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This fun and kooky scopitone is from the 60s and is called, “Comic Strip” featuring Serge Gainsbourg and Brigitte Bardot. From what I can tell, Serge is beckoning Brigitte to come into his comic strip for some serious SHEBAM! POW! BLOP! and WHIZZZZ!
Click on the image to see the video at YouTube.
Isn’t this Hermès apple purse (and knife) adorable? Yes. It IS small and restricted in its use (ONE apple or keys or condoms or credit cards or change or an iPod Nano…some other stuff) but if it were bigger it wouldn’t be as CUTE.
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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.
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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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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
Lumiere Technology digitized the Mona Lisa and describes the process.
On a lighter note, here’s today’s France photo. It’s a sculpture we saw at the entrance of a tunnel I think somewhere in the vicinity of Montpellier. It’s not particularly attractive but it does get your attention, if anything.
We hit the road last Sunday from Burgundy en route to Carcassonne in the south of France. We took a little detour to check out the Le Viaduc de Millau / Millau Viaduct, which was open to the public in 2005. I thought I’d share some photos.
To cross the viaduct you must pay a toll, which is higher during the summer! The summer rate is: 7.40 euros ($11.62) - and the non-summer rate is 5.60 euros ($8.79).
The actual bridge crossing is supported by the cables attached to the top of each tower, which is why, I supposed, they call it a “Cable-Stayed Bridge.” Probably the most common view of the viaduct is from this viewpoint (above).
The bridge connects the autoroute from Paris to Beziers at the point where it is bisected by the Tarn River, which runs through a wide gorge between two plateaus.
The Millau Viaduct took 4 years to build. It stands 280 meters (919 ft) tall (which is higher than the Eiffel Tower and is considered the highest bridge in the world) - and is 2.5 kilometers long (1.55 miles). It cost €394 million ($619 million) to construct.
Do most Americans even know who Tex Avery was? I’m not sure but the French sure know American cartoons and the people behind the cute characters from way back when. This year La Poste commemorates Tex Avery, a prolific American animator, cartoonist and director whose bold style broke away from the realism established by Walt Disney. Tex Avery would have been 100 years old today.
The French Post Office paid hommage to this great animator, and came up with the cutest postage stamps featuring Droopy, the mild mannered, monotone basset hound. Avery created Droopy in 1943 at MGM, which was originally called, “Dumb-Hounded.”
Everyone (I’ve asked) in France knows Droopy, and loves him. They’ll inevitably say, Droopy’s famous line in the most dreary, lifeless tone possible, “Vous savez quoi? Je suis heureux.” (You know what? I’m happy.)
Related: Stamps in France
From core77:
“Paris-based Architects Serero have won an open competition to redesign any of the Eiffel Tower’s public reception and access areas. Serero’s proposal is a temporary addition to celebrate the Eiffel Towers 120th Anniversary by extending the top floor without any modification to the existing structure. It will expand the usable floor area from 280m2 to 580m2.
The Eiffel tower in Paris suffers from its success. Since its creation the amount of visitors coming to reach its top has increased to reach its limit capacity. 6.5 millions People wait between 35 minutes to 1H10 to reach the elevators. The floor area of each level decreases with the height because of the tower geometry resulting in very long waiting lines and crowd management problems.”
Just released! These Moleskine Van Gogh Special Edition Sketch Books
Just like the Moleskine notebooks that famous artists uses, each book is covered in colored silk and features 40 sheets of heavy duty off-white drawing paper. The trademark Moleskine pocket is in the back cover and there is a sturdy elastic band that holds the book closed when not in use.
