New iPhones Sold Out and You Didn’t Get One?
The new iPhone 3Gs were sold out within hours of its availability here in France the other day. Oh well. You waited too long, and didn’t get one? Maybe you can get one of these new, plastic disposable Bic cel phones instead. They’re really ugly, they radiate a lot of un-heathy microwaves and they’re very hazardous to the environment because they end up piling up in the landfills eventually leaching BPAs, dioxins and other carcinogens into the land, air and water. I bet you really want one now.
Bic (yes, the same people who brought you all those hideous plastic florescent lighters and pens that leaked into your backpack and pockets) has teamed up with Orange - to launch the sale of these wonderful mobile phones on August 7. The phone will cost €49 (about $80).
tags: france iphone disposable celphones global warming horrible inventions bic
Crisis in France: Snail Shortage! 
According to the independent, there’s an escargot shortage that is threatening French life as we know it. OH NON! Most of the snails people eat in France are from Eastern Europe. Gasp! Oui oui. It’s true. But now the snail harvesting profession there is frowned upon. NOT very glamorous. How will they supply this year’s snail chow down?? Hohum.
People should come to the forest near our house. There are GOBS of snails after a rain.
Anyway, here’s the article:
“A slow-motion crisis threatens the French way of life – the great snail shortage of 2008. Shell-shocked French food processors have warned that they can no longer obtain sufficient quantities of snails from eastern Europe, their principal source of supply.
Snail collecting for the French market used to be a popular way of making money in eastern European countries, especially in Poland and Hungary. But since they joined the European Union five years ago, better-paid job opportunities have flourished.
In a glum statement, the French food processing industry announced that snail-collecting was now the object of “growing disaffection” among eastern Europeans. People were no longer keen to leave home before dawn on wet days, armed with a torch, to search the Polish forests or Hungarian scrubland for the “burgundy snail” or Helix pomatia.
As a result, the price of processed snails in France will rise sharply later this year, warned the Fédération des Industries d’Aliments Conservés. The French eat 25,000 tonnes of snails a year – equivalent to 700 million individual snails. Two in every three snails eaten in the world is consumed in France.
The attraction remains a mystery to much of the rest of the planet. The sauce served with the snails – made from garlic, parsley and butter – is delicious, but to the uninitiated, the escargot itself tastes like a tired piece of chewing-gum.
A quarter of the French market is still supplied by French snail-hunters, who mostly search for snails for their own tables. The small French snail-farming industry has suffered badly in recent hot, dry summers.
Two thirds of all the snails eaten in France come from eastern Europe and the Balkans. Of the ready-cooked or processed snails – widely used in the less expensive or less scrupulous restaurants – 99 per cent come from abroad.
A higher bounty will now have to be paid, French food processors concede. Hunters used to get as little as two euro centimes per snail. Transport and processing costs are also booming. As a result, prices are certain to spiral this year, the French food processing industry warned.
At present, consumers in France pay about €3.50 (£2.77) for 12 boiled snails, or €6 if they are supplied ready-cooked in the traditional garlic-based bourguignon sauce.
The H. pomatia, or grey-and-brown, spiralled, edible, burgundy snail, is said to have become rare in France. Although it is a protected species, hunting, for private consumption or sale, is still permitted.
Madeleine Lechartier, 61, from Culey-le-Patry in the hills of lower Normandy, has been a keen snail-hunter, and eater, all her life but the crisis of 2008 will not trouble her. “The problem is not a shortage of snails it is a shortage of people who know where to look and can be bothered to collect their own,” she said. “I always start in summer at about 5am, preferably on a wet day, turning over the big leaves or pulling aside the grass.”
“People say there is a shortage but the wet summers of the last two years have been very kind to snails. I have 500 snails in my larder, already cooked. We will eat them little by little.”
What is the attraction of eating snails? Is the taste not just in the sauce? “If you eat the processed snails, yes,” she said. “Wild snails, they are quite different. Ah, the taste of a wild snail. That is very special and delicate.”" [source]
Related: Escargot Posts
tags: france escargots snails shortage
The French Air Cars Coming to the U.S.? 
Ever since writing about the zero pollution, zero emissions French Air Car, I’ve gotten some comments and gobs of emails from people asking if they might be available in the U.S.
I don’t live in the U.S., people! I live in France. YOU tell ME. Rant over.
