We always joke about this sign whenever we pass it, and I’ve been meaning to take a photo of it but haven’t until recently. Just a few days ago, we were on our way back from Dijon and decided to finally stop to take a picture. Since we stopped, we thought, “why not check out Mr. Gérald Pott, the potter and his pottery store?”

We found his cute country house and was welcomed by Mrs. Pott as we walked up their driveway.

Looking around the beautifully disorganized garden you’ll find his work scattered here and there – like this ceramic bull.

There are 2 exhibition rooms to look at Mr. Pott’s pots and artwork. We couldn’t help but notice that he distinctly draws inspiration from Asia, and later when we talked with him he mentioned that he has a strange affinity to Japan, for no apparent reason whatsoever. He also uses techniques borrowed from Korea, where pottery is wrapped in materials like mesh to give the final result a textured finish.

We thought this water fountain would be a nice piece of art in someone’s office, as well as create a relaxed work environment.

Finally, Mr. Pott himself emerged from a hole in the ground to meet us. (Really! He was trying to find a leak in his plumbing.) Though originally Swiss, he’s been in France for quite some time in this little corner of Burgundy. We found him to be funny, silly, intelligent, kind and passionate about his art.

He got so happy when he asked us if we wanted to see the wood-burning kiln he built, and we said yes. When he fires his pottery, it takes 5 hours to heat it to the correct temperature. The pottery has to bake for 10 hours and he has to maintain a constant temperature as it bakes .

This means he needs lots and lots of wood.

Earlier in the visit when he told us he was totally infatuated with Japan, he told us that he was also a monk. I thought he was joking (he’d been joking a lot) and I laughed. But then he said he really was a monk at the nearby Taizé Monestary. Doh!

I guess being a monk wasn’t everything he thought it would be. I think that, in fact, it was because of his name. Yes, words are powerful! And his name is POTT, afterall. He couldn’t fight it any longer. Pott(ery) did force its way to become his destiny…

Gérald Pott, Artisan Potter
Chassenay
21230 Arnay-le-duc FRANCE
(In Burgundy, about 20 miles southwest of Dijon)
Tel: 33) 3. 80.90.18.20
Hours: Workshop/Exhibit Room Open Daily
Closed December, January, February (except for for appointments)

We bought these cute sake cups and plate. I think they will be great for afternoon coffees, too.

Ok, I exaggerated. I suppose the title should instead be, “Produce Less Trash with a yaourtière.”

We eat a lot of yogurt and although we prefer this brand because it is the best yogurt we’ve had from the market and comes in recyclable containers, we still bought other yogurt that comes in plastic pots. After a while you come to the realization that you are producing a huge mass of plastic trash with your yogurt consumption. And we all know that plastic is bad. It ends up in landfills or gets incinerated, which creates horrible pollution. Anyway, we’ve been so silly and wondered why we didn’t use a yaourtière (yogurt maker). So we got one.

Making yogurt with a yaourtière is so simple, though you can make it without one (with a little more effort). We recommend them highly. And it is remarkably superior to market yogurts. Our first batch was not that great and a little gooey, but we used a generic plain yogurt and it has too many chemicals in it. We changed our method and now have creamy, delectible yogurt that tastes very much like our favorite. It is not tart at all.

All you need to do is boil a liter of organic whole milk, let it cool, pour into a pitcher or something with a spout, mix in a cup of yogurt (we use a pot of La fermière yogurt mentioned above) then pour the mixture into the little glass pots. Cover them, turn on the machine and let them sit there undisturbed (they don’t like to be jiggled at all) for 12 hours. Then put them in the fridge. And voila! You can add real vanilla bean while boiling the milk for yummy vanilla yogurt or flavor your plain yogurt later with jams, sugar, fruit etc.

Eating yogurt every day is very healthy for your body, and although it has whole milk, one cup is only 139 calories.

We try to order online as much as possible, which saves a lot of driving time and reduces our carbon (dioxide) footprint. We live far from everything. There’s a company in Lyon (ldlc.com) where we order computer equipment and supplies and we love them. They’re great because they are incredibly fast, which seems unusual for France. They usually mail your things the very same day as you order it! Most of the time, you get your order the next day. If you know France, you know this is absolutely amazing.

Anyway, with each order, they always include a gift of some kind. Sometimes it’s chocolate, other times, it’s been a USB memory key or other gadget. This time, it was a small piece of paper the size of a napkin. Ads were on one side and when you turn it over you could see there were seeds embedded into the paper. All you have to do is peel off the ads then put the sheet of seeds into a pot, cover lightly with soil, water and voila! Flowers in a few weeks.

