From slashdot:

“Google has begun to scan the streets of Paris as part of its Street View service, but the company may be hindered from publishing them unedited. The reason? French privacy laws. Google may be forced to blur faces or use low-resolution versions of the photographs. The Embassy of France in the U.S. has a page devoted to French privacy laws, that says the laws are needed to ‘avoid infringing the individual’s right to privacy and right to his or her picture (photograph or drawing), both of them rights of personality.”

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.

Hermès

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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.

Souper Fin

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Tags: french, luxury, erotic, kinky, tableware, france, sex+toys, recipes, Philippe+Di+Méo, Reso

Lumiere Technology digitized the Mona Lisa and describes the process.

Watch the video

Tags: paris, france, mona+lisa, louvre, art, videos, digitzing

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

Last night a special report aired on television (on the show Envoyé Spécial on France 2) about the Olympic Torch in Paris, and showed how the whole spectacle unraveled. While everyone expected a certain amount of unrest from France (and got it), there was some disturbing behavior reported that sent shivers down my spine. It reminded me of something I saw years ago on TV about what could happen in the near future. But, in fact, seems to be happening now.

About 5 years ago, there was a very short-lived (1 season only) but brilliant TV show called, Firefly. It was a Sci-Fi Western set aboard a transport starship with a small crew that took on unquestionably criminal moonlighting jobs. The backdrop was a starry landscape of deep space roughly 500 years into the future and everyone spoke some sort of hybrid of Chinese and Redneck English. Obviously, the implication of the state of the universe 500 years from now was frightening. It shows that the political, geographical and philosophical meltdown over the years eventually embraces China as master. It means China ruled the world.

Back to the Olympic torch event in Paris. The report showed cameramen and journalists all crowded on a truck just in front of the Olympic torch runners - obviously to capture the “glorious” Olympic moment. The French crew notices that the Chinese journalists do not shoot any of the protesters all around the truck; they simply ignore them and tape the torch. The Chinese people evidently will never see any of the human rights activists.

The French and other countries’ journalists, obviously, wanted to capture everything. At that moment, the Chinese cameraman notices being taped by the French, then alerts the Chinese security team about it, saying, “There’s a dangerous cameraman onboard.” Apparently, the Chinese security ordered the French police to remove them without question. Seconds later, The French police arrive and apologetically remove the journalists, who did have the permission to be present. While removing them, the French police said something to the effect of, “we have to follow orders.”

Clearly, it is obvious who is in power here. How could the Chinese have authority outside of their country? It’s strange to see them have all that power in France. They also did appear to be calling the shots in San Francisco, as well. Did you notice? I guess that’s what happens, U.S., when you owe China that much money. The U.S. borrows $3 billion a DAY from Japan, China, the UK and oil exporting countries. Do things make a little more sense now? Is this a reflection of what is to come? The signs of the times, they’re scary.

Could this submissive behavior on the part of the French have something to do with their recent Nuclear Energy deal worth 8 BILLION EUROS ($11.86 billion) with China? Does it have anything to do with the fact that so many French companies have installed themselves in China? Does “Made in China” sound familiar?

An aside: I’ve recently noticed that everything made in China has started to look like “Made in PRC” (People’s Republic of China). You don’t fool me.

Links: Made in China , Olympic Torch

Tags: france, china, olympics, 2008, torch

As most people expected, Reporters without Borders did manage to get some attention during today’s Olympic torch relay in Paris protesting against China’s inhumane treatment of the people of Tibet. There was so much disruption everywhere that the last leg of the Paris torch relay was canceled.

Related: Photos from Paris Bloggers, Olympic Torch

Oui! We knew SOMETHING would happen.

From iht:

“What was supposed to be a majestic procession for the Olympic torch through the French capital was disrupted Monday as thousands of people from around Europe, many with Tibetan flags, massed to protest the passage of the flame, forcing police officers to bring the torch onto a bus to try to protect it and causing the torch to be extinguished at least once.

A police spokeswoman, speaking on condition of anonymity in accordance with policy, said the torch went out “for technical reasons” unrelated to the protests, without offering further clarification. CNN reported that the torch was extinguished at least twice amid the melee, and The Associated Press said officials were forced to extinguish the flame three times amid security concerns.

Despite tremendous security, at least two activists got within almost an arm’s length of the flame before they were grabbed by police officers, The AP reported. Officers tackled numerous protesters to the ground and carried some away.

