“Shigeru Ban is familiar to TreeHuggers for his eco-friendly buildings and use of unusual materials; now he has built a bridge out of cardboard tubes. It’s in France, half a mile from the Pont du Gard, an ancient Roman bridge; Ban says, ‘It is a very interesting contrast, the Roman stone bridge and the paper bridge. Paper too can be permanent, can be strong and lasting. We need to get rid of these prejudices.’ The bridge can hold up to twenty people at a time; it was load tested with balloons filled with 1.5 tonnes of water. There are 281 four inch diameter tubes, plus steps of recycled paper and foundations made from wooden boxes filled with sand…” [from Treehugger]

^{Tagline: Enjoy Rugby in the Capital of Love}

I don’t think this ad wanted to intentionally alienate straight rugby fans but oh well. It’s a bold ad campaign that’s supposed to be funny, anyway. [in preparation for several World Cup matches around Paris - ads by cestsoparis.com] By the way, Rugby kicks off in September.

Summer is here, and during this time of year in France there is no shortage of things to do. So even though I’ve seen practically no signs of summer where I live, here are a few tasty events to enjoy - whilst hoping that everyone will get to see more than 3 hours of sun during the month of August.

La fête de l’Ail Rose (Pink Garlic Festival) in Lautrec - August 3, 2007 - Annual event (Always on the first friday of August) dedicated to the lovely pink garlic. More info - Lautrec also hosts the Fête du Pain et du Moulin (Bread and Mill Festival) on August 15. Read More

La Fête des Amandiers (Almond Fair) in Aregno, Corsica - August 4 - 5, 2007 - This happens just after the almond harvest, where growers show off their stuff. Open market, music, tastings, and cooking workshops. Call +33 (0) 4 95 61 79 42 for more info.

Nuit des Pêcheurs (Fishermen’s Night) in Toulon, August 5, 2007 - 5pm to Midnight - Meet at the tiny port to sample crab, oysters, fish soup and giant grilled sardines. More info

Cheese Festival in Loures-Barousse (Pyreneses) - August 4 - 5, 2007, Saturday: 11am-7pm; Sunday: 9am-7pm - We all know the best cheeses in the world are from France. Celebrate it! Call +33 (0) 5 62 99 21 30 for more info. Also, catch the Livarot Cheese Fest in Normandy, camembert country! Call +33 (0) 2 31 63 47 39 for more info.

La Foire aux Huîtres de Larrostrea (Larrostrea Oyster Festival) in Gujan-Mestras near Arcachon, just a short drive from Bordeaux - August 9 - 12, 2007 - The best oysters I’ve had in France are from this area, and if you’re a fan, you can’t miss this event. For more information: Larrostrea Oyster Festival Note: here are other oyster festivals: Festival des huitres en Bretagne Sud and La Grande fête de l’huître - Le Gua

Fête de la carotte (Carrot Festival) in Créances - August 11, 2007 - Celebrating the favorite food of the character famous for saying, “Quoi de neuf, docteur?” More info

La Pourcailhade - La Fête du Cochon à Trie sur Baïse (Pig Festival) - August 12, 2007 - Eat pork, the other white meat - But, the highlight of the festival in Trie sur Baïse, one of the largest pig-raising areas of France, is the national pig imitation competition. This may seem silly, but is in fact deadly serious - the squeals must correspond to a moment in the pig’s life (birth squeal, feeding squeal, reproduction squeal). More info

Nuit de la Mogette (White Bean Night) in Le Moulin à Elise - August 14, 2007, 2pm onward - The time of year to have ham and little white beans with gamay rosé. Ça va peter!  More info

Pop Quiz. What do talking incessantly and taking a vow of silence have in common? Answer: The nun we met on Saturday.

Standing in line at the train station to buy some tickets for a future trip, we noticed a nun a few people ahead of us and panicking at the ticket window.

Nun (talking to no one in particular): OMG! What am I going to do. (Ok, she didn’t say OMG, but that would have been good.)