From Yahoo News:

“Tres chers amis,I’m worried. Really worried. How can you have made Nicolas Sarkozy, the pint-size tough guy of the hard-right the leading contender to be next President of France? Not that I want to meddle in your internal politics, but since he’s gotten there in large part by claiming to be pro-American, I think I should explain exactly what that means…”

Read the entire letter

What happened, French people??! I was hoping the first round of the presidential results would be a GASP! OMGFG moment in French history but hélas. *Big Sigh*

I thought hey this is France we’re talking about (minds changing this way and that way and oftentimes rooting for the underdog), so it could be a really crazy 2nd round. Like it would’ve been so neat if the Workers’ Struggle’s Arlette Laguiller could make the 2nd round with like the hunting, fishing guy. I know he kills animals for fun – which I’m not into; I’m just saying.

Nope. ‘Twas as expected: Sego v. Sarko for round 2. DING! (on May 6). I might try to go count the ballots in our mayor’s office. Thanks to Pascal, Sandrine and Otir for the headsup on that info.

France’s 1st round of presidential elections is today, so I decided to tag along with my sweetie to the polls. But before that, I said, “Hey, but it’s lunchtime. Are they open?”

“Of course, they’re open,” he says as if actually saying, “duh.”

“OMG. Something in France is open during that sacrosanct hour, lunchtime??!”

“Ha. It’s probably the only day in the year when THAT happens, huh?”

So we arrive and I felt all excited even though I don’t get to vote. It’s just fun to see how other countries do this I guess. Here’s what you see if you’re from a village like ours. (it’s probably a lot different in large cities. maybe.) A few guys at a table in a room at the Mairie with nothing decorating the walls except a very new no smoking sticker and a photo of our current leader, Jacques Chirac. I then realize at this moment that this is definitely NOT an electronic voting system.

I ask the gentlemen if they’d mind if I take some photos. “Why?” (as in “Why on earth for?”) But then they say ok. We were lucky to find happy officials. It could easily have been 3 surly old geezers, staring you down with eye daggers.

My other half begins to gather all of his slips of paper as I tell the officials that he doesn’t yet know who he’s going to vote for. (which was true). They chuckle politely.

He proceeds to the booth to put his slip of paper into a blue envelope. (Damn! I forgot to take a picture of the booth. I know, I’m a nerd.) He takes a while as he tries to come up with his lesser of the evil choice. As I wait, I ask the men which one of them will say, “A Voté!“? The guy in the middle, as if embarrassed says, “That would be me.”

Finally, he comes out of the booth to drop his vote into the urne, and the middle guy meekly says his little spiel quickly (see how embarrassed he looks?).

Polls close at 6pm. Now. Does this method seem, well, flawed? It would be so easy for small villages like this to stuff that ole ballot box. Who’s watching them, afterall? Yep, always the conspiracy theorist. But you know, there are somewhere around 6,000 villages in France. A collaborative cheat session could result in a strange and fatal conclusion.

The French 1st and 2nd round system also seems like it could use some improvement. Especially this year when so many people are split between several candidates. For example, say your first choice is Besancenot (yea, the revolutionary communist mailman), your second choice is Bayrou, but Royal and Laguiller (I know, this is extremely hypothetical) make it to the 2nd round and Bayrou doesn’t. And if all people’s 2nd choice was Bayrou, he might’ve had a chance to win the 2nd round if he’d made it to the 2nd round. Like, what would happen in the 2nd round if you could vote between 3 candidates. You know? Anyway.

That’s the process if you were wondering. It is history in the making, as it could and will surely result in dire consequences for the hexagon.

I’m sort of excited about the elections tomorrow in a doom-and-gloom sort way but it is still all very fascinating to me. As a non-EU citizen, I’m not allowed to vote tomorrow for the first round of the French presidential elections. Instead, I’m just going to have to live vicariously through my French other half. I don’t know who he is going to vote for; that’s because he doesn’t know yet either. To him, they’re all scary. I would have to agree.

Just about 4 days ago, he received his voting materials (pictured above): flyers from all of the candidates and small pieces of very thin paper with each candidate’s name. Also, not long ago, he received his Carte Electorale (election card), which you must have in your possession when voting (also pictured) along with ID. On the reverse side, this card has your name, address and the official stamp from your local mayor.

