I couldn’t resist posting this hilarious video. (Click on the image to watch the video.)

From gawker:

Carla Bruni Asks for a Finger Up Her Butt, in Seven Different Languages

France’s first lady is tres embarrassed that an old, raunchy episode of a talk show called Eurotrash has surfaced online. Now the French government is scrambling to get it yanked from YouTube. Here’s what they don’t want you to see.

Apparently the French government fought to remove a longer version of this video—in which Carla showcases a pair of “hot international sex guides” that teach international tramps how to say phrases like “Do you like my titties?” and “Put your finger in my bottom” in seven European languages—from YouTube. Eurotrash hosts Antoine de Caunes and designer Jean-Paul Gaultier (in the hot pink sailor suit, obviously) ooh and aah at the multilingual promiscuity of “Italy’s most elegant export.”

The yanked version apparently showed Carla discussing celebrity affairs with Mick Jagger and Eric Clapton. The Daily Mail reports Carla is “shocked and dismayed” at the video’s “sudden reappearance.”

Here’s Marion Cotillard introducing a new, revolutionary product to help women in the work place. Click on the image to watch the video.

If you happen to be wondering who are the famous French Twitterers or Tweeters or Twits…you get what I mean – just take a look at this subjective metro-ish map by Henri Michel. Click on the map to enlarge it.

In Yann Arthus-Bertrand’s most recent TED Talk, he discusses his three most recent projects on humanity and our habitat. You’ll be glued to the aerial photographs in his series “Earth from Above,” personal interviews from around the globe featured in his web project “6 billion Others,” and his soon-to-be-released free movie, “Home (produced by Luc Besson),” which documents human impact on the environment through breathtaking video. Home’s global premiere is tomorrow, June 5, which is World Environment Day.

From variety:

The master of romanticism and rugged grandeur, Charles Aznavour has returned to the Gotham stage for an all-too-brief four-night stand with his unique catalog of French chanson. At the ripe age of 85, the singer-songwriter has lost none of his quicksilver energy, impish humor or trademark sense of musical storytelling. In a nearly two-hour show, he turned the pages of a familiar songbook that brought frequent cheers from a capacity audience clearly packed with adoring fans.

With the added glitter of a sparkling ballroom orb, Aznavour sang “The Old Fashioned Way (Les Plaisirs Demodes)” and danced across the stage with an imaginary woman in his arms. But perhaps the most tender memory was the plaintive scrapbook, “Yesterday When I Was Young.”

Aznavour is a master of gesture, nuance and timing. He accents his songs with a subtle reflection of young love and heartbreak. “La Boheme” is a bittersweet reflection of the passing of spring and lost life, while “It Will Be My Day” is a rhythmic celebration of showbiz savvy, youth and expectation. His performance of “Ave Maria” remains an intensely vivid hymn. “She,” the only song performed in English, is his biggest Stateside hit, featured here as an encore that allowed the singer to toast all women.

For the poignant duet “Je Voyage,” Aznavour was joined by his daughter, Katia; the narrative follows a young girl journeying into her future as her older companion travels through memories.

His daughter is one of two backup singers accompanying Aznavour, along with a nine-piece band with four violins and an accordion that projects a much bigger sound than one would expect. A smartly structured lighting design frames the crooner distinctively.

The New York leg is billed as an extension of Aznavour’s North American farewell tour that began in 2006. The performer is undoubtedly one of the last of a breed of living legends, a cunning crooner who has lost none of his seductive charm.

Charles Aznavour
City Center Main Stage
Apr 29 – May 3, 2009
Tickets: $55, $75, $95, $125, $150, $175, $190

It’s been reported that Pierre Bergé, the long-time companion and business partner to the late Yves Saint-Laurent, began putting up articles for auction, artwork and artifacts owned by the late designer. Proceeds are to be designated to the AIDS foundation he founded. The auction began despite China’s demands to halt it. China claims that two valuable Qing Dynasty bronzes, a rat and a rabbit, worth about $12 million each, belong to China. Chinese officials claim the items were stolen from Beijing’s Imperial Summer Palace by British and French forces in 1860.

