Patricia Russo heads a Paris-based giant, but has no intention to learn French
When Patricia Russo takes the helm of newly merged telecom equipment companies Alcatel SA and Lucent Technologies Inc., she will be the only woman and the only American to head a company in France's CAC-40 index of blue chips.
But what is creating more [...]

More wonderful stories from an island called France:
A burglar in the north-east of France got away with 150 euros, stolen from the cash register in a beauty salon. Unfortunately, on his way home he lost part of his loot.
The next morning the police simply followed the track, marked with lost coins, and arrested the man. [...]

Newcomers among the rich and famous: Russians buying up the French Riviera
Newly-rich Russians have flocked to the French Mediterranean coast since the early 1990s, following the collapse of the Soviet Union, and the start of controversial privatization deals that allowed a small minority to rapidly accumulate vast wealth.
In 2001, Russian investment in French Riviera real [...]

Frenchman Olivier Garcia does spectacular things with horses, and performs his show all over Europe. Here he rides his horse Emir inside a giant plastic bubble during training for the grand opening of the Stockholm International Horse Show at the Globe Arena in Stockholm, Sweden.
More photos | And more… | Video | Via
[tags]France,French,Olivier Garcia,horses[/tags]

A tiny fragment of Friche's 360-degree panoramic photo of Paris
I've pointed to Arnaud Friche Photography earlier, but then I hadn't noticed this yet: The most stunning panoramic picture of Paris ever created
This image is 520 pixels tall and no less than 15,000(!) pixels wide. Because of its size (nearly 2MB) it may take a while [...]

At the end of each year, French firefighters (or sapeurs-pompiers) go from door to door to offer their annual calendar. They always come in two, and the ritual is the same each year.
Pompier #1 gives you the free calendar, and pompier #2 holds a bag in front of your nose, waiting for a donation. [...]

Sir Alistair Horne, the great historian of modern war, believes that the war in Iraq most resembles the Algerian war against the French of 1954-62, of which he wrote a celebrated history.
The Algerian war, launched by ferocious nationalists, many of whom had served as soldiers in the French Algerian regiments against Germany in the concluding [...]

Citroên finally seems to have come to terms with its past with the astonishing D5 revealed at the Mondial de l’Automobile. Beneath its self-evident nostalgic styling, the D5 attempts to reinvent the automobile in much the way its ancestor did in 1955. Indeed early examples of its ancestor have recently been officially classified [...]

French police love the Taser gun, but American colleagues are increasingly reluctant to carry the device
The American-made Taser gun is rapidly conquering the hearts of the French men of law and order. French police have already 1,300 Taser guns in use, the Gendarmerie will soon get 700 of them, and the government is requesting tenders [...]

French health minister Xavier Betrand wants the French to quit smoking, but now he offers something else at the tobacconist: cheap condoms
Starting December 1, the French government introduces the 20-cent condom, available at tobacconists and newsstands.
The discount condoms are part of the fight against Aids and other sexually transmitted diseases. They follow an earlier [...]

Michèle Alliot-Marie. Photograph: Jacques Brinon/AP
Michèle Alliot-Marie could provide her male-dominated party with a female adversary for Ségolène Royal
She is slightly schoolmarmish, respects the military, preaches the need to listen to the people, and feels it's time a woman led France.
Ah, that'll be Ségolène Royal, you assume, the feminist daughter of an authoritarian army colonel, [...]

A young couple was arrested on Sunday after their house in the Paris area caught fire.
On closer inspection, gendarmes discovered no less 188 pots with cannabis plants in the attic.
According to the police, the fire was caused by faulty wiring in the system used to create a tropical environment in the "plantation".
No human [...]

Paris has banned skyscrapers for more than 30 years, but the "Phare" (Lighthouse) tower will soon become its tallest commercial building and loftiest construction since the Eiffel tower was inaugurated in 1889.
The 300m high office tower, designed by the Californian architect Thom Mayne, will be the first building to approach Gustav Eiffel's tower.
At a cost [...]

From now on, for the French press it's strictly illegal to reveal the names of members of the French special forces and secret service.
If you can't resist revealing a spy's name you're slapped with a 15,000 euro fine.
In unrelated news, an officer in the French spy agency was killed last week by a [...]

Lagerfeld, wearing his bionic hands during the opening of his exhibition
Karl Lagerfeld, living in France since the age of 14, and a fashion icon for half a century, is apparently also a gifted photographer.
His latest exhibition (aptly called “One man shown” – note the "n" at the end) in Berlin is dedicated to American [...]