Me: Ok, so how does it work?
Him: You can take the one piece of paper with the candidate’s name of your choice to the polls. Once there, you will receive an envelope so you can go into the booth and put that piece of paper inside then put it in the official urne (voting box). That’s it.
Me: What if you forget your piece of paper (like I’d do)?
Him: Once you enter the polling place, there are stacks of those papers representing all of the candidates.
Me: You mean the stacks are just at the entrance? So, people can see which person you’re voting for when you pick up the name?
Him: Well, most people pick one of each then take that into the booth. They just leave all but one behind in the booth. After a while, the booth is a big mess with papers scattered everywhere! Well, at least in a big city. It’s probably not going to be that messy in a tiny village like ours.
Me: That is still a huge waste.
Him: You can also have your candidate’s paper in your pocket, but pick up another candidate’s paper at the polling place.
Me: Why?
Him: Just to mess with people trying to see who you’re voting for. Like maybe I’ll pick up Le Pen, but vote for Bové. Or someone else. I don’t know.
Me: You’re silly.
Him: Oh! Once you drop your vote in the box, someone announces out loud, “A Voté!” (Voted!) Then someone else checks off your name from a register, so you don’t vote twice.
Me: That sounds like they did that in the middle ages. Maybe someone will have a big cane and pound it on the ground…

AKA La Fameuse Claque

Click here or on the photo (18 second video)

Me: That would end the career of a politican in the U.S.
S.O.: People will vote for him in France BECAUSE of that!

[merci, Julien!]

Today is Earth Day et ça tombe bien (and it’s good timing) because stuck in my head is a song about humans and the environment called, “Respire” (Breathe) by the excellent French band, Mickey 3D. I’ve been editing a clip and used the song as the sound track. I know it now backward, forward sideways and upsidedown. It’s worth a listen if you haven’t already heard it. It’s not a new song (about 5 years old) but it’s more timely now than ever. In the Mickey 3D music video, it is a completely animated piece that takes place in the future. I won’t give too much away just in case you’ll be seeing it for the first time. If it doesn’t make you (at least) think, you most likely have a serious problem.

Click here or on the picture above to see the video.

FYI: I’ve done a rough translation of it in English below.

Oops! After doing that translation I saw this video version with English subtitles.

From Treehugger:

“When the French do something, they do it in style and make an impact. Some things like the Concorde suck a bit too much gas and don’t quite work out as planned, but when they decide that they don’t want to suck gas, they go out and buy ten thousand electric vehicles to deliver the mail. “There has never been such a big order [for the vehicles] in the world,” said French Industry Minister Francois Loos…”

Read the full article

This Sunday is the first round of the presidential elections in France. It’s not going to be fun but someone with excellent Photoshopping skills, is trying to create a little fun anyway with his creation, a French presidential candidate generator, which is pretty silly. Who will reign supreme? Olivier Royancenot? François Baypen? or Ségolène Bayrouyale? If I were allowed to vote, I honestly would have no favorites, morphed or unmorphed.

[via aeiou le blog de flu]

Or would that be ugly in a cute sort of way? Or is it just plain ugly? I like it for a minute then I hate it. It’s cutely creepy. France’s train company (SNCF) made headlines last week with its ultra-fast train breaking its own previous record. I do think there are other trains that go faster. I could be mistaken, but I’m specifically thinking about the Shinkansen in Japan – but I shouldn’t take the limelight away from my hexagonal, host country home. I do think that fast train is pretty neat.

Back to the cute and ugly mascot in the form of an USB 512 MB key. This new mascot is one attempt on the part of the SNCF to change their image to be….cute? Fun, I guess. Trains are fun, I must admit – and keys do come in handy once in a while. (Of course, I’m not crazy about all that plastic.) I’m not sure where you can get these but you probably can find them at the….(drum roll)…train station!

I like that the French are not afraid of PINK. I think I even saw a French rugby team with bright pink jerseys. (maybe they were German or British) Anyway, I imagine an American rugby team (or any sports team for that matter) would flat out boycott pink. Too girly for them. Pffffff. Don’t they know that REAL men aren’t afraid of pink?

[via akihabara]

British tourists and expats must get Beyonce’s song out of their heads! (You know, “to the left, to the left…” Ok. anyway.)

There have been several accidents caused by English people driving on the left side of the street in France, so a small French town (Flers) in the north has launched a campaign reminding them to cut it out. There are posters up and they give drivers stickers to put inside their cars. This reminds me of when we were driving in England, we put post-its inside the car like this, “<–LEFT!” Silly, but that saved our lives, probably.