Soooooooooo… that being said, I stumbled upon some information that reports that the Air Car might be available in the U.S. by late 2009 starting at $15,000. That’s just around the corner, and if it’s true, this little ugly (in a cute sense) car could possibly impact life as you know it - in a positive way, that is.
A New York based startup, ZPM (Zero Pollution Motors), just like India’s Tata Motors, has licensed the technology from the French company MDI. They plan to release a hybrid version that will be a clean, efficient way to power your ride. For example, one tank of air is approximately equivalent to eight gallons of gas, an 848 mile range. The car’s air tank can be refilled in about three minutes from a service station, but it can be plugged in at home and refilled in about 4 hours, an electricity cost of about two bucks.
Availability of the MDI Air Car in France is still pending approval.
tags: france air cars zero pollution motors mdi
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New iPhone 3G in France - July 11 
The new iPhone 3G will be available for purchase in Orange stores across France beginning July 11. It’s thinner, faster, has a built-in GPS, among other features - and of course is probably a lot more expensive in France than in the U.S. (I can’t seem to find pricing, though.)
More information Apple (English), Apple (French)
tags: france iphone 3g apple
Apple Store, Louvre? 
Kewl. An Apple Store near the Louvre!
From MacworldUK:
“Apple plans to open its first retail store in France just near to the world-famous Louvre art gallery in Paris.
A report from leading French newspaper, La Tribune, explains Apple’s application for the store - to be situated under the pyramid in front of the Louvre’s grand entrance - has been approved.
Apple will build a two-story, 715 square metre store in space previously occupied by two shops.
On this, IFO AppleStore explains the store, “will host nine million visitors a year, of which at least 40 per cent are tourists.”
An Apple spokesperson said: “We are thrilled that our opening project of an Apple Store in the Carrousel du Louvre has been approved.”
Links: Apple Computer Stores in France, Apple Store in Paris, Apple Gets Green Light, Tribune
tags: france travel apple store louvre apple louvre
TV Shows Available on iTunes France From applegazette:
“Apple announced today that television programming is finally coming to iTunes France. Top French networks like TF1, France Télévisions, Arte, Mediatoon’s Dargaud TV and Dupuis TV and US shows from The Walt Disney Company and MTV Networks are all available in the iTunes Store in France now.
Customers can now purchase and download primetime hits like “La main blanche,” “Les Contes de la Collection Chez Maupassant,” “Coeur Océan,” “Spirou et Fantasio,” “Lucky Luke” and “Le dessous des cartes,” as well as Emmy Award-winning US programs “Lost,” “Desperate Housewives,” “Ugly Betty” and “South Park.”
Apple, again, shows us that they are moving to the variable price model. Television shows are priced at €1.49, €1.99 and €2.49 per episode.”
When Will the French Demonstrate Against the Escalating Food & Gas Prices? 
For a country that is King of demonstrating against injustices inflicted on its people, I honestly don’t know why no one has done anything about the unreasonably high food prices, and now, gas prices. The fleecing of France by merchants charging exorbitant food costs began 6 years ago with the introduction of the euro. This is when we moved to France from the U.S. It has just gotten worse since 2002 and now we pay insane prices for food and well, pretty much everything. Food prices have increased by 45% in some cases. I recently saw peaches selling for 8 euros/ kilo (about $12 for 2 pounds of peaches). I like peaches, but not THAT much. (and those weren’t even organic.)
I’ve noticed in many cases, organic food is less expensive than the industrial food in large supermarket chains. When we’d shop in our organic store just a couple of years ago, there’d be few others shopping. Now so many more people (who have realized that organic is cheaper or the same price as industrial AND tastes better) shop in this organic market. Anyway.
So today in London, an awesome thing is happening: truck drivers are blocking the highway demonstrating their unhappiness about the increasing fuel prices. This makes it hard to move goods in and out of the city. When will this happen in France?
People in France are talking about how others should be demonstrating (like the truck drivers!), but thus far, no one has moved an inch except the fishermen but no one cares about them too much. However, there is something almost tangible is in the air and there’s a definite restlessness in the hexagon. Many people we know in France have begun to stockpile groceries in the event that truck drivers will paralyze the roads in France, and markets will not receive their regular deliveries. We stocked up on some extra things, too - just in case. Everyone is hoping, in fact, that this massive strike will take place despite an enormous inconvenience. Us, too because something needs to happen. The system absolutely HAS to change.
