Franco-American Conversations: That Lady is Totally American! 
We went out to lunch the other day to an excellent brasserie in Autun (Burgundy), which I’ll try to write about some time later this week, hopefully. The restaurant was pretty packed and for some reason, “the suits” were sitting on one side of the restaurant, everyone else scrunched over on the other side. Anyway, my adorable and funny sweetie suddenly bursts out, “That lady is TOTALLY American!!” (talking about a woman just exiting the restroom across the restaurant)
Me: “Why? How do you know?”
Him: “Because she has a kleenex over the doorknob because she doesn’t want to touch it directly……you know, like you.”
Me: “That doesn’t mean she’s American. That means she’s psychotically germophobic …like me. Hey, don’t generalize. Wait! They always do tests on doorknobs and they find POO on them! You don’t want to touch that in a restaurant, do you, then eat dinner?”
Him: “Ok, yeah, but you even wrote about American Germophobia, remember? Anyway, it’s an American thing. You can’t convince me otherwise.”
Me: “Oh yeah. I did write about that. Nevermind that, though.”
Me: “Omg. I just heard them talking and yes, that lady IS American.”
Him: “SEEE!?”
Louis Vuitton is Suing a Darfur Fundraiser 
Not being a fan of the overrated Louis Vuitton line of luxury handbags and luggage (and in general), this is another reason for me to take my dislike up a notch.
Louis Vuitton is suing a design student (Nadia Plesner) working with a Darfur fundraiser because their recent campaign called, “Simple Living” shows a refugee with a little chihuahua and expensive LV-ish handbag. Sound or Look familiar? As most of us sadly know, this combination of images only leads to one person: Paris Hilton. The raison d’etre of this design illustrates that people like Hilton get all of the media attention (and why?!), while much more attention-worthy important causes are being ignored.
All of the proceeds of the t-shirts and posters of this campaign are going to charity.
Buy a t-shirt now and support Nadia and Save Darfur
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French Luxury Tableware Design Turns to Sex Toys for Inspiration
Leave it to outside-the-box thinking* French designer, Philippe Di Méo, to design tableware inspired by sex toys. The collection of erotic tableware called, Souper Fin (which is a play on words of “fine dining” and “super fine”), was designed in collaboration with renowned luxury companies Baccarat, Goyard, Cristofle and Orfèvrerie d’Anjou among others.
Souper Fin will be exhibited at L’Eclaireur (Paris) in July. Each item will be complemented with a specially created chef’s dish and recipe. (I guess so you know how to use some of the utensils!)
* Philippe Di Méo once designed perfumes based on sweat, tears and saliva.
Souper Fin
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China Hates France 
More Chinese haters of France. In this case, it’s a taxi driver that is refusing Frenchmen and dogs. What about French women? French children? Are they turning away French poodles? Bichon Frisés? The noyve.
I don’t think France cares too much if she’s hated but don’t you wonder why China is picking on France specifically – when there have been boycotts all along the world path of the Olympic torch? What about England? What about the U.S.? Japan? They tried to trample the Olympic torch, too.
And, and, and, what did dogs do to deserve that? Can’t we all just get along?
Apparemment non.
France Puts Spying on French Residents On Hold – For the Moment From yahoo:
“The French government will “suspend” the use of new software for recording the personal habits and affiliations of its citizens in a police database, following an outcry by civil rights groups.
Interior Minister Michèle Alliot-Marie took the decision Tuesday to suspend trials of the Ardoise software while officials consider how to reconcile privacy rights and operational needs, her spokesman confirmed Thursday.
Ardoise is the front end for a new police central database, Ariane, which is destined to replace those used by France’s two law enforcement groups, the Police and the Gendarmerie.
Still in a test phase, Ardoise and Ariane are intended to help combat crime by encouraging the services to share information, and by allowing them to data-mine the pooled data. The existing Police computer, STIC, and that of the Gendarmerie, Judex, hold information about criminals, suspects, witnesses and victims of crime.