This also brings up the subject of why British people do not have to take a driver’s test when living in France. Their English driver’s licenses are automatically permitted in France, while other drivers, like say, from United States, have to take a test if they live in France more than a year. C’mon, the English freakin’ drive on the left!!! (Yes! I’m bitter.)

Back to the story. Here’s an excerpt:

“Police in a small town in northern France have launched a poster campaign to remind British expatriates and tourists to drive on the right side of the road — literally…”

Read the full article from Associated Press

When I lived in the U.S. I loved shopping at a store called, “Anthropologie,” which I always thought was a French chain (but it’s actually a company based in South Carolina). They have beautiful things that you might find in France, and countries in other parts of Europe, Asia, and Scandinavia. I secretly thought it would be fun to work as a Buyer for them.

It’s weird because I found these beautiful glass and porcelain 1.5 liter milk bottles right here in France, but imagined that they would be great for Anthropologie. Anyway, I bought four of them plus a cute basket to keep them in. These bottles will hopefully be home to what they’re meant to store: milk. So, we’re in search of a farm that will sell us raw milk directly. That is not an easy feat in the U.S., I’ve heard (it’s illegal), but it’s getting harder and harder to find even in France now (I think it is also illegal, but I’m not sure). We’re working on the case because we know it’s got to be possible, and we’re sort of disgusted with industrial French milk – large markets’ milk leaves a lot to be desired even the “bio” (organic) milk. (with the exception of one brand of bio milk we bought the other day.)

A little detective work, several visits to nearby dairy farms and off we go. (for a later blog entry I guess)

I have a habit of really looking at people’s faces saying, “if so and so had a baby, the result would be (that person)” Sort of like looking at a dog and seeing the breeds in it. The coupling could be celebs, animals or cartoon characters – in any gender. In this case, it’s a 2D Fred Flintstone and the 3D Shrek making a baby called, Jean-Pierre Castaldi. He’s a French B-movie actor, living in the shadow of his more famous TV celeb son, Benjamin Castaldi. (grandson of Yves Montand and Simone Signoret). Ok, this matchup isn’t too flattering (sorry JP) but you gotta admit ole JP does look like the parents I’ve assigned to him.

Look for more matches that equal French celebs in the future…

My life in general and as a volunteer for an environment group, just within the last few weeks, has been insanely weird, if not totally surreal. Here’s just a couple of things that remind me of things from a David Lynch film but in fact, are things happening in my neck of the woods:

1. I attended my first municipal council meeting in France. Now, for those of you who know me well, you might be wondering why on earth I’d ever find myself attending a municipal council meeting in France, let alone attending ANY municipal council meeting anywhere on earth. I was there to support the president of our environmental group, who ripped in to the mayor of a small village in Burgundy. (the corrupt mayor did deserve it, so I don’t feel bad about that.) Honestly, I wished I hadn’t gone. It was all mayhem, open corruption and near heart attacks. I also did my share of heckling the mayor, as well (a first for me – which felt good to do.) – but those couple of oxygen deprived hours probably will haunt me for the rest of my life.

Sidebar: All municipal counsel meetings in France are open to the public so you can hear about what’s happening in your town – and the public has a right to speak (addressing the counsel) at the end of the meeting. Just in case you need something to do…

2. A person I had just met suggested to me (as an active member of our environmental association) that we should “get rid” of someone who is causing a lot of anguish and pain for most of us. This “someone” is responsible for a terrible project that could be devastating to our region. So. I ask, “Um. ‘Get rid’ as in GET RID?!” “YES!” he says, “I know the right people.” I don’t think I blinked for a whole minute. I finally say, “That is not really our ’style.’” Then he says, “But I thought you HATED him!” I say, “I DO! But but ‘getting rid’…well, um…no!” At the moment, I imagined myself having a conversation with Ray Liotta and was waiting or the director to yell, “CUT!” It didn’t happen. So. At least I know to stay away from this person in the near future. And forever.

3. I’ve been attending “enquête publique” (public inquiry) meetings. These have been so unpleasant, I’m glad the last one is on Monday. This is where the public meets with a commission (3 people) to discuss the proposed project, in our case, a landfill in a nearby village. They are supposed to be impartial “judges” who are there to hear opposition and concerns, or answer any questions. Let’s just say impartiality LEFT THE BUILDING long, long (oh so) long ago.