Bergé, as the legal owner of these bronzes, will not relinquish the bronzes to China UNLESS China meets certain demands of his own.

Here’s what Mr. Berge has declared, “Moi, je suis prêt à offrir ces têtes en bronze au gouvernement chinois, tout de suite…Il leur suffit de déclarer qu’ils vont appliquer les droits de l’homme, rendre la liberté aux Tibétains et accepter le dalaï-lama sur leur territoire.”

Translation: “I am ready to offer the bronze heads to the Chinese government immediately… They simpy have to declare that they will enforce human rights, give freedom back to Tibetans and allow His Holiness The Dalai Lama entry into Chinese territory.”

If not, Pierre Bergé invites China to say, “ au revoir rat and rabbit heads!”

Pierre Bergé is awesome, tout simplement.

[sources: France Inter, France 2, lexpress]

Hey Carla fans, you might be happy to know that Pardon, a company (brand) from La Réunion, began giving away these bags with a purchase from their stores. The bags sport a nude Carla Bruni on them. The slogan, “Mon mec aurait dû m’acheter du Pardon” (My man should’ve bought me forgiveness or a pardon.)

Want one? Find Pardon in these cities: Marseille, Toulouse, Dunkerque et Besançon.

tags: france, french, carla bruni, pardon

Previous dialogues: 2 Air France Pilots, Barack Obama et Nicolas Sarkozy, Sarah Palin et Nicolas Sarkozy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair, Francois Hollande and Maxime Bono, The Dalai Lama and Carla Bruni, Michael Phelps and Alain Bernard, Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

tags: france, french, dalai lama, china, sarkozy

In the past, I suppose I haven’t been too kind when mentioning the designs coming from Philippe Starck. My opinion is a matter of subjective taste, which happens to be in the minority and generally, I hate am disgusted dislike immensely his designs. I can’t help it. Let’s say that I WANT to like it, but it just doesn’t happen for me. I mean, c’mon look at what he created for babies here.

I have more examples. A couple of days ago, he was making headlines that corresponded with the opening of a new boutique hotel launched by the founders of Club Med because he designed it. The hotel, called Mama Shelter, is located just outside of Paris. It looks fun and it seems to be a budget hotel that is warm open. I do think they achieved their goal.

Now, the design. It’s not horrible. Alright. I am not too thrilled with the sconces that Mr. Starck designed. They are essentially plastic Halloween masks he bought from Walmart or somewhere, then decided to reassign their function and hang them on the wall. When I saw these, I wanted to laugh and cry and the same time.

That said, Philippe Starck once admitted that he tries to make his life worthy of existing as a designer… and although his designs don’t impress me in the slightest, he was nevertheless impressive, if not entertaining during his 18-minute talk at TED. In some way he and his speech redeemed himself to me in many ways as he explained in a fun and charming way, why he designs, and in the end, it doesn’t really matter if it’s ugly or ridiculous or silly.

[via apartmentherapy]

tags: france, french, paris, mama shelter, philippe starck, mask sconces philippe starck, ted talks

Previous dialogues: Dialogue entre Sarah Palin et Nicolas Sarkozy, Dominique Strauss-Kahn and Anne Sinclair, Francois Hollande and Maxime Bono, The Dalai Lama and Carla Bruni, Michael Phelps and Alain Bernard, Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

tags: france, french, barack obama, nicolas sarkozy

From ty.rannosaur.us:

Henry IV
“One of the most popular French kings, Henry tried to provide his citizens with a “chicken in the pot every Sunday.” Even though he believed in changing his shirt every morning, a rarity in 16th century France, he also loved hunting and refused to bathe or mask his odor with cologne afterwards. His mistress often told him he smelled like carrion. His second wife fainted from his stench the first time she met him and doused herself with perfume just to have sex with him on their wedding night.”

Louis XIV
“During the 72 year reign of Louis, France established an absolute monarchy, Versailles was built, and The Sun King waged war with everyone. Possibly hydrophobic, he refused to bathe unless his doctors forced him to and took two, possibly three, baths his entire life. He preferred to be dusted with scented powder and washed his face with a rag soaked in alcohol. Louis refused surgery on a gangrenous foot, leading to his death, and would lose chunks of it around Versailles.”