Campaigners say that Ardoise infringes civil liberties by allowing law enforcers to tag a person’s file with annotations including “runaway child,” “handicapped,” “homeless,” “trade unionist,” “alcoholic,” “narcotics user,” “transvestite,” “transgendered,” “homosexual,” “prostitute,” “person who frequents prostitutes,” “psychologically disturbed” or “member of a sect,” simply by picking them from a list.
“Membership of trade union or one’s sexual preferences have no place in a police file in a democracy,” said online rights group Odebi, adding that it is not enough simply to suspend implementation of the database.
The database also holds information about religion, sexual orientation and race, according to the Interior Ministry.
It’s not the first time that a French government has faced protests over the creation of a central database linking government computer systems. The government’s plans to create the System for Administrative Files Automation and the Registration of Individuals (Safari) caused a scandal when they were uncovered in 1974, leading to the creation of the National Data Processing and Liberties Commission (CNIL). Safari also prompted a series of tough data protection laws obliging database owners to register their activities with the CNIL and giving citizens the right to correct data held about them.
The CNIL is among the organizations angered by Ardoise, because the government has not sought the necessary legal approval for combining the data held in the various police databases, its president Alex Türk wrote in an open letter to the Minister of the Interior on April 15. Such processing is supposed to be approved by the CNIL and by a statutory order of the Council of State.
The Ministry replied to that letter saying that the field for storing a person’s sexual orientation, religion or race in Ardoise is only supposed to be completed if it is relevant to an investigation, and that the CNIL has in any case already approved storage of the same kinds of information in the Police database STIC.
Tuesday’s suspension only concerns the test phase for Ardoise “for the simple reason that software can’t enter service until the CNIL has given its opinion and Council of State has examined the statutory order concerning the new system,” the Alliot-Marie’s spokesman Gerard Gachet wrote in an e-mail Thursday.
After the CNIL’s April 15 letter, Alliance Police Nationale, a trade union for police officers, called for the test version to be amended in accordance with CNIL’s recommendations so that its use could not lead to discrimination.
Another police union, Synergie-Officiers, said the software had been created too hastily, without consideration of operational needs or officers’ opinions.
But Synergie-Officiers supported storage of information about the race and religion of suspects and victims. In France some violent crimes attract tougher sentences if motivated by racial or religious hatred, and the union warned that if campaign groups want such hate crimes pursued more vigorously, then police need a way to identify the relevant information about attackers and victims during investigations.”
Tags: france, big+brother, privacy+threatened, software, civil+liberties
French Ads That Could Have Worked But Were Better Off That They Didn’t 
Do you get this ad? It might have worked if they added a short tagline (though that would have been a bit tricky)… Here’s a hint: Manix (King Size) sells extra large condoms…
Perfect for Urban Gardeners: Graine de pot 
With all of the GMO (genetically modified organisms) laws being passed here and there and everywhere so the public never knows what they’re eating, gardening is becoming the new black. Why be left to wonder if you’re eating pesticides and other toxins when you can grow your own food. More and more people are turning to their own organic gardening so they know exactly what they are consuming. But what about city dwellers? Those fortunate enough to have a large basement are turning them into hydroponic artificially lit organic gardens. Apartment people have to turn to other methods. This is where resourcefulness and ingenuity come in.
French product designer, François Clerc, has come up with something so purely awesome: Graine de pot, a biodegradable, expandable garden pot that is great for urban gardening. How does it work? Plant your seeds, expand as necessary, watch your veggies, say tomatoes or courgettes or peppers, grow, enjoy them all summer and later in the fall throw all of it including the pot out into the compost. Hopefully, your city collects organic rubbish or you can just give it to a friend with a garden for compost.
Now if you can get your hands on non-GMO seeds, you’re in business – but that’s another matter.
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The Revival of Musette in France, At Least in Sarlat 
There’s an old comic strip by Gary Larson in “The Far Side” with two pictures. One shows a person receiving a harp with the caption, “Welcome to Heaven. Here’s your harp.” The other has a guy receiving an accordion with the text bubble saying, “Welcome to Hell. Here’s your accordion.” That is EXACTLY how I’ve felt about the merits of the accordion. However, there is a little tiny exception to my loathing of the accordion – accordions playing musette, which is a genre of French music from the 20s, 30s and 40s (being most popular in the 40s) – though it is a type of music I can only take in small doses. VERY small doses. It does have its own charm. Here’s a sample from youtube.
