Monthly Archives: May 2007

On Wikipedia: a complete primer on French national and regional food French cuisine is considered to be one of the world’s most refined and elegant styles of cooking, and is renowned for both its classical (“haute cuisine“) or grande cuisine … Continue reading →

Swiss photographer Georg Gerster has specialized in aerial photography since 1956. “Height provides an overview, and an overview facilitates insight, while insight generates consideration – perhaps.” By pursuing this line of reasoning, Georg Gerster has turned aerial photography into something … Continue reading →

Take the Boy Scout approach to culture shock: be prepared. Expatica recommends 10 good books that will help you answer the eternal question: why are they like that? The biggest mistake made by new arrivals in France is not understanding … Continue reading →

Gwenaël Bollinger in Lyon plays with light and color, and shows the results on two websites. Le Book 1 | Le Book 2

Creative recycling meets neo-modern design. Francois Royer expresses his dissatisfaction with our culture of relentless consumerism with these striking barrel furnishings. Each model is unique and each design is one-of-a-kind. Stanker Collection | Via

Another French invention that didn’t quite take off: From Popular Science, November 1934. A spinning hat bearing advertising messages is the latest wrinkle for sandwich men in Paris, France. A concealed switch enables the wearer to start the hat revolving … Continue reading →

[youtube]Irxe_YQABqM[/youtube] The immortal Jacques Brel singing Le Moribond (The Dying Man). With English subtitles. Seasons in the Sun was a world-wide hit for Terry Jacks, widely covered by Indies bands like Kurt Cobain’s Nirvana and Pearls Before Swine. It was … Continue reading →

I have no idea how it’s done, but I like the feminine shapes of this Eiffel Tower picture. Via

[googlevideo]-8460987972082817977[/googlevideo] In January 2006, Frenchman Jean Marc Mouligné made it into the record books with this stunt. Using a device of his own making, suspended between two cranes, he was catapulted 130m (426 ft) in the air, reaching a top … Continue reading →

[youtube]C9OvpEV_1hM[/youtube] Conquering the world at the age of less than 20: Born in Cherbourg, France in 1988, Lise de la Salle was surrounded by music from her earliest childhood. She began studying the piano at the age of four and … Continue reading →

Parisian photographer David Cousin-Marsy creates photographic images from “ordinary fragments” of the urban landscape. The results are surprising. Home page | Flickr set 1 | Flickr set 2 | Via

This “real life Shrek” was Maurice Tillet (1903 – 1954), a professional wrestler who had acromegaly, a rare disease that caused bones to grow uncontrollably and led to severe disfigurement: In his twenties, he developed acromegaly, a rare disease that … Continue reading →

Wood Sculpture “Dialogue” – Maple, Walnut, Mahogany. Art or kitch? You decide. Philippe Guillerm‘s music-inspired sculptures are whimsical and curvaceous string instruments. He uses the theme as a way of expressing human nature and needs. You see an instrument, he … Continue reading →

[youtube]bDaB-NNyM8o[/youtube] David Newton made a clever animation (4:15) of portions of the Bayeux Tapestry. The video ranges from the appearance of Halley’s Comet to the Battle of Hastings in 1066. The Bayeux Tapestry (French: Tapisserie de Bayeux) is a 50 … Continue reading →

“Barbecue society” in search of a green life: French villages have seen their population growing in the past ten years. No less than eight million French are dying to escape traffic jams, small appartments, and high rents – an increase … Continue reading →