No one answered.

Nun (still talking to no one in particular): Why didn’t they tell me I had to transfer to get to Autun? Now what am I going to do? I mean, how was I supposed to know I had to transfer? The person obviously was inexperienced - I mean she was very young and well she probably forgot to tell me - but now I am stuck and have no way of getting to my meeting with the bishop on time - oh dear me - and the soonest a taxi can come is in an hour and a half - too late for my meeting with the BISHOP.

No one responded.

Nun: He will be so disappointed that I couldn’t make the meeting and then maybe it’ll be a long time before I have a chance to meet with him again - so hmmmm I’m not sure what to…

Us: Ma Soeur! (In France, you must always address a nun as “My Sister”) We’ll drive you to Autun. It’s only 30 minutes and you’ll have 15 minutes to spare.

The 30-minute drive might have been the longest 30 minutes I’ve ever experienced and entailed a kooky nun talking the entire time nonstop. I’m not kidding. We didn’t even know when she took a breath. She talked in one LOOOONNNNGGGG sentence, a “Sister’s Monologue.”

She even continued to talk as she exited the car. We left her with some caretakers of the estate and she then thanked us and mentioned that she would surely tell the bishop about how we saved their meeting. My sweetie asked her to ask the bishop not to ring the bells too early in the morning so people near the cathedrale could sleep. She said ok (!) and one last thing.

Nun: “Perhaps we shall meet again if you are ever near my convent. I took my vows and the oath of silence at the Order of Saint Bruno…”

Us: “WHAAAA!?” (We didn’t actually say that out loud. We just thought it.)

She said some other things that we didn’t catch because we were so hung up and shocked by the fact that she’d even admit to us that she took a vow of SILENCE…

This adorable potato is from our recent harvest. It’s how potatoes grow in the land of love and romance: Heart-shaped. But, of course.

Probably one of the largest street art festivals in France, the Chalon dans la Rue (Chalon in the street) festival starts today and is a smorgasbord of activities specifically dedicated to street art and artists but it really goes beyond that. Over the course of four days, you will run into percussive pyrotechnics, street operas, parades with gigantic papier mache figures and other demonstrations in the street, experimental performance art along the sidewalks, live music, storytelling, marionette shows, dance, theater performances, circuses, movies, images and art installations projected against buildings and more.

There’s also lots of entertainment for kids: jugglers, clowns, acrobats, magic shows, and a special studio for kids’ activities.

Festival: Chalon dans la Rue (in Burgundy, France)
July 19 - 22, 2007
Chalon dans la Rue / L’Abattoir
52, quai St-Cosme
71100 Chalon-sur-Saône
Tél. +33 (0)3 85 90 94 70
Website: Chalon dans la Rue
Schedule of Events: Program

^{D’ou vous voulez - dans le limite des zones couvertes par les reseaux 3G/3G+ de SFR - Anywhere you want - within the zones covered by SFR’s network 3G/3G+}

I’m not gonna lie: I hate this TV commercial. It says that with the SFR 3G+ service and USB key, you have access to the internet “anywhere you want.” Then in small print, it says, “in zones covered by SFR” (the internet provider). SFR is not covered everywhere in France. Then. That’s NOT getting internet access anywhere you want, is it??!

What if I want internet access between Paris and Dijon, 300 kilometers (nearly 200 miles) with my very handy, cool SFR USB key? That’s where I want it, SFR! You said anywhere I want. Will I get it? No. Once outside the city limits there’s no access whatsoever.

STOP LYING!

Links: Jurisprudence : Publicité mensongère, Publicité mensongère

Is France on to something? I noticed these cans of “sans OGM” (non genetically modified or non-GMO) corn on the shelves of a nearby supermarket. The other cans did not specify that they were non-GMO, but weeks later when I went back to the market, ALL of the other brands, including the generic discount brand followed suit and were marked NON GMO. I am grateful they’re labeling this information in France, which unfortunately for Americans, isn’t the case for GMO products in the U.S. Whether you care about GMO or not, it’s always good to be informed about what you’re eating.