From 15 Famously Filthy People From the Pages of History

[via]

tags: france, french, dirty, henry iv, louis xiv

Though I’m not much of a fan of her music, I loved Vanessa Paradis in the excellent movie with Daniel Auteuil called, Girl on the Bridge, and I really like this recent photo of her by Mert Alas and Marcus Piggott (photoshopped and all), which is featured on the November 2008 French Vogue Magazine Cover.

tags: france, french, vanessa paradis, vogue france

Val de Reuil, located just south of Rouen has expressed their Obama love with this hard-to-miss billboard. I thought that was kind of cool.

tags: france, french, obama, val de reuil, yes we can, french billboards

Though she’s been around a while now, her career got a serious kickstart because Apple decided to use her song, “New Soul” for the advertising campaign of the MacBook Air. I didn’t know much about her before that.

I’d heard in an interview with the French-Israeli artist, Yael Naim, that she didn’t even realize Apple used her song for the spot. Aren’t they supposed to ask for permission first? Anyway.

Her second album, Yael Naim, which includes the MacBook Air song and other songs in English, French and Hebrew, is really wonderful and worth a listen. I particularly liked her cover of Britney Spears’ “Toxic” and a song called, “Lonely,” which is beautiful if not impetus to start up drinking.

Listening to my fave radio station, kcrw, I’d heard she and the awesome David Donatien were touring in the U.S. this month and in November they’ll be back in France, so I thought I’d post her concert information:

October 2008
10/14 Seattle (WA) | Triple Door
10/15 Portland (OR) | Aladdin Th.
10/17 Los Angeles (CA) | Troubadour
10/19 Aspen (CO) | Belly Up
10/20 Boulder (CO) | Boulder Th.
10/22 Minneapolis (MN) | Cedar Cultural Center
10/23 Chicago (IL) | House of Blues
10/25 Madison (WI) | Wisconsin Union Th.
10/27 New York (NY) | Webster Hall
10/29 Washington DC | 6th & I Historic Synagogue

November 2008
11/06 Voiron | Le Grand Angle
11/07 Clermont Ferrand | Coopérative de Mai
11/08 Le Mans | Festival Be Bop
11/09 Boulogne sur Mer | Tendance Festival
11/06 Voiron | Le Grand Angle
11/07 Clermont Ferrand | Coopérative de Mai
11/08 Le Mans | Festival Be Bop
11/09 Boulogne sur Mer | Tendance Festival
11/10 Nancy | l’Autre Canal
11/13 Paris | LES FOLIES BERGÈRES
11/14 Paris | LES FOLIES BERGÈRES
11/15 Paris | LES FOLIES BERGÈRES
11/19 Zurich | Kaufleuten
11/20 Fribourg | Fri-Son
11/21 Milan | Rolling Stone
11/24 Rome | Auditorium

Her official website: Yael Naim, her myspace, her facebook

tags: france, french, yael naim, david donatien, concert schedule

From brandrepublic:

“The original James Bond Sir Sean Connery has been photographed by Annie Leibovitz posing on a beach in the Bahamas for Louis Vuitton’s Core Values advertising campaign.

Connery, who recently turned 78, is pictured sitting on a rough wooden landing stage on a beach near his home in the Bahamas with a waterproof version of Louis Vuitton’s Keepall travel bag next to him.

The strapline for the ad, created by Ogilvy & Mather, reads: “There are journeys that turn into legends. Bahamas islands, 10:07″.

It is the sixth in a series of portraits shot by Annie Leibovitz for Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign, on the theme of travel as a personal journey.

Louis Vuitton is making a donation to the Climate Change Project, spearheaded by Nobel Peace Prize winner Al Gore, on behalf of Connery.

Other celebrities to have been photographed by Leibovitz in the campaign include: Andre Agassi and his wife Steffi Graf; Catherine Deneuve; Keith Richards; Sofia Coppola and her father Francis Ford Coppola; and Mikhail Gorbachev, last head of state of the USSR who contributed to the end of the Cold War with perestroika and glasnost.

Antoine Arnault, head of communications at Louis Vuitton, said: “We are extremely proud that an actor of such immense stature should have agreed to participate in Louis Vuitton’s Core Values campaign.”

