Monthly Archives: March 2007

An ambitious project of French photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand: 6 Billion Others tries to draw a portrait of contemporary mankind by asking questions about universal values. What is happiness? What lessons can we learn from life’s difficulties? What is the meaning … Continue reading →

France’s almost two million tall people cannot find shoes big enough or pants long enough, let alone buy a fitted shirt that hugs the body where it is supposed to. “Sleeves are always too short, women’s waistbands are in the … Continue reading →

An executed hero from World War II, a feminist martyr from the Revolution, a murdered monarch and a saint burned at the stake for heresy: these are the political heroes of France’s leading presidential candidates. Strangely, they all died violent … Continue reading →

Embarrassing safety failure: Greenpeace climbs nuclear station’s cooling towers. There has never been a serious accident in France’s nuclear power stations, but that doesn’t mean they’re safe. The clear and present danger is the possibility that people with nasty things … Continue reading →

The AIXAM Scouty and the Secma Fun Extr’m. New haute-couture city cars for young, hip urban dwellers. Change is in the air and the streets of Paris will never be quite the same again. French microcars have suddenly gone sexy, … Continue reading →

With Arabic and Hebrew, Asterix and Obelix now speak 107 tongues. Gallic hero becomes fluent in Arabic and Hebrew, and even un-kosher boars take part in the peace effort. Comic-book hero Asterix did his bit for Middle East peace this … Continue reading →

[youtube]3-12GdBEY9A[/youtube] This seems to become a new trend: yet another sport star hits the microphone. Rapping is the most democratic form of music, because you can do it even if you can’t sing. Latest case in point: Tony Parker. The … Continue reading →

French politicians really are warm and fuzzy this year…. Or at least they are in the town of Chabenet where Blanchet Peluches is producing these two Made in France Doudoulitiks. It’s a limited-issue series of 5,000 each (at 20 euros … Continue reading →

Ticket to prison: Eiffel Tower employees steal one million euro ticket revenues A group of 15 former employees of the Eiffel Tower is on trial in Paris, accused of embezzling one million euros from sales of tickets to visit Paris’s … Continue reading →

The French may sometimes complain about their healthcare system, but at least one American loves it. Some quotes from Huffington Post blogger Martin Varsavsky who needed an emergency treatment in Paris: The first surprise in France is that there´s no … Continue reading →

Sarkozy on Guadeloupe this weekend. Right: Royal on a beach last summer. Last summer, bikini-clad Segolene Royal made the headlines, now it’s Nicolas Sarkozy‘s turn to show off his beach outfit. Presidential candidate Sarkozy, on a campaign trip on the … Continue reading →

An unusual SOS that has gone out from French ecologists may not initially go down well with gardeners, who are being asked to leave weeds well alone. But it’s all in a good cause – to save disappearing butterfly species. … Continue reading →

[youtube]_IMLXGvO2X0[/youtube] These girls rock: Les Plastiscines singing Loser Schoolkids by day; fledgling rock stars by night. Times reporter Kate Spicer meets the well-to-do Parisian teenagers who are spearheading a new French revolution Rock’n’roll is alive and well and living in … Continue reading →

If you missed Le Salon de l’Erotisme this weekend in Paris, you can still travel to the South of France for the next two venues. The fair, which claims to be the biggest of its kind in Europe, drew 30,000 … Continue reading →

French aviator Latham in 1909 on his wrecked monoplane in the Channel. From the New York Times Art & Design section today: The other day, in an exhibition at the Jeu de Paume in Paris called “The Event,” I came … Continue reading →