It made me wonder about the dangers of GMO. Here’s what I found:

“The environmental protection organization Greenpeace has long said genetically modified maize could be a health hazard. Now, in a new study, a group of French scientists have also expressed their doubts about the corn.” from French Scientists Express Doubt About Genetically Modified Corn

“We are confronted with what is undoubtedly the single most potent technology the world has ever known - more powerful even than atomic energy. Yet it is being released throughout our environment and deployed with superficial or no risk assessments - as if no one needs to worry an iota about its unparalleled powers to harm life as we know it - and for all future generations.” from 50 Harmful Effects of Genetically Modified Foods

“Despite an increasing number of scientists warning that current gene-splicing techniques are crude, inexact, and unpredictable — and therefore inherently dangerous — pro-biotech governments and regulatory agencies, led by the US, maintain that GE foods and crops are “substantially equivalent” to conventional foods, and therefore require neither mandatory labeling nor pre-market safety-testing. This Brave New World of Frankenfoods is frightening.” from Hazards of Genetically Engineered Foods & Crops

“There’s a war on in Europe, and most Americans have hardly heard about it. It concerns the safety of something very basic to human life: our food. Why are we so uninformed while European consumers are up in arms and their governments are taking swift action against the uncontrolled introduction of genetically modified foods?” from Toxicity From Genetically-Engineered Foods

“The corn in question, MON863, is made by the Monsanto Company and approved for use in Australia, Canada, China, the European Union, Japan, Mexico, the Philippines, and the United States. It has had a gene inserted from the bacteria Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt), which causes the plant’s cells to produce a pesticide.” from Monsanto’s GM corn MON863 shows kidney, liver toxicity in animal studies

Some Related Links:

Find out about what you can do against GMO in France with their OGM, J’en veux pas (I don’t want GMO) campaign. http://www.greenpeace.fr (in French)

Monsanto’s Dubious Research

Say no to GMO Foods

How to shop to avoid GMO Foods

Propaganda Strategy of Biotech-Multinationals leaked out

When in France we’ve been doing pretty much as the French do: eating lots of french fries. Not a problem. Only, whenever we have them at French people’s homes, I always find them to be just slightly undercooked by a couple of minutes. No, they’re cooked all the way through, but lack the perfect finish: the crispy light golden (yet not burnt) outside.

At home, we make them like most people: fry them twice, which is gives them that delicious crispy outside and soft inside. Oftentimes this doesn’t happen and we’d been wondering why. We finally figured out who the culprit was: the potato, not us. Ha! We started trying different kinds of potatoes, with no luck.

My father-in-law later told us that if you buy supermarket potatoes, try to find the ones that still have dirt on them, the ones that haven’t been washed. He claims that the washed potatoes always end up being soggy fries, even the potatoes that say they’re specifically for making fries. We decided to solve the dilemma our way: grow our own potatoes. That’s so French!

So over the weekend, we (I mean my sweetie) harvested half of our potatoes. (Thank you, sweetie!) We’ll end up having hundreds upon hundreds of spuds.

We made fries yesterday. The results: Our home-grown potatoes made the BEST french fries, ever. They are sooooo gooood!

On an opposing note, I ran into this video called “How Nasty are McDonald’s Fries” with Morgan Spurlock (of Supersize Me) doing an experiment with McDonald’s food showing how quickly or slowly their food decomposes.

Basically, everything gets moldy and nasty but the McDonald’s fries NEVER change over several months. It’s shocking and makes you wonder what the fries are made out of. Do I hear PLASTIC? or perhaps GMO corn? In any case, like plastic, these fries don’t biodegrade like food is supposed to.

Not long ago I’d suggested (in my post about Michael Moore’s movie, Sicko) that if the guy in the movie who’d lost two fingertips came to France for health care, it would probably have cost him a third of what he’d spend in the U.S. I was so very wrong. IT’S SO MUCH LESS THAN THAT.