Get one now:
Moleskine Van Gogh Special Edition Sketch Books
About Moleskine and related links:
Moleskine Notebooks are French Again
Sketched Paris Guide Book
2008 Limited Edition Moleskines are Out!
Sketched Paris Guidebook Part Deux
If you stroll through the Palais-Royal in Paris you’ll come across the shiny metallic fountain sculptures of Pol Bury, which are a welcoming sight and a nice example of old and new blending well with each other. However, you then stumble upon something else that only a crazed artist obsessed with black and white stripes could only dream of. Oui, I’m talking about the 260 striped marble pillars, which are part of a permanent sculpture installation at the Palais-Royal’s open courtyard where there previously was a parking lot. They sort of slap you in the face and leave welts of black and white on you. Forever.
You can thank contemporary artist, Daniel Buren, aka The Stripe Guy, for that striping striking monochrome art. You can also send a merci to Francois Mitterand, (may he rest …where ever he’s resting) - for having commissioned The Stripe Guy’s columns in 1985. Named Les Deux Plateaux (the two levels), it has a underground level covered by metal grilles. On this level water is supposed to flow and at night the columns/pillars are meant to be illuminated by floodlights. The upper columns are on the street level in the south courtyard.
Today, the lights don’t work and there is no water flowing happily beneath. In fact the water stopped about seven years ago. Instead of water, there’s trash. The Stripe Guy is not happy about this! He’s accused the French government of vandalizing his work with neglect and the pillars are dingy which makes the contrast of black and white less striping striking. Daniel Buren would like Les Deux Plateaux dismantled, as it’s really only half an art piece, with the working half in a state of disrepair. Dismantling it would cost about the same as restoring it (about € 3 million) but if restored, it would need regular maintenance. Is it worth it?
Ok, ok. So I’m not a huge fan. But, I do like how it looks from Google Earth.
Related: books: Daniel Buren by Daniel Buren
From Fondation Cartier:
“The Fondation Cartier is hosting a major solo exhibition of the visual work of American artist and performer Patti Smith. Drawn from pieces created between 1967 and 2007, it strives to provide an insight into her lyrical, spiritual and poetic universe. Her expressive voice serves to magnify the installations created specifically for the exhibition: a synthesis of photographs, drawings and films.”
Land 250, named after Patti Smith’s Polaroid camera, will also showcase found objects (i.e., a stone taken from the river in which Virginia Woolf committed suicide), polaroids of items belonging to her former lover, Robert Mapplethorpe, Jimi Hendrix’s guitar and items owned by Arthur Rimbaud.
Smith has also produced a short film that explains her work in the gallery.
Lastly, she plans to perform at the museum, both alone and with guest artists, and she also will be giving informal poetry readings. She will be an active curator of the museum’s bookshop, which will be selling a newly published collector’s edition of her artwork.
Land 250, Patti Smith at the Fondation Cartier
261, Boulevard Raspail
75014 Paris, France
tel (+33) 1 42 18 56 50
March 28 to June 22, 2008
For more information visit the museum’s website: Fondation Cartier
Related: David Lynch’s work at Fondation Cartier,Ron Mueck in Paris
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From Networked_Performance:
The 4th edition of the Pocket Films Festival, organized by the Forum des images, will take place at the Pompidou Center, Paris, France, from June 13-15, 2008. The 2008 registration forms for the Pocket Films Festival are online.
International Call for Projects: We are looking for all types of audiovisual participatory projects using mobile technologies. Categories: CINEMA SCREEN and MOBILE SCREEN - Main Jury Prize for each section: 1,500 euros. Cinema Screen is open to all films shot with mobile phones and / or digital cameras. Pocket Films also launches this year a section open to all video contents developed for portable screens, Mobile Screen.
The Pocket Films Festival, festival of mobile video creation, organized since 2005 by the Forum des images, a major cinema center and film archive created by the City of Paris and dedicated to explore the relations between cinema, cities and society, with a strong emphasis on educational perspectives.