Sure, you can listen to musette walking along the fake cobble stones in the Paris Hotel in Las Vegas, if you can stand it over the cacophony of slot machines (don’t forget to buy a croissant for $10) – but I GUESS it’s probably better to be sipping coffee and people watching at an outdoor cafe somewhere in France with musette in the background. Luckily Today, I hardly ever hear musette in France…until just about a week ago in Sarlat (Southwest France in Dordogne).
Surprisingly, the music seemed to all come together and make sense, and it was fun to listen to. Maybe it was the warm and welcoming atmosphere of a jazz club’s “cave” in a medieval village. Maybe it was the company of good friends and a happy public. Maybe it was because we were in France. I dunno. In any case, the evening was filled with “musetty-jazz” fusion. Not strictly musette, it was a small, mostly jazz combo with the centerpiece instrument being an accordion. Of course when we initially entered the club and I saw the accordion, my first thought was Welcome to Hell!!
I’m glad I was wrong.
Is musette making a comeback? Would it have worked outside a stone wall lined cavern in a medieval village in Dordgogne, France?
I wonder.
Related Posts: from Sarlat
Get some music at Amazon: Musette de France
(3 CD Set)
Le Grand Saut ou Le Grand Sot? 2 Years Later 
Michel Fournier is at it again. Remember two years ago? He dropped out of the stratosphere from an altitude of about 130,000 feet (40 kilometers, nearly 25 miles) above the plains of Saskatchewan, Canada. This year he hopes to do the same while breaking the sound barrier and breaking some more world records.
From AFP:
“64-year-old retired French army parachutist said Monday he hopes to smash through the sound barrier with a record-breaking 40,000-metre (130,000-foot) freefall jump over Canada next month.
Michel Fournier hopes to set four new world records at once: for highest freefall parachute speed, at 1,500 kilometres (2,400 miles) per hour, 1.3 times the speed of sound, along with fastest and highest jump and highest air balloon flight.
The Russian Evgeny Andreyev made the highest recorded parachute jump with a 24,483-metre plunge in 1960, while the American Joseph Kittinger claimed an unverified jump of 31,000 metres in 1960.
The veteran French parachutist will take off from May 25 from the Canadian province of Saskatchewan in a pressurised capsule, harnessed to a 161-metre helium-powered balloon, rising to almost four times the height of an airline flight.
Pressure will be let off gradually to allow him to exit and make his jump, wearing a specially-developed protective suit with two oxygen bottles, in conditions similar to an astronaut leaving his spacecraft.
Fournier told a press conference in Paris his jump would have “considerable repercussions for aeronautics and space, for medicine and high-technology.”
French astronaut Jean-Francois Clervoy, who is sponsoring the project, said it could help shed new light on the behaviour of the human body at the speed of sound, with potential applications for future rescue operations in space.
The French army piloted a similar project in the 1980s, aimed at developing an ejector capsule for European spacecraft, in which Fournier was due to take part before it was finally aborted.
With more than 8,600 jumps to his name, Fournier holds the French height record at 12,000 metres.
His project, which drew teams of specialists in high-altitude and underwater conditions, spacesuits and extreme condition health experts, cost 11.8 million euros (19 million dollars).”
Earth Day 2008 France 
Commemorating Earth Day today, which marks the anniversary of the birth of the environmental movement, I thought I’d post a photo in appreciation of nature. This is a photo of the Calanques in the south of France, not far from Cassis. I never did get around to writing about the Calanques – probably because I had so many photos to go through – but I’ll try to get to it…some time…this year 
Related: Earth Day – Take a deep breath and hear the sad story of mankind
Protest Against France from China 
I know these Chinese guys didn’t mean for this to be funny and for all intents and purposes it isn’t funny, but still…
They just don’t GET it.
Hey, and Napoleon’s a pervert!