IF he’d had both fingers reattached in the U.S. it would have cost him $72,000. He could only afford one finger which was the lesser amount of $12.000. What would he have spent if he had that procedure in France, for not just one but BOTH fingers? I just found out how much exactly this costs in France, and honestly, it made me feel…sick.

We’d contacted the Société Française de Chirurgie de la Main, (a national Association of Surgeons specializing in Hand Surgery in France), and asked them about the costs of this particular kind of surgery. They kindly sent me this chart.

As you can see above, to reattach two fingers in a French hospital, it would have cost him €1,836.70 (€1,321.59 for the surgery plus €515.11 for anesthesia). In dollars, the total is $2,528.70, plus the costs for a 5 to 7 day hospital stay, which ends up being about €16 ($22) per day. [Note: Private French hospitals are more expensive and cost roughly €1000 ($1,377) per day.]

So instead of $72,000 in the U.S. to fix his fingers in France he would have paid approximately $4,000. (I included a roundtrip airfare of $1,300 AND a hospital stay of 7 days) Even if he opted for a private clinic, while it would nearly triple that cost, it would still have been less than what he paid to have his one finger operated on.

I have to say that I did see the very excellent Sicko while I was in New York and it made me realize one thing: I’m very happy to be living in France, no matter how often I complain about it.

Let’s pay even MORE taxes in France, shall we?! As if what we pay isn’t enough.

In addition to the value added tax (VAT) of 19.6%, France has decided to add yet another tax to computer equipment. Specifically 15% of whatever-it’s-called tax (to fight the effects of piracy or so they say) is going to be added to any kind of storage equipment. So what it comes down to is that you will spend a whopping additional total of nearly 35% in taxes if you buy external hard drives, USB memory keys, memory cards or any kind of storage device. This probably means mp3 players and computers as well. (though, I’m not entirely sure about the latter.)

I personally think it’s cheaper to fly from France to the U.S. and back to get computer equipment (particularly Apple products) than to buy in France. But! I’ve heard that people in France will buy online from Belgium and Germany for better prices… (Not to give you any ideas, France residents - I’m just saying..)

The good news is that this craptastic tax doesn’t come into effect until September so you have a little time to buy equipment until then. Quelle Chance!

Yes, lucky us.

^{[Sources: our computer guy and macgeneration]}

Since being back home in the land of fabulous fatty foods: France (from a too short trip to the U.S.), I’m wondering about a few things:

1. WHERE the *&%@ is summer?! It’s raining and it’s COLD! The thermometer says it’s 57 degrees (F) outside. I want to play outdoors in the sun! Where’s the sun? My potager (kitchen garden) is very, very depressed. It probably wont’ give me many veggies this year.

2. Why do the soldes (the biannual sales in France) seem fake to me now? Prices suck. They are going on right now, btw. After being able to frolick around the biggest outlet mall in the U.S. (Woodbury Outlets in New York) and buy things at REAL sales prices, the sales in France just seem ridiculous. I bought a bunch of pans at Williams Sonoma at the outlets which was a steal (I got a 40% discount). Love those pans! They were really heavy in my bags but totally worth lugging around.

3. Why doesn’t France have TV shows like:

Dirty Jobs - where a guy goes around and works the dirtiest jobs in the U.S. Gross but entertaining TV! That would be such a hit equivalent in France, don’t you think? Wouldn’t Benjamin Castaldi be a great host?? (He’s now the host of that crappy French show, “Secret Story”)

Cash Cab - This is the show where a taxi driver quizzes the passenger. For every correct answer, the passenger wins cash. He can double (or nothing) his winnings at his destination if he answers a final question with a correct response. Wouldn’t that be a funny French equivalent if they were in the SNCF (train) and the controller quizzes passengers? Maybe?