Since 2005, Pocket Films has gained international recognition for its exploration of the artistic possibilities of the mobile telephone as pocket camera, as well as the place this tool occupies in our everyday lives from social and aesthetic perspectives.
aka The Nike of Samothrace
About The Winged Victory of Samothrace
Modern excavations suggest that the Victory occupied a niche in an open-air amphitheater and also suggest it served as an altar, within view of the ship monument of Demetrius I Poliorcetes (337-283 BC). It stood on a rostral pedestal of gray marble from Lartos representing the prow of a ship, and represents the goddess as she descends from the skies to the triumphant fleet. Rendered in white Parian marble, the figure originally formed part of the Sanctuary of the Great Gods. Before losing her arms, which have never been recovered, Nike’s right arm was raised, either to bring a trumpet to her lips as she is depicted on contemporary coins or to crown the naval victor. The work is notable for its naturalistic pose and for the rendering of the figure’s draped garments, depicted as if rippling in a strong sea breeze, which is considered especially compelling.
The statue’s outstretched right wing is a symmetric plaster version of the original left one. Various other fragments have since been found: in 1950 one of the statue’s hands was found on Samothrace and is now in a glass case in the Louvre next to the podium on which the statue stands. As with the arms, the figure’s head has never been found. The statue now stands over a supplementary platform over the prow that allows a better contemplation but was not present in the original. The different degree of finishing of the sides has led scholars to think that it was intended to be seen from three-quarters on the left.
A partial inscription on the base of the statue includes the word “Rhodhios” (Rhodes), indicating that the statue was commissioned to celebrate a naval victory by Rhodes, at that time the most powerful maritime state in the Aegean.
We finally got around to seeing Ratatouille, which I think was one of Pixar’s best works on a variety of levels. But all-in-all, it’s essentially a very cute, heart-warm-and-fuzzy story with amazing production value.
Now I (sort of) realize why the popularity of pet rats has exploded in France. Elsewhere too, I imagine. Eiuw, though.
Anyway, since it’s gift giving time, here’s another suggestion for a nice alternative to getting the DVD of Ratatouille.
How about getting instead: The Art of Ratatouille
The Art of Ratatouille
Note: There’s also a Limited Edition of The Art of Ratatouille
These unique walking tour books will make great holiday gifts for the people passionate about Paris, its architecture, and history and who are interested in exploring places where famous writers, painters, kings and queens hung out in the City of Light.
 Walks Through Napoleon & Josephine’s Paris allows you to see the Paris of today and yesterday, simultaneously. Not only can you visit some of the same shops and restaurants that the Emperor and Empress used to frequent, but you will also find yourself being sidetracked (time and time again) by other historical sites and famous places of today that you will inevitably pass along the way. |
 Walks Through Marie Antoinette’s Paris has photos that you may not have seen anywhere else, the information about Marie Antoinette is a history enthusiast’s treat. The size of the book, which adds to it’s charm, is suitable to take with you as it guides you along in the footsteps of Marie Antoinette. |
 The Impressionists’ Paris: Walking Tours of the Artists’ Studios, Homes, and the Sites They Painted allows travelers to venture beyond the museum walls and trace the footsteps of these great artists, including Claude Monet, Edgar Degas, and Edouard Manet, just to name a few. Three city walking tours–surprisingly manageable considering the city’s size–cover not only the sites depicted in many of their paintings, but also the studios in which they worked, the buildings where they lived, and–this being Paris–the cafes in which they gathered. |
 The Historic Restaurants of Paris: A Guide to Century-Old Cafes, Bistros, and Gourmet Food Shops First sentence of the book: Marcel Proust, who was transported back to childhood with the taste of a tea cake known as a madeleine, was among the early regular customers at this chic salon de the that faces the Tuileries Gardens… |
 Walks In Hemingway’s Paris: A Guide To Paris For The Literary Traveler 7 walks take the reader to every Hemingway (and Fitzgerald) site in Paris. The walks include wonderful quotations from many of Hemingway’s novels, short stories, and his memoir of Paris. |
 Picasso’s Paris: Walking Tours of the Artist’s Life in the City Pablo Picasso’s presence still can be felt in Paris. Four walking tours follow the painter from the gaslit garrets of fin-de-siècle Montmartre to the Left Bank quarter where he sat out the Nazi Occupation. Both art book and travel guide, this pocketable volume identifies the sites where Picasso created some of his best-known masterpieces and describes his celebrated circle of friends, among them Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, Jean Cocteau, and Coco Chanel. |