Related: Olympic Torch
The Man of the Hour: Sébastien Tellier The Eurovision (the European annual talent show that has taken on a cult following)’s contestant from France is a guy named Sébastien Tellier. I like him; he’s fun and silly – though I’ve listened to the selected song and I have no idea what it’s about.
So, the big scandal in France is that he’s singing in English NOT in French. OMG!
So frickin’ what. The Belgian band, Ishtar, is singing in a non-existent language.
Anyway, that is sort of old news and I am a bit behind. However, when I watched the youtube video of “Divine,” the song he’s supposed to perform at Eurovision, I noticed something. Is it my imagination or is he not even in that video? Maybe, just MAYBE he’s in a couple of shots at most, but I don’t think that’s him lip syncing him – just other people wearing a wig and fake facial hair. Take a look at “him” at the pool. C’mon, that is totally not Sébastien Tellier. See, I told you he’s fun and silly!
Look.
This is what Sébastien Tellier looks like:
It made me wonder if Thomas Bangalter & Guy Man de Homem-Christo from Daft Punk actually perform in their own vids. It doesn’t really matter, I suppose.
But! Will the REAL Sébastien Tellier show up for Eurovision Belgrade (May 20) 2008? On verra.
New PSAs Will Make You Scream Too There are three new public service announcement videos just released by the Ministry of Employment that are pretty creepy, albeit effective. They’re aiming to encourage people to take care of health problems like Carpal Tunnel Syndrome and other repetitive strain injuries related to work before they become debilitating.
All three start with an agonizingly LONG and PAINFUL, moan. Then you see why. EW!
Here’s what the PSA’s say:
Au travail il y a des petites douleurs qui deviennent insupportables.
At work, there are little aches that become unbearable.
Troubles Musculo-squelettiques.
Muscular Skeletal Pain
Parlons en pour les faire reculer.
Let’s talk about it to make it better.
Watch the videos here
Read & Go: New E-Newspaper / Book Reader in France 
Jumping on the e-reading bandwagon like Kindle (except without a keyboard), Orange and partners Le Monde, Le Parisien, Les Echos, L’Equipe and Télérama are joining together to offer a wireless, touch screen mobile e-newspaper reader that resembles a flat, black Etch a Sketch (sans knobs). They are still testing the product.
The Read&Go has a storage capacity of 1 Gb – more than 200 newspapers – and also contains a e-library of thirty or so books (literature, comic strips, children’s and practical publications, etc.) provided by Feedbooks, Médiatoon (Dargaud, Dupuis, Lombard et Kana) and Mango editions.
I’m still waiting for an e-reader for my Nintendo DS. I’d use that!
More info here (pdf)
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Tags: france, orange, e-reader, kindle, newspapers, wifi, touchscreen
Digitizing The Mona Lisa 
Lumiere Technology digitized the Mona Lisa and describes the process.
Watch the video
Tags: paris, france, mona+lisa, louvre, art, videos, digitzing
Carrefour will offer downloadable movies From electronista:
“France-based Carrefour Group will launch a movie download service, the world’s second biggest retailer announced at the PEVE Digital Entertainment conference in Paris on Friday. The service will allow customers to buy movies or rent movies and rent TV programs. The Group already operates supermarkets, grocery stores and convenience stores that carry DVDs in Europe, and wants to expand its focus on entertainment, bringing it closer to customers.
Carrefour’s international non-food chief, Christophe Geoffroy, said the shopping experience would be simple and fast, with downloads taking about 3 minutes, suggesting a possible streaming experience. He went on to say video-on-demand market in Europe isn’t great, but is expected to grow. Some analysts predict Europe’s movie download market will be worth over about 690 Euros (over $1 billion) by 2011.
Carrefour isn’t the only or the first major retailer to seize the opportunity, as earlier this week, British retailer and grocer Tesco opened its own music and video site, with a larger focus on MP3 album and singles sales.
The group would continue to sell DVD videos at its current stores throughout France, Spain, Belgium and Italy, of which it has a 13.3% market share. Pricing for its downloads, nor a launch date, have yet been announced.”