It was yet another unscripted moment in the passage of the Olympic flame, and the second time in two days that the torch relay had been disrupted in a European capital.

Some 3,000 police officers in Paris — on foot, horseback, roller blades, motorbikes and even boats in the river Seine — tried to prevent a repeat of the scenes in London on Sunday, when the torch’s progression through the streets turned into a tumult of scuffles. One man broke through a tight security cordon in the London protests and made a failed grab for the torch, and 35 people were arrested…”

Read the rest

A brand new website dedicated to Paris accommodations has recently launched and is looking for owners of hotels, apartments, gites, and chambres d’hotes (bed and breakfast) to be included on the site. If you know someone with a place to stay, please feel free to let them know about it.

Please register your Paris accommodation here.

From woostercollective:

Artist: Duster

From AFP:

“Orly Airport, one of the two big airports serving Paris, is to extract geothermal energy from deep underground to slash its heating bills, the facility’s owners said.

Two shafts each 1,700 metres (one mile) deep will be drilled on the airport’s perimeter to access a water table warmed by heat emanating from the Earth’s hot core.

Drawn upwards by natural pressure, the water will emerge at the surface at 74 degrees Celsius (165 degrees Fahrenheit) and then be injected into the airport’s heating system. It will then be pumped back into the ground at a temperature of 45 C (113 F).

“We have the unprecedented luck of having hot water below our feet that can heat a large part of Orly without CO2 [carbon dioxide] emissions. We are the first airport in Europe to do this,” Pierre Graff, who is chairman and managing director of Aeroports de Paris (ADP), said on Wednesday.

The project, launched after a technical and financial feasibility study, will cost 11 million euros (17.27 million dollars). The Orly-Ouest terminal, part of Orly-South, the airport’s Hilton Hotel, and two business districts will be hooked up to the system from 2011.

ADP hopes geothermal will meet a third of its heating needs and coincidentally save 7,000 tonnes of its 20,000 tonnes of its annual emissions of CO2, the principal greenhouse gas.

The neighbouring towns of Orly, located south of Paris, and l’Hay-les-Roses, already use geothermal.”

On the way to the Olympic Ceremony, the torch will makes its way all over the world. For what it’s worth, it’ll be in Paris on April 7. Mark your calendars.

I don’t believe it’s going to be an eventless moment in history because 1) this is France; and 2) the most awesome Reporters sans frontières / Reporters without Borders will surely make an appearance. If you were able to see the initial ceremony in Greece a week or so ago, you’ll remember that some fearless reporters without borders crashed the party to demonstrate against China, which is the largest world prison for freedom of expression and human rights, among other things.

Stay tuned. And in the meantime, get a T-shirt to show your support of Reporters Without Borders - and please sign the petition.

Links: Torch Cities

Those opposing the new Eiffel Tower “hat” can breathe a sigh of relief. The new hat for the Eiffel Tower is a No-Go. Not only that, it was never a GO, nor part of a design competition; it was never approved for restructuring the famous landmark. WHO invented THAT story??

From nyt:

“David Serero, principal of Serero Architects, said in a telephone interview that his firm’s proposal was merely a spontaneous design it had submitted to the Eiffel Tower management group in view of the tower’s approaching 120th anniversary and, he said, was neither a response to a design competition nor solicited by the tower’s management.

The Guardian’s Web site reported Monday that the Eiffel Tower’s management group, the Société d’Exploitation de la Tour Eiffel, had approved a temporary restructuring of the observation platform, which would alter the tower’s overall shape. After the report was picked up by other news organizations, the management group said that it had never solicited a redesign and that it envisaged no changes to the tower’s appearance.

Mr. Serero said his firm submitted unsolicited designs and put them on the Web, where they were later seen by news organizations.”

From decanter:

“For the first time in their history, Paris pawn shops have agreed to take bottles of wine in exchange for cash.

More than 350 bottles with a total value of €60,000 (£45,000) have been pawned – inlcuding a €5,000 Domaine de la Romanee Conti.

The initiative was launched by Crédit Municipal de Paris, the local authority pawnshop - which usually deals in family heirlooms and pieces of jewellery - last week.

The wine is to be stored in the 18th-century cellars under the Crédit Municipal building…”

Read the whole article

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I don’t know why I enjoying spying on other people’s wedding registries, but I do. Here’s what (previously) Cecilia Sarkozy now Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz Attias requested at Le Bon Marche:

List (a pdf file)

Or you can check on Le Bon Marche’s registry directly (Groom name: Richard Attias, Bride’s name Cecilia Ciganer-Albeniz, Marriage Date: March 23, 2008)

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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.”