 Literary Cafes of ParisAway from the tourist throngs, the reader can people watch and sip for literally hours reflecting upon Hemingway at the Brasserie Lipp, Picasso at the Cafe de Flore, Shirer at the Brasserie Balzar and so much more. |
 Walks Through Lost Paris: A Journey Into the Heart of Historic Paris chronicles Paris’s great periods of urban reconstruction through four walking tours. With a special focus on the work of Georges-Eugene Haussmann, this book provides a history of each site along with the motives behind the urban redesign and the reactions of Parisians who witnessed it. Detailed maps take you through a city whose changes were captured by photographers and artists in each stage. Hundreds of color photos, diagrams, and engravings splendidly survey the massive transformation that resulted in the Paris of today. |
 Quiet Corners of Paris 81 often overlooked, always beautiful, locales: hidden villas, winding lanes, little-known 19th-century passages, serene gardens, and cobblestone courtyards. Some of the places have breathtaking views, others are filled with historic and architectural details, from stone archways, garden follies, boxwood mazes, ornamental statuary, stained glass, and Renaissance fountains. |
It’s already December, which means you have a couple of weeks to get in all of your holiday shopping. I don’t mean to nag, but you should do that now, unless you like doing that last minute crazy psycho shopper madness. Since this is a site about France, I’ll be suggesting France/French related items. Here’s Part I. I got this idea from my very good friend’s 5 year old daughter, who fell madly in love with Paris and France after reading the classic children’s book, Madeline
 This is Paris
This is Paris takes kids on a really fun tour of famous buildings, beautiful gardens, cafés, and the Parisians-artists, and even thousands of cats. Young readers will travel along the banks of the Seine, through the galleries of the Louvre, and to the top of the Eiffel Tower. |
 The Little Prince Fun and Adventure
Inspired by the famous tale by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, kids will discover a whole galaxy of board games, mazes, connect-the-dot puzzles, finger puppets, masks, coloring pages, and more activities - all the while learning about everyone’s favorite little prince. |
 Postmark Paris: A Story in Stamps
Ten-year-old Leslie tells her story of living in Paris for a year, illustrating this appealing odyssey with postage stamps. |
 Monsieur Saguette and His Baguette
Monsieur Saguette, on the way home, transforms his ordinary baguette into something extraordinary. (No matter how tempting it is to find an innuendo here, just remember this is really a kids story…) |
 The Magical Garden of Claude Monet
A great way to introduce kids to famous artists, this is a story about a little girl who thinks that Monet is the gardener and is immersed in his gardens at Giverny. |
 The Truffle Hunter
The story of an inept pig who is abandoned in the forest where she finds true love in the form of Raoul, a wild boar. Raoul teaches her the lost art of truffling, whereupon she returns to her home with a fine chef. But she has also learned the value of freedom.With charming style the book tells of problems that reveal hidden opportunities. |
 The Cat Who Walked Across France
A cute cat in France travels through lavendar fields, palatial castles, canals, Paris and beyond. |
 Anatole
A bicycle riding Parisian mouse named Anatole makes his living by tasting the cheese in a cheese factory and leaving notes about its quality. This story makes me wonder if it was the inspiration for Ratatouille. |
 Katie and the Mona Lisa
Katie convinces a sad Mona Lisa to leave her portrait in order to regain her famous smile. Katie leads her to several other famous Italian Renaissance works. |
 Let’s Learn French Coloring Book
This introduces kids ages 3 to 6 to every day French vocabulary using the same simple techniques that help children build vocabulary in their native language. |
 French for Children
Cute, catchy songs and the humorous, serial adventures of SuperCat captivate the imagination and foster language acquisition. The set in the series contains an 80-page full-color activity book coordinated with two 60-minute CDs as well as a Parent/Instructor CD packed with helpful tips. |
Click here for more kids books about France
From AFP:
An eye-popping array of rutting satyrs, tumescent aristocrats and lusty 18th-century shepherdesses went on display in Paris on Tuesday, as France’s National Library lifted the veil on its collection of long-censored erotica.For the first time since it was catalogued in the 1830s, the library’s special pornographic section — officially entitled ‘Enfer‘ (Hell) — has been revealed in all its priapic glory. Such is the graphic nature of the material that under-16 year-olds are barred.