Tags: france,, carrefour,, download+movies
Possible Price Cut on iPhones in France From macnn:
“Apple is in discussions with Orange about lowering the cost of the French iPhone, Les Echos reports. The newspaper cites an inside source, who claims that Apple is putting pressure on Orange to change to a subsidized pricing model, under which the public would have to pay less for the device. At present Orange is charging at least €399 ($635), making not only for an expensive product, but one of the most costly versions of the iPhone in Europe. Apple is said to be disappointed with sales of the iPhone in France, which recently crossed the 100,000 threshold, and in Europe in general. This is likely one of the reasons for price cuts elsewhere, which have seen the 8GB iPhone fall to £169 in the UK, and just €99 in Germany. Apple may also be hoping to clear out inventory in advance of a 3G iPhone release this summer. Orange is said to be willing to go along with Apple’s plan, but negotiating for a better revenue-sharing agreement in order to compensate for lower profits on each iPhone sold.”
Tags: france, apple, orange, iphone
The Best Foie Gras Ever is from…Spain From Michael Ruhlman:
“Eduardo Sousa, a farmer in the Extremadura region of Spain is, according to chef Dan Barber, raising geese that bear the best foie gras the chef’s tasted. The critical part of the story, though, is that Sousa does not force feed the geese. He apparently lets their inclination to gorge themselves, once required for migration, take care of the fattening and simply makes sure they have all they want—nuts, olives, etc., but no corn. This suggests of course that farmers who force feed their geese and ducks are simply controlling what the ducks would do naturally and that the folks who want to prohibit the production and sale of foie gras on the grounds of animal cruelty have one less leg to stand on.
I never thought they had any leg to stand on if they …”
Read the article
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Tags: spain, best, foie+gras, food
This is What Happens When Europeans Watch Too Much American TV Sadly, it happened. The last several years of SATC, CSI (aka in France Les Experts), and face it, all American shows – has shaken the reason out of Europeans. What am I talking about?
Take out coffee cups. You know, you see everyone with them. Everywhere. Those ridiculous disposable paper or worse, plastic cups with plastic lids. HATE those. Don’t we need to REDUCE our waste? Don’t we know that PLASTIC is evil and toxic? What is wrong with us? Are we stooooppid? Oui, je dirais.
We saw this poster on a cafe and felt sort of disgusted. I mean, these take away cups are for espresso so they are little disposable cups. Hello…maybe I shouldn’t be complaining since it’s not like a ventimongosize cup from Starbucks (which I HATE) but I can’t help it. An espresso in France, that’s like 3 TABLESPOONS of strong coffee right there in a teeny tiny cup with a handle through which you can’t even fit your fingers. It takes like 3.5 seconds to consume in a cafe. WHY do we need to have it to go?
Pick a Car, Any Car 
This parking lot sign has two messages. In French, you simply pay for parking at the machine before getting into your car. The English version is different. It starts out nicely and politely with the “Could you…” No question mark at the end though, but anyway. THEN! Lucky Anglophones, it gets even better for you. You see, if you speak English, when you come back to the parking lot, you get to PICK a car. Don’t want to get into your own car? TAKE another.
Sarkozy and the embarrassment quotient From iht:
“Nearly a year into his term, President Nicolas Sarkozy of France has hardly mentioned the arts or culture. In late February, he said that French cuisine should be added to the Unesco World Heritage list.
De Gaulle had André Malraux at his elbow. François Mitterrand renovated the Louvre. Just before he left office, Jacques Chirac inaugurated an immense museum for non-Western cultures, designed by Jean Nouvel, which in its confusing, heart-of-darkness, overwrought layout, epitomizes a certain kind of French arrogance. Naturally, millions of tourists now flock to it.
Every French president since the Liberation has cooked up some such pharaonic new museum or opera house or library or initiated some legacy-minded cultural program, until now.
Sarkozy’s taste is said to be for…”
Full article
Tags: france, sarkozy, embarrassing, french+politics
Awesome B&B in Carcassonne: Aux Anges Gardiens It just occurred to me that the bed and breakfast where we stayed in Carcassonne (southwest France) recently, was not only the first B&B we’ve stayed in in France, but it was also a real one, in the sense that you really are staying in someone’s house. In this case, you’re chez Patricia and Andre Ledu.