Pietro Beccari, senior vice president of communication and marketing at Louis Vuitton, said: “Our aim was to broaden the idea of travel beyond its geographical dimension and the campaign has achieved this in a truly remarkable way.

“We are particularly proud of the acclaim it has received from within the advertising industry, witnessed by numerous awards.”

The ad will appear in major international titles from October 30.” [source]

tags: france, french, luxury luggage, sean connery, louis vuitton

I like this cover of Moldy Peaches’ “Anyone Else But You” being sung by Ms. Sarko herself, Carla Bruni and Nouvelle Star winner, Julien Doré. I’m particularly relieved to not have to listen to Julien Doré singing his last hit that had been playing everywhere, all the time. At least, seemingly.

tags: france, Carla Bruni, Julien Doré, moldy peaches, anyone else but you

Today is French singer, France Gall’s birthday, born on October 9, 1947. Happy Birthday, France! In celebration, here’s a fun video of her first single, which was also her first hit called, Ne sois pas si bête (Don’t be so stupid). It was recorded in 1963, when Ms. Gall was 16 years old. The old video is fun and cute.

Watch the video (youtube)

Links: France Gall on wikipedia

tags: france, gall, Ne sois pas si bête

it would look like Artus de Penguern!

While feeding my chronic insomnia a couple of weeks ago, I was happy to find this late night French movie that actually was not like the variety of French movies where someone (or everyone) kills themselves at the end by jumping out a window. Instead, it was a very silly one called, “Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité” (Gregoire Moulin Versus Humanity). Of course, lots of people die in this movie too, but it’s all in good fun. In a nutshell, Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité is black comedy that seems to take inspiration from Amélie, After Hours (by Martin Scorsese!) and a drop of Reservoir Dogs, mixes them all together in a nutty 90 minute film. (Gregoire Moulin contre l’humanité was released the same year as Amélie, just six months later.)

Watching the main character played by Artus de Penguern distracted me a little because he constantly reminded me of a pensive and anguished older brother of Robert Downey Jr. If de Penguern looks familiar, you might remember him from his role as Hipolito, the failed writer in Amélie.

Related: Another celebrity mating

tags: france, french, Artus de Penguern, Grégoire Moulin contre l’humanité, Gregoire Moulin Versus Humanity, Martin Scorsese, Robert Downey Jr., Amelie, Reservoir Dogs

Here’s some kooky celeb trivia in France from bittenandbound:

“Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are eligible to receive $2592.81 in parenting subsidies [for 6 kids] each month as residents of France.

Jolie gave birth to twins Knox and Vivienne on July 12. The couple have three adopted children – Maddox, six, Pax, four and three-year-old Zahara, and a biological daughter, Shiloh, who was born in Namibia two years ago.”

tags: france, Chateau Miraval, CAF, Brignoles, jolie pitt, child support

Previous dialogues: Michael Phelps and Alain Bernard, Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

tags: france, dalai lama, carla bruni, sarkozy no show, china’s slave

Previous dialogues: Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

tags: france, michael phelps, olympics 2008, alain bernard, world record

From AFP:

“The Dalai Lama kicks off Tuesday an 11-day visit to France that threatened to spark a crisis between Paris and Beijing, until President Nicolas Sarkozy quashed speculation he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader.

Planned more than two years ago, the Nobel peace laureate’s French visit turned suddenly political after a Chinese crackdown on unrest in Tibet in March that sparked international outrage in the run-up to the Beijing Olympics.

Sarkozy’s initial threat to boycott the Olympic opening ceremony, together with rowdy pro-Tibet protests during the passage of the Olympic flame through Paris, fuelled a months-long diplomatic spat with Beijing.

And a decision by the opposition-held Paris city hall to name the 73-year-old spiritual guide an honorary citizen further fanned tensions.

Though Sarkozy decided last month to attend Friday’s opening, noting progress in talks between China and the Dalai Lama, he failed to prevent a wave of protests targeting French commercial interests in China.

Speculation over a meeting with the Buddhist leader in France since then continued to pour oil on the fire, with the Chinese ambassador in Paris warning of “serious consequences” for bilateral relations.