Every Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday at the Greenmarket at Union Square, regional farmers and other food producers gather to sell their products. You’ll find things like organic baked bread and other oven-fresh goods, fish, flours, honey, all kinds of produce including unsual finds like black radishes, Berry Hot Garlic Jelly and more. It is a very cool market. But what caught my eye was a huge sign (sorry I was a lazy photog and didn’t grab a shot).

Me: “Sweetie, that sign says ‘Grass-fed CHEESE.’

Him: “Pffff! Americans now think that little camemberts have legs.”

We figured that the cheese producers didn’t want to say “organic” cheese because “organic” can mean different things (and perhaps not be organic at all) and the organic cheese in the U.S. can be made with milk from cows that were fed corn, something most eat but by nature, aren’t supposed to eat. Cows are supposed to eat grass! As a result of a corn-based diet, cows get sick. That means that ALL industrially raised cows are, in fact, sick. It’s inevitable and thus, these poor cows are heavily pumped with antibiotics to “keep them afloat” along with growth hormones that makes them grow at unnatural speeds. It’s all very unnatural and unhealthy. All of that sick stuff and drugs pass down into their milk, which is then made into lovely cheese! So “organic” cheese might not be very healthful for you. (Let’s not even talk about the beef.)

That’s why these cheese makers have to clarify where their cheese comes from. Grass-fed cows stay healthy as they’re eating what ruminants (grazers) should be eating: grass. Their milk is antibiotic-free and generally hormone-free (but check first). Slight Sidebar: Horizon Milk is not as healthy as you might think. In fact, Horizon Organic is not organic.

Back to cheese. If you have a choice and are searching for more healthy alternatives, try to buy “grass-fed cheese” as weird as that may sound.

Green Market
Union Square, New York
Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Saturday

While in New York, I’ve decided to try to do some things that don’t involve my host country (France) but it seems impossible. The Guggenheim in New York seemed like a perfect day outing for us so off we went. It’s such a perfect couple of hours well spent as it’s a very small museum that is neither overwhelming nor mind numbingly dull (just the opposite). You start on the top floor and wind your way down to the bottom, and basically see everything there - An impeccable design (Frank Lloyd Wright) for a flawless museum visit. What did we see? Works by Chagall, Seurat, Rodin, Gauguin, Renoir, Pisarro, Signac, Luce, Cross and Picasso. Yup. All French painters except for Picasso (but Picasso was an expat in France.) See what I mean? The special art exhibit there (until August 6) featured Italian Divisionism, a period that spanned from the late 1880s to the early 1990s. “Divisionism” because it described the painting technique: division of color via individual brushstrokes. The Italians took cues from the French Neo Impressionists and Pointillists - so you see, even the Italian Divisionist paintings looked French…

Later, we ended up at a bakery. A French bakery. It wasn’t my idea, though! Tisserie is a wonderful place to gorge yourself grab some absolutely yummy pastries. (Their sandwiches and pizzas are pretty good, too.) We bought a serious load of pastries and macarons (all of the flavors) to bring back to the rest of the family. All of the pastries were heavenly especially the fruit tarts. The macarons are large and very sweet - Perhaps just a wee bit too sweet for me, but I really liked the pistachio macaron, which is one of my favorite flavors, and it had a perfect balance of sweetness, outside crunchiness and inside softness.

Alhough Tisserie is operated and owned by two brothers from Caracas, Venezuela, this place has France written all over it. One of the brothers earned four diplomas from the Ecole Supérieur de Cuisine Française in Paris, mastering the arts of breads and pastry making, haute cuisine and artistic sugar craft. Later he apprenticed at several well-known French bakeries.

Guggenheim Museum, New York
1071 Fifth Avenue at 89th Street
New York, NY 10127
212.423.3500
website: http://www.guggenheim.org/new_york_index.shtml
email: visitorinfo@guggenheim.org

Tisserie
857 Broadway
New York, NY 10003 at 17th St.
NW corner of Union Square
212.463.0850
website: http://www.tisserie.com
email: info@tisserie.com