4. We’re in the process of buying another property in France, and our notaire, which is sort of like legal counsel and a real estate agent (all at the same time), spent hours warning us that France is imploding and we need to have a Plan B. He went on and on, “You do know that France is in deep trouble! You shouldn’t stay here in France too long; things are going to get worse and worse and you should find another country to live!!!! Especially after the elections!” We’re like, “Yeah, yeah. We know.” And he responds, “I’m serious! Really, you should leave France within the next 6 years or so! Get out while you still have a chance!” We do have a Plan B and will probably leave France at some point but it was just weird to hear the warning out loud. Btw, our notaire’s Plan B is to take his family and live in the U.S five years from now.

5. To top off all the stressful events going on simultaneously, this one last thing is really the straw that is breaking the camel’s back: my in-laws (French mummy and daddy dearest) are visiting!!!!!!! OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

A last note: This is all based on personal experiences in my little corner of France. Please don’t get the impression that all of France is filled with gangster hitmen, conspiracy theorists and corrupt politicians. Well, maybe except the corrupt politicians.

Last year a French rapper named, “Kamini” hit his 15 minutes of fame with his hilarious song, “Marly-Gomont,” about his life as the only  black person growing up in a teeny, tiny village in France. Here’s the video.

But more recently, some people from WoW did their own Virtual World, WoW-ish rendition (acted by characters inside World of Warcraft) of Marly-Gomont, which is pretty fun too. Here’s that video.

[via neatorama]

I knew this presidential election was going to be full of kooky wtfs. In a way, it is so fascinating for me to see that 12 people (from 11 different political parties!) are going to run for President of France. José Bové, who is actually part of no political party, is an ex-con and anti-GMO farmer who dismantled a MacDonalds, another candidate is a bank teller that has run for president for the last 40 or so years and has never been elected (Arlette Laguiller from the Worker’s Struggle), another’s a revolutionary communist mailman (Olivier Besancenot), one is a hunter that represents the Hunting, Fishing, Nature Tradition Party (Frédéric Nihous). And of course, there’s Le Pen. What can you say about a fascist SOB that denies the existence of the Halocaust? So. I suppose his recent diarrhea of the mouth doesn’t come as a surprise.

From the Tocqueville Connection:

French far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen told a women’s forum Thursday he was against making condoms freely available in schools — advising young people to masturbate instead.

“For those who feel the urge, I suggest the ‘manu militari’, it’s a much simpler method,” Le Pen told the gathering organised by Elle magazine in Paris, and attended by all the main candidates in turn.
The 78-year-old National Front leader — who describes himself as “pro-life” — dodged a question on the right to abortion, saying it was “not a main preoccupation for French people”.

Le Pen has distanced himself from his party’s call for France to repeal the right to abortion, but has called for a referendum on the question.
Currently in fourth place in the race for the April 22 first round, Le Pen was whistled and booed by students at the event, who held up banners reading ‘F for Fascist, N for Nazi. No to the National Front.’”

Read the article

Photographers, whether they are hobbyists or professionals, oftentimes explore a place much differently than the typical traveler.

With camera in hand and in search of the best photo ops, they are bound for better lighting, they will crouch for colorful compositions and be endlessly fascinated by feces faces. They want the angle, the mood, the light and some magic.

Paris is in no shortage of the characteristics mentioned above but if you’re a first time photographer to the City of Light, this excellent site could be useful to you so you can head straight to the photo booty, so to speak.

A Photographer’s Guide to Paris

It looks as though this will be the first presidential election in the history of France to use an electronic voting system. This is scary on a couple of counts: 1) There are lots and lots of French hackers. That actually doesn’t scare me all that much – it’s more that 2) Who authorized all voting machines? The French Interior Ministry. We know where this is going, right? Guess who was the Interior Minister when the voting machines got authorized? Yup. None other than Nicolas Sarkozy. (Plus, he’d gone to Washington to get some “advice” from Dubya last year.) Lastly, we all know that a French presidential election is not complete without their complots… Just ask Jacques Chirac about them.

From the New York Times:

“For France’s Socialists, among others, the coming presidential election could descend into a nightmare like last fall’s in Florida.

This is the first presidential election in France to use paperless computer voting. As many as 1.5 million of the 44.5 million registered voters are expected to cast their ballots electronically in more than 80 municipalities around the country.

But with election day less than three weeks away, opposition to the electronic voting machines has grown, in part because a small percentage of them are made by the same American company whose machines were involved in a bitterly disputed Congressional election in Florida last November…”

Read the full article