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Ok, you got me. This “Eiffel Tower” is in Las Vegas, but I couldn’t help but post about it. We’d just taken a helicopter ride to the Grand Canyon, and they fly you over Vegas on the return. One word about the whole trip: spectacular. So hey, if you can’t make it all the way to the real deal, head on over to Sin City!
Previous dialogues: The Dalai Lama et Nicolas Sarkozy, 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
[Photo courtesy of Pete Souza's Delivering on Change, an Inside Look (slideshow of Obama's first 100 Days at the White House)]
The sandwich invasion, not the underground transportation system.
Rental Bikes in Dijon
From viewonfashion:
“The Louis Vuitton ad campaign for the Stephen Sprouse collection is really amazing, and it´s a great branding tool too. All around the world, LV shops are using graffiti to promote this long-awaited collection which is already a big sales hit.
To promote the launch of the Louis Vuitton book that pays tribute to Stephen Sprouse, they´ve got legendary graffiti artist Skam to paint an LV mural in Toronto.” [via] (photo courtesy of inqmnd)
What’s more perfect than a pain aux raisins dunked into a steamy bowl of café au lait for breakfast in France? Ok, a lot but this is still tops in my book. What is a pain aux raisins? It’s classified more in the viennoiserie category rather than the patisserie category (so it’s not officially a pastry, but anyway…) - and is a rolled up brioche dough filled with custard and raisins, and baked crispy thin on the outside and soft and moist in the inside, finished with a glaze.
When in France, please do indulge in this classic French treat. I can easily eat two of them but I’m American so I can be a pig like that. It’s expected. Thankfully.
See more French Pastries 101.
I wonder if Jeff Koons, the artist whose sculptures are displayed at the Château de Versailles (until Dec 14), is responsible for those condom ads.
Versailles Exhibition (slideshow and article at nyt)
Can you tell? There’s not a whole lot of excitement goin’ on chez nous these days. Anyway, the little guy from the other day is back. Actually, I think this might be a different one. It’s hard to tell; they all look pretty much the same (sorry, squirrels!). The walnuts have made the French squirrel news because I saw four squirrels around our house yesterday. That, I think, is a bit too much.
It probably helped immensely that my sweetie put out a bunch of walnuts from our last walnut harvest. I don’t think the little guy would be that bold and stay so near to me, being only about 6 feet away when I took the photo. He was alternately watching me and the gros lot (the jackpot) of walnuts.
Protect Nature / Respect the Environment / No Swimming Allowed
tags: signs, photos of france
Medieval Tombstones in the courtyard of the Rolin Museum, Autun
We were lucky to stumble upon a charming, 14th century, fortified medieval village called Villeneuve les Avignon (Region: Languedoc-Roussillon, Department: Gard), which sits atop Mont Andaon and is situated just a couple of miles outside of the city of Avignon, across the Rhône River. Instead of passing by it, we decided to see what was within the walls. No regrets because inside those walls we found a hidden gem, particularly the abbey and the Italian style gardens of Saint André.
During the same time as the Avignon festivals (July/August), Villeneuve has its own festivities, Villeneuve en Scène, with over 20 groups performing concerts, musicals and plays. Here’s a quick slideshow of some photos I took.
Saint André Abbey in Villeneuve-lès-Avignon
tags: france, french, villeneuve les avignon
While driving by this monument in the north of France not far from Fort Mahon and Ambleteuse, I let out a little gasp, “ew,” I added. My sweetie responded by saying, “that’s a classified historical monument you’re ewing…some kind of contemporary bit of architecture for a church.”
“THAT’S a church????”
It’s said that you’ll either be enthralled by this church or apalled by it. I seem to fit into the latter category though i want to like it. I’m used to seeing the beautiful cathedrals or village churches scattered throughout France, so once I saw this one near my brother-in-law’s home, I felt like I was no longer in France.