We loved it.
“Aux Anges Gardiens” means “With The Guardian Angels,” and you’ll feel like your guardian angels were watching over you when you selected this b&b as your home away from home while taking your holidays in Carcassonne.
Patricia and André fled a hectic lifestyle in Paris to embark on a completely new adventure with their B&B. They bought and embraced an 18th century “fixer upper,” took it under their wings and completely restored it. The result of their hard and thoughtful work is a warm, welcoming sanctuary where you’ll feel comfortable and cozy. The house and your hosts will quickly put you at ease and you’ll readily be able to settle in and feel at home. Aux Anges Gardiens is another one of those rare places where you’ll not want to leave.
The rooms are spacious and luxurious, and all have their own private bathroom, so you won’t have to share facilities with other guests in the house. You might be able to tell by the names of the rooms that this place is ideal for couples.
For example, we stayed in the room called, “la Chambre Nuptiale / The Honeymoon Suite” but you have other choices. Oui oui. How about “la Chambre Cocoon / The Love Nest” or the “la Chambre de Maitre / The Master Suite”? Does it sound like a perfect romantic getaway?
It is.
If you’re into more chill kinds of vacations, you will LOVE the patio and pool area at Aux Anges Gardiens. Grab some much needed French rays (remember your sunblock) out there, and laze to your heart’s content during your stay. You’ll be one happy B&B-er.
Since it is a real and true B&B, and we’ve talked about the first B (bed), you’ll be glad to know that the 2nd B, breakfast, is pure YUM. French coffee, fresh bread and baguettes from a nearby bakery, homemade jams, baked cakes made in-house, fruit, yogurt, fruit juices. The REAL breakfast of champions à la française.
Much like Après La Sieste in Provence, Aux anges gardiens is another ideal location that you’ll be able to use as a convenient base but in the region of Langedoc-Roussillon. The medieval city of Carcassonne is just minutes away. Drive or grab the bikes at Patricia and Andre’s to get there or to the neighboring lake. Nearby cities include: Toulouse, Perpignan, Narbonne, Montpellier, and if you have a couple of hours, you’re not very far from Barcelona. Just cross the border and you’ll be speaking Catalan in no time. On a semi-sidenote, from Carcassonne you’ll find really cheap flights to Ireland on Ryanair. I mean, really, really cheap (based on an advanced purchase): about 20 euros roundtrip. REALLY.
Back to the guardian angels. If you’re in the area for business or travel, consider staying at this absolutely fabulous B&B. You will not regret it.
Aux Anges Gardiens, Bed and Breakfast in Carcassonne
Open all year, highspeed internet, 3 rooms, breakfast included
Contact: Patricia et André Ledu (English, French spoken)
2 rue du Barry – hameau de Villalbe – Carcassonne – France
Tél. +33 (0)4 68 47 14 03 – cell .+33 (0)6 64 90 70 13
Email : floledu@aliceadsl.fr
Website: Aux Anges Gardiens, B&B in Carcassonne (more photos, rates and availability)
Tags: france, carcassonne, b&b, bed+and+breakfast, travel, ryanair
Quentin Tarantino will Give a Cinema Masterclass at Next Month’s Festival de Cannes From the festival of cannes website:
“Quentin Tarantino, who once declared having “devoted his life to cinema, his favourite obsession”, is to give the Cinema Masterclass at the coming Festival de Cannes, which takes place from May 14th to 25th 2008.
Following in the footsteps of Martin Scorsese in 2007, and also Stephen Frears, Nanni Moretti, Wong Kar Wai and Sydney Pollack, he will speak to an audience at the Festival about his professional experiences as a filmmaker and screenplay writer, with all the spark and enthusiasm for film we know and love him for.
First selected for the Festival, Out of Competition, with Reservoir Dogs in 1992, Quentin Tarantino won the Palme d’Or from the Jury presided by Clint Eastwood in 1994.
Quentin Tarantino was Jury President at the Festival in 2004, when Kill Bill 2 was presented Out of Competition.
He was back in Competition last year with Death Proof (Boulevard de la Mort-Un film Grindhouse).”