If not, we at least have extra provisions to last a while, which will save us unnecessary fuel used for trips to the market.
By the way, in France we pay about $8 a gallon for gasoline, so consider yourself lucky if you have to pay ONLY $4!
French Activists Say “Non” To GMO From reuters:
“PARIS - Hundreds of activists marched in Paris on Tuesday ahead of the expected approval of a law they say blurs the line between natural and genetically modified (GM) foods.
The bill lays down conditions for the cultivation of GM crops in France, Europe’s largest grain producer and exporter, and creates a body to oversee GMO use. The vote is due to take place late on Tuesday or on Wednesday.
Protesters, some wearing yellow hats in the shape of maize cobs and others dressed in white suits imitating scientists, gathered near the National Assembly to voice their opposition.
“We must give consumers the choice of eating quality products, with or without GMO,” said Jean Terlon, cook at the restaurant Le Saint-Pierre in Longjumeau, close to Paris.
While GM crops are common in the United States and Latin America, France and many other European countries are dubious about using the new genetic technology in agriculture.
France banned the sole GM crop grown in the European Union, a maize (corn) developed by US biotech giant Monsanto, in February because it had serious doubts about whether it was safe for the environment. GMO cultivation is still legal, however.
The new French law, which would implement a European Union directive adopted in 2001, sets the rules a farmer has to respect to grow GM crops. These include limiting dissemination of pollen to conventional fields.
The text is criticised by pro-GMOs who say it does not go far enough and by the antis, including deputies of the ruling majority, who say changes made in exchanges between the parliament and the upper house make it too lax.
LEGAL CONTAMINATION
Approved amendments include a rate of GM dissemination to conventional crops of up to 0.9 percent, a level fiercely contested by ecologists seeking to protect France’s biodiversity and organic crops from GM contamination.
“The problem of this law is that it legalises contamination because anything with a GMO content of less than 0.9 percent can be called GMO-free,” Romain Chabrol, a spokesman of the environmental group Greenpeace France, said.
The rate in Germany was set at 0.1 percent.
French Environment Minister Jean-Louis Borloo said the new law would be the “most protective in the world”.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy has repeatedly said he does not want to close the door on the technology or ban research so as to limit the number of biotech companies put off by the destruction of their outdoor experiments by activists.
French cooperative Limagrain, which has a 70 percent stake in the world’s fourth-largest seed maker Vilmorin, said this year its research unit Biogemma had moved its tests on GM crops to the United States after repeated attacks on its fields.
Such attacks would be more severely punished under the law.”
Hermes’ Apple “Purse” 
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
[via]
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
[via]
Tags: french, luxury, erotic, kinky, tableware, france, sex+toys, recipes, Philippe+Di+Méo, Reso
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.
[via]
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)
[via]
Tags: france, orange, e-reader, kindle, newspapers, wifi, touchscreen
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
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?
Real Louis Vuitton Fights Fake Louis Vuitton - in Brooklyn From wwd:
“Make no mistake — Louis Vuitton is well-equipped for combat against counterfeiters.
Tonight, Vuitton is celebrating Takashi Murakami’s “© Murakami” exhibition with a “Brooklyn Ball” at the Brooklyn Museum featuring a special performance by Kanye West, the unveiling of a new camouflage print developed by Murakami and Marc Jacobs called Monogramouflage and a special installation designed to bring attention to one of the industry’s biggest travails — counterfeits.
But rather than simply hand out leaflets to alert guests about the importance of protecting original designs, the French luxury goods house will be taking a novel, somewhat intriguing route. Outside the museum, Vuitton is setting up 10 New York-style street vendors — not to sell fakes, but rather authentic Louis Vuitton product and special Monogramouflage canvases that Murakami has created specifically for the exhibition.
While it may seem lighthearted on the surface, the presentation is meant to underscore just how serious Vuitton executives are taking the counterfeit trade, and how diligently they are working to stop copycats from getting their merchandise to consumers.
“We always thought that counterfeit requires zero tolerance for several reasons,” Yves Carcelle, chairman and chief executive officer of Louis Vuitton, told WWD in an exclusive interview. “It’s a gray economy that escapes all rules of normal labor and normal economic rules and taxations, so it’s a bad thing for every state in the world. Secondly, it’s bad for any kind of creativity, research and development, because if you don’t protect intellectual property, why should people dedicate time and energy to create?”
