurette (Poached Eggs in Red Wine Sauce)]

For the entertainment and francophile people, here’s some breaking news: 25-year old Parisian Eva Green has been chosen to be the next Bond Girl Femme Fatale in the next Bond movie, Casino Royale. The 21st movie from the Bond Franchise that began in 1962 started shooting last month in Prague and is scheduled to open in November of this year.

That’s not exactly the most flattering photo. Couldn’t they have found a better one?

[Read more about it at reuters]

One of the most common and popular flavors for gum in France is the flavor called “Chlorophylle” made by the omnipresent brand Hollywood Chewing Gum (pronounced ‘Olleewud SHOO ing gum). A non-French person like me would wonder, what the heck does chlorophylle taste like? If my memory serves me correctly, in school I learned that chlorophyll is the green part of plants that is necessary for the sun to absorb which then somehow converts carbon dioxide into oxygen. Something like that, anyway. So, does it taste like grass?

Actually, the chlorophyll flavor of gum tastes a lot like spearmint with a slight twist of algae. I’m not kidding. However, if you weren’t paying attention, you might not ever notice the green aftertaste that I’ve described. I’m not sure what creates that flavor in this gum because chlorophyl is not listed as an ingredient. Fyi: Ingredients: sugar, gum base, glucose syrup, stabilizers E420, E422, flavorings (not specified which), Emulsifier E322, Antioxidant E320, Color E141.

Hollywood Chewing Gum is another institution that is no longer French owned. It was recently acquired by the English chocolate and confectionery group, Cadbury.

as if “i see dead people part 1” wasn’t bad enough, here’s the new and improved (NOT) “i see dead people part deux” that is even more distracting. seriously, who is responsible for this? they are in dire need of common sense lessons. if you see the enlarged photo you’ll see that the “mastermind” behind this campaign is the Department of sécurité routière also known in english as Road SAFETY.

if that is not ironic i dunno what is.

you see, what happens in this oh-so cruel world is that as you drive by this extremely distracting sign (did you see that the dead man’s neck is slashed??!) this very sign will cause YOU to become one of those guys that you see on the road. just mark an X on your chest right now; it’ll just save some time. btw, the sign says, “together, let’s save lives.”

i’m not talking about the dave matthews band here.

DMB stands for Digital Media Broadcasting. in plain english it means that people with this terrestrial (DMB) service can view tv programs on their cellular phones anytime and anywhere. cool!

Samsung Electronics, Korea based leading telecom systems and mobile handset provider, Bouygues Telecom, France’s mobile operator, TF1, France’s mobile TV operator, and VDL, France’s digital network provider and equipment manufacturer, have agreed to cooperate in the area of T-DMB (Terrestrial Digital Media Broadcasting) to provide the first trial service in France.

[read more at akihabara news]

at least that’s what they’re saying about this instant powdered version. hasn’t this already been invented for astronauts? anyway, the french instant ketchup is still worth talking about. all that’s needed is some water added to the powdered ketchup and voilà! ketchup!

using dehydrated tomatoes and other dry ingredients, the burgundy-based creators of powdered ketchup, Marion Burtin and Céline Ramard claim that it is not only economical saving the company 40% to 50% more compared to traditional ketchup companies, but it’s also environmentally practical.

notable factors of powdered ketchup comes directly from: 1) using less packaging so it requires less space and is lighter in weight because there’s no water; 2) a little of the powder stretches a long way: 1 liter of powder makes 5 liters of ketchup after you add water. this also means using less petrol to transport more ketchup; 3) the product is only available to large collectives: restaurants, cafeterias and packaged in large tins but will be making smaller amounts to consumers. still, the consumer packaging will not be (evil) plastic bottles, but smaller envelopes.

i will keep an eye out for this and do a taste test and examine the packaging. time for french fries!

[via le Journal de Saône et Loire (in french)]

who was it that said there were not enough naked men in france? oh yeah. me. and tomate farcie! (and the kaboys don’t count) so, in order to fill a void so-to-speak, i’ll be looking for more hommes à poil.

the first find is a beautiful photography exhibition in paris, which actually began five years ago. in 2001, paris-based photographer, gregor podgorski exhibited “la Pietà,” a photography installation based on the sculpture by michaelangelo featuring nudes posing in the very same position as the subject in the original “la Pietà”. five years later he’s photographed the same people in an installation called c’est la vie all photographs are in black and white. some people came back single or in couples, others arrived with new families, many lives drastically transformed during those five years. with c’est la vie gregor podgorski explores the diverse paths that people take during their lifetimes and finds out how they’ve integrated into the world today.

the exhibit ends on april 30, 2006.

for more information visit: c’est la vie

c ‘est la vie – gregor podgorski
galerie Daragnes, 11, rue Gît le Cœur 75006 Paris
monday to friday from 10h00 to 13h00
saturday from 15h00 to 18h30.
contact : 01 42 34 77 77 or 06 60 48 12 34

despite a 2.8 percent rise in full-year core earnings, france telecom has announced that they will be laying off 17,000 employees starting this year and ending by 2008. the decision comes from a desire to strongly increase (greedy) shareholder return in the next few years and aimed to distribute 40 to 45 percent of its underlying cash flow.

just last week france telecom, a governmental entity, announced that they had sold 20% of its stake (the cable networks business, Ypso) to two private companies: cinvin and altice in equal shares on march 31, 2005. why did they make this announcement a year LATER?

more unemployment in france! this news could launch strikes in a country that loves demonstrations. in fact, france is the only place i’ve seen in recent news that strikes after announcements of job cuts (remember grenoble’s hewlett packard?)

[via]

IMPORTANT UPDATE: According the the International Herald Tribune: France Telecom is actually laying off 23,000. (not 17,000) Didier Lombard, France Telecom’s Chief Executive says, He announced plans to slash 23,000 positions even while creating 6,000 jobs, saying, “We have to hire young people to renew the work force.” Some 10,000 other jobs within the company would be reshuffled, he added. [via France Télécom plans to cut 23,000 workers]

Isn’t that age discrimination?