Despite that the Saint Pierre Church in Audinghen is not very old, there is, nevertheless, much history behind its creation. When you travel on the highway between Calais and Boulogne-sur-mer, you’ll notice there are at least five parish churches that look like they have been around for thousands of years…except this one. Why?
Actually, there was an old church in the very exact spot but it was bombed down in friendly fire by the bumbling Royal Air Force during the second world war. As a humane gesture and to make reparations, The Royal Air Force began building a new one in its place and finished it in 1960. I suppose the bell tower is meant to resemble an airplane wing…
tags: france, french, audinghen, ambleteuse, ugly church
Previous dialogues: Dialogue entre Barack Obama et Nicolas Sarkozy, 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, air france, air france pilots, strike, la grève
A well-established restaurant, Le Chalet Bleu, headed by Philippe Bouché, is one of our favorite restaurants in Autun, France (Burgundy). It’s very reasonably priced with a basic menu starting at 18 euros. Of course, that menu features Tête de veau, which I don’t think I could bring myself to eating. It looks so blubbery and well….it’s a baby cow’s face! I might be unreasonable saying this but I don’t really want to eat a calf’s head. Does that include the brains? I know, I know, I should TRY it one day to REALLY tell. It’s not like you see a face with eyes and ears and a nose and BRAINS.. Well. Anyway, we ate lunch at Le Chalet Bleu recently, so here’s a little sampling of what we ate. None of us ordered Tête de veau.
Ballotine et Rillettes de Faisan en Gelée de Lentilles Vertes , Magret de Canard Fumé en Compote de Figue, Effilochée d’Endive, glace aux champignons et au miel
Terrine de lentils, Magret de Canard Fumé, soupe aux lentils
Dos de Flétan et Pétoncles au Safran, Meunière d’Endive, Epinard et Kumquat
An American Dream, What Obama Will Do, 84% of the French Happy about Obama, Hope Presides
tags: france, obama, french, france loves obama, obamamania
Specializing in beef, apparently. How good have we gotten at disassociating the cow from the steak? Very good.
tags: france, french, nimes, butcher, beef, disassociating the cow from the steak
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
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
A fountain in Roquemaure, France.
tags: france, french, roquemaure, fountain
Although there are many ways to explore the Camargue, France’s sprawling area of protected marshland, my personal recommendation would be to see it on horseback. That is, if you’re up for that kind of thing.
Because the Camargue is designated as a botanical and zoological nature reserve, it seems fitting to try to see it all the while respecting nature and the wildlife all around. I love riding and I’d been wanting to go horseback riding for ages, so this was the perfect opportunity, and for me, the perfect way to see the Camargue. If riding on a big animal’s back is not your cup of tea, you have many options: jeep safaris, organized tours, and my second choice for seeing the area, bicycling. With many areas of the Camargue being off-limits to motorized traffic plus the advantage of such a flat terrain, you’re good on bike. Hills will NOT be a problem. Hiking’s also a good choice but you must be in enormously great shape to cover a lot of ground, and to run away from charging wild bulls. Just kidding.
photo from Les Arnelles
Looking for places to rent a horse to ride will not be a problem; they are everywhere. Just check out the place and owners a bit and examine the health of the horses. We visited three places before choosing Les Arnelles. The people working there were great, the horses were well taken care of, and since we had specific areas we wanted to see, they let us customize our ride.
If you plan on taking photos on horseback, I’d recommend bringing a small camera that you can use easily with one hand. I made the mistake of bringing my large camera, which is a little too clunky and heavy to use with one hand (carrying reins in the other hand), which is why I took very few pictures. Also, along the way, I lost my lens cover while we’d been galloping for a stretch. Doh!
NOTE: Don’t forget the mosquito repellent! Also try to bring some binoculars.
Les Arnelles
Route d’Arles
13460 Les Saintes-Maries-de-la-Mer France
Tel: +33 (0)603 892 379 | +33 (0)686 601 515 | +33 (0)490 978 286
Website: Les Arnelles
tags: france, camargue, horseback riding camargue