(more…)
Pawn Shops in Paris Now Accepting Wine 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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Cecilia’s Wedding Registry List at Le Bon Marche 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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A Late Meat Recall - E-Coli Contaminated Beef 
I HATE when they do that. Supermarket giants, Carrefour and Monoprix (110 stores in total) have announced a 2.5 ton recall of E-coli contaminated meat.
The thing is, they always wait until most of the meat has already been consumed (unless it was frozen by consumers). In any case, they really are evil.
If you bought packaged ground beef at Carrefour or Monoprix last week, please return the contaminated meat to the store (see store list below).
Information
Meat: steaks hachés / ground beef
Dates issued: between March 10 and March 18
Originating company: Socopa
List of stores selling the contaminated meat: Click here
Hotline: 0.800.773.800
An added important NOTE: Though the store, ED, is not listed, please be aware that it is owned by Carrefour, so the likelihood of contaminated meat at ED, is very high.
[source: france 2, le monde]
A Ch’ti Ch’tore in Perigord Just ignore my silly, rhyming title; I couldn’t resist.
There’s a cute boutique dedicated to our favorite French, Les Ch’ti (pronounced SHTEE) from the very north of France.
We were surprised while visiting the city of Périgueux (southwest France) when we saw this timely boutique, “La Ch’ti Boutic,” with all things Ch’ti. Since the Ch’tis are la tendance, this business-minded shtorekeeper shtepped up to the ch’plate to tempt his luck at Ch’ti Shtuff.
It’s filled with goodies like chuques (coffee candies filled with caramel), pardon bonbons sucrés au caramel (caramel candies), bière de Lens (beer from Lens), sac de charbon (sack of coal, which is actually candy), les bêtises de Cambrai (mints), spéculoos (gingerbread cookies) and more.
The boutique has only been in business for a few months, so I hope it lasts, even after all the Ch’ti madness had died down.
La Ch’ti Boutic
25, rue Limogeanne
24000 Périgueux France
Telephone: +33 5.53.03.22.59
Good Wine and a Weird Greedy Vintner - Chateauneuf du pape 
Since our friends from the U.S. were visiting, we thought it would be fun to meet in Provence and go wine tasting. Some of France’s finest wines come from Chateauneuf du pape and everyone was up for that, so off we (three Americans and one French guy) went.
We stumbled upon a wine cellar that produced award-winning wine and received an informative presentation from the vintner, who spoke fluent English. We tasted 4 wines, and thought about buying a few bottles. They were excellent wines. While discussing what we would get amongst ourselves, the vintner blurts out that he expected we buy CASES of wine. He said something like, “Hey, I’m not a reseller, you know; I’m the producer.”
Me: “So!??”
Ok, I didn’t say that but wanted to. Yes, he’s the producer but he’s still selling it.
This, of course, made no sense anyway since he knew very well that Americans cannot take much wine back to the U.S. And because our friends just brought carry-on luggage, they wouldn’t be able to take any bottles at all with them. He began to annoy me with his greed. Still, we decided to buy ONE case (6 bottles): all the wines we sampled, including a gold medal awarded wine from 1999.
Things were rolling along and we paid our 104 euros ($159) for the six bottles until the vintner began filling the box with our order. He made sure we saw what he put in the case, then says, “and lastly, here’s the 1998 bottle.”
My sweetie says LOUDLY, “we bought the 1999 bottle, you know, the one that costs 26 euros (about $40). Not 1998.”
The guy tried to rip us off!
Anyway, I found that to be so rude, greedy and annoying, but ultimately pathetic. I mean, I could be recommending his little “domaine” right now but instead I simply can not.
How many Americans did he trick?
That just isn’t right.
Tonight 9pm on ARTE A Must-See Documentary: The World According to Monsanto Tuesday March 11th 2008, 1:50 am
Filed under:
daily life,
environment,
garden,
health,
kids,
nature,
politics,
products,
stories,
tv and movies
The French documentary, “Le Monde Selon Monsanto / The world according to Monsanto,” directed by independent filmmaker Marie-Monique Robin, airs tonight on ARTE.
The film paints a grim picture of a no-holds-barred evil corporation with a decades-long track record of environmental crimes, health scandals and endangering the population of the entire world.
It will open your eyes to many things and you’ll never look at food the same way again.
Read about it at ARTE (in French) More about it here (in English)
See the movie trailer here