Some 350 books, engravings, photographs and curiosities — the oldest a 14th-century manuscript illustration of a nun picking the fruit of a phallus-tree — bear witness to man’s insatiable instinct for the lurid intimacies of the flesh
Closed to the public before
Overall more than 2000 works — including books by the Marquis de Sade, Jean Genet and Guillaume Apollinaire — were marked with the library inscription ‘Enfer’ until the department’s closure at the end of the 1960s. It meant they were off-limits to the reading public.
“Today the ‘Enfer’ section is still the focus of all sorts of false rumours and fantasies, even though it no longer exists. This exhibition is to set the record straight,” said curator Raymond-Josue Seckel.
The first golden age of French erotica was the 17th century — when titanically-endowed figures from the Greek pantheon were shown doing things to each other that certainly did not figure in the conventional myths and legends.
A hundred years later the novel was born and a secret book called ‘Therese Philosophe’ (Therese the Philosopher) lay discreetly on many a nobleman’s bookshelf. Harbinger of the enduring ‘Confessions’ genre, it told of a girl’s sexual awakening through the perusal of pornography.
Cruelty, crime and obscene delights
Contemporary police documents show the troubles encountered by another novel, ‘The History of Dom Bugger’, whose publisher was sent to the Bastille. As indeed was the Marquis de Sade, whose ‘Justine’ published in 1791 brought sex into new contact with…
Note: The exposition continues at the Bibliothèque nationale de France until March 2, 2008. Quai François-Mauriac 75706 Paris (13th), Tél : 33(0)1 53 79 59 59 - Under 16-year olds are not permitted; 7 euros entrance fee; Hours: Tuesday - Saturday 10am to 7pm; Sundays 1pm- 7pm.
Sometimes it’s just cool to be different. In this case, French sculptor Etienne Meneau has designed a wine decanter that eerily mimicks blood-filled veins (or stick figures!) when filled with a fruity Merlot or cranberry juice, for that matter. Both Decanter N°2 and N°4 (with more veins) are made of borosilicate glass, which is better known as Pyrex.
They’re limited editions, priced at €2000 each.
[via apartment therapy]
Every year about this time Pierre Hermé comes out with his very own limited edition designer Bûche de Noël, the infamous, notorious, luscious yuletide pièce de résistance Christmas log cake. Last year he’d teamed up with Swarovski and created a to-die for creamy white log with a crystal star as the finishing touch. They made only 180 cakes each costing 78 euros.
This year, he’s come up with something completely different: a Christmas log made with lady fingers with roasted almonds and marscapone topped with shavings of black truffles from the Périgord. OK. That could be interesting. Anyway, it goes for 245 euros /$361 (serves 8).
Coming to France and need to know the best places to party? Here’s a website to find the perfect place for you no matter which part of France you are in. Cafesfrance.com
From IHT:
Every souvenir shop in Paris sells miniature Eiffel Towers, but one lucky bidder will soon be able to buy a piece of the real thing.
A section of the winding iron staircase that Gustave Eiffel climbed to inaugurate the monument in 1889 will be sold at the Hotel Drouot auction house on Monday.
In 1983, the 1,911-step staircase was removed to make room for new elevators and was cut into 24 pieces that were auctioned off to museums and collectors around the world.
The 4.5-meter (14.7-foot) piece for sale once helped…