I had nightmares after I saw this window display at the Palais Royal Gallery…

Make history where it counts: on the lips. In honor of Valentine’s Day (which is coming up right around the corner!), The Institut Bonheur / Happiness Institute (yes that’s really what they’re called) is sponsoring a French Kiss World Record event. It’s being held at the Quais Rive Droite sous le Pont des Arts, so hurry!!! Sorry for the late notice. More about it at Facebook

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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 (release date March 1), Daniel Buren, slideshow of the work-in-progress

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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Collectors of vintage toys and toy cars will feel at home at the Galerie du Jouet Anciens in the heart of Saint Germain in Paris. Find the models missing from your collection or sell some of your own collection. Even if you don’t collect it’s a neat stop to make if you’re in the neighborhood. This shop displays at least 3,500 vintage toy cars. These are like little gems to the antique toy car enthusiast, and one in particular. We’d been told that a bank president of one of the largest banks in France has his chauffeur drop him by the store often to admire them. Then, he steals one each time! He’d done this many, many times and collected quite a few for his home collection, complètement gratuit.

Actually, a friend who knows the store owner told us this story.

Us: Which bank??? BNP? CIC?
Him: No! I can’t say.
Us: LCL? Caisse d’Epargne? Société Générale? Banque Populaire?? Crédit Agricole??
Him: I can’t tell you!!
Us: Well what happened??
Him: The store owner finally got fed up and asked him to bring back all the stolen cars. His chauffeur promptly took the bank president home where he collected all his booty. He finally returned them.
Us: Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww. Weird.

Galerie du Jouet Anciens
9 rue des grands Augustins 75006 Paris
M: Odeon
tél (33) 01 43 26 36 75
They sell: Dinky toys, CIJ, Norev-AR-JRD, SpotOn-MatchBox-Tekno, Mercury-Marklin, Cherryca Phenix, Model Pet-Micro Pet, Tootsie Toy, Tour de France

According to paris addict, the very first Apple Store will be opening in the gallery of the carousel of the Louvre! This location currently houses the Virgin Mega Store, but I guess they’re outta there soon. Yay! Now you can easily find that new MacBook Air Apple just released. The ultra-thin MacBook you can fit into a manila folder.

From Businessweek:

“During frenzied invitation-only clothing sales called ventes privées, chic Parisians strip down to their underwear to try on deeply-discounted designer clothes in bare rooms with cement floors and florescent lighting. After fighting over last season’s stilettos and then stuffing as many glamorous gowns as they can grab into extra-strength trash bags, they put back on their street clothes and haul their take to makeshift checkout counters.

Distasteful as such cut-rate shopping orgies might sound, top designers such as Givenchy—the fashion house that gained fame with clients like Audrey Hepburn and Grace Kelly, and is now owned by LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton (LVMH.PA)—find them a reliable and time-tested way to get rid of overstock.

But now luxury marques and even consumer products companies increasingly are turning to an online alternative that is shaking inventory-clearance to its foundations…”

Continue Reading

Why Travel to France is having weird technical problems, which should be fixed shortly. Regular posting should resume in the near future. In the meantime, here are some recent news items from France:

Jose Bove - started a hunger strike yesterday against genetically modified foods in France. A decision regarding OGM (GMO) in France should be reached by the end of the month. (article in French)

Free Cars in Paris? - the Mayor of Paris is proposing the introduction of Voiturelib’–2,000 electric-powered vehicles that subscribers can drive off without booking at dozens of sites, 24 hours a day, and then leave anywhere in the city.

No Smoking - France finally banned smoking in restaurants, bars and cafes effective January 1, 2008, which is a breath of fresh air!

Remember the EU Constitution France Voted Against? It’s here to stay (without the votes of EU countries) in the form of the Lisbon Treaty

Feminists in France have petitioned the French government to remove the title Mademoiselle or Miss from official administrative documents

France bans the word “E-mail” in government documents

U.S. expats facing tax ’sticker shock’ - and Lousy Health Care to Boot

French Ministers get graded and evaluated, Sarkozy is exempt from being evaluated.

Calais Mayor Defies Sarkozy - A welcome center for asylum seekers heading to Britain from France was opened despite objections from the government.