The French leader’s office finally announced Wednesday that no meeting would take place, saying it was the Dalai Lama’s decision.

The Dalai Lama’s representative in France Wangpo Bashi told AFP that the “timing is not right”, saying a meeting during the Olympics risked setting back talks between Tibetan and Chinese parties.

Instead, Sarkozy’s wife Carla Bruni-Sarkozy — who under French law has no official function — will attend the inauguration by Dalai Lama of a temple in southern France on August 22.

On Wednesday, the Buddhist leader is scheduled to meet some 250 senators and deputies from the French parliamentary group on Tibet, before holding talks with leaders of the French Tibetan community.

The rest of his August 12-23 stay will be devoted to religious visits, in the Paris region and elsewhere, and a six-day teaching cycle in the western city of Nantes.

“It is first and foremost a spiritual, religious visit,” said Bashi, who heads the Tibet Bureau in Paris. “That is how it was always intended.”

France is home to an estimated 770,000 Buddhists, according to the French Buddhist union, three quarter of them of Asian origin.

The Dalai Lama has visited France a dozen times since 1982, meeting with city or government officials and once with the president, the late Francois Mitterrand, in 1993.

France’s left-wing Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner and junior minister for human rights Rama Yade have both said they would be willing to meet him, but no such plans have been announced.

Sarkozy has been accused at home of flip-flopping on the issue of the Olympics and undermining France’s credibility in China.

Critics note that other Western leaders, including of the United States, Canada, Australia, Germany and Britain have met the Dalai Lama in the past two years without jeopardising their relations with Beijing.

Speaking from the Olympics opening ceremony, Sarkozy insisted Friday the meeting “has merely been postponed”.

The Dalai Lama’s representative confirmed that a meeting would take place before the end of the year.

China sent troops into Tibet in 1950 and officially “liberated” it the following year. The Dalai Lama fled into exile in India in 1959 following a failed uprising against Chinese rule.

Beijing accuses the Dalai Lama of seeking independence for Tibet and of fomenting unrest in the territory to sabotage the Olympic Games.

The spiritual leader insists he wants autonomy and religious freedom rather than independence for Tibet, and has sent Beijing his “prayers and best wishes” for the success of the Olympics.”

tags: france, dala lama, His Holiness Tenzin Gyatso

This new music video by Laurent Voulzy has been playing way too much on TV lately…

Previous Dialogues: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

france, music, laurent voulzy, alain souchon, jellybean

Excerpt from the latimes:

“…On the menu – There’s not a burger or Happy Meal in sight. Instead, rigatoni with boletus mushroom sauce, a fresh chèvre sandwich on sun-dried-tomato ciabatta with olive-tomato tapenade, and a nicely balanced strawberry tart. Other sandwich offerings, all about $6.75, included sweet and prosciutto-style cured ham on pain de campagne (country bread), sliced roast chicken, and smoked Norwegian salmon (both on ciabatta). Crudités are served with tapenade and lemon tartar sauce (about $8.65); the daily entrée special on a recent visit was sliced chicken in a French Basque-style sauce of tomatoes, onion and sweet red Espelette pepper, with rice and salad (about $15).

For that same price there are also formules (combo menus) — sandwich, salad, quiche (such as onions, mushrooms and lardons, or bacon) or pasta (such as farfalle with a seafood sauce made with squid and mussels), plus frites, a drink and dessert. Gaufres, anyone? The waffles are served plain, or with powdered sugar, chocolate sauce or Chantilly cream. Wines include a Guyot Côtes du Rhône and Georges Duboeuf Mâcon Villages. Service is fairly friendly and the clientele varied — a recent drizzly weeknight drew a large group of twentysomethings and various twosomes and threesomes ages 16 to 60…” Read the rest

Depending on your outlook on this reality TV show that mixes Big Brother with a huge chunk of Schoolhouse Karaoke, you may or may not be thrilled that the popular program is moving from Le château de Dammarie-Les-Lys, outside of Paris – to l’hôtel de Brossier, rue Charlot in Le Marais. Oui, en centreville!

The neighborhood is not amused.

tags: france reality tv star academy le marais hôtel de Brossier

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