Frogsmoke

Opening of a dog butcher shop in Paris in the 1870s.
Animal rights activists may be appalled by images of Chinese and Koreans eating dogs, but not so long ago the French did exactly the same. And according to some, even today dogs end up on French tables.
Eating dogs was common during periods of famine and [...]

Cecilia Sarkozy and one of her daughters.
A long and good story about France's First lady in the Sunday Times. Some quotes:

The deployment of Cécilia [to free the Bulgarian medics] helped to clinch a deal, certainly: Muammar Gadaffi, the eccentric – some say romantic – Libyan leader fell quickly under the charm of the tall, chic [...]

Images from the previous event – 2"22'
Updated. This week marks the 10th anniversary of the bi-annual Lorraine Mondial Air Ballons event in the north-east of France.
The event, the largest of its kind in the world, unites one thousand balloonists from 70 countries, and some 400.000 spectators.
If all goes well, the organisers hope to break [...]

Pretty, eco-friendly but not waterproof:
Japanese architect Shigeru Ban designed a paper bridge which crosses the Gardon River in southern France, near the ancient Roman Pont du Gard.
Shigeru's cardboard-tube structure is strong enough to carry 20 people at a time. It took 25 French and Japanese architecture students a month to build the bridge from [...]

Portrait of Leslie, by 22-year old French photographer Wahiba
The first time I saw this photo I though I had seen the girl before. Then I realized she looks just like another girl with a mysterious smile…
Photo source (Flickr) | .W.Blogging | Via

The best of the web and the international press, collected for you by Frogsmoke. Today, a speech that triggered an international incident, a radical feminist as minister, a TV presenter fearing for his job, the come-back of a famous actor, a psychotic bear, an actress with attitude, and a high-speed success story. Enjoy!
De Gaulle didn't [...]

Hit by a bullet from 1.5km distance
A 60-year old man was seriously injured by a stray bullet, shot from a distance of at least 1.5km (1 mile). The man was quietly drinking a cup of coffee on his terrace, when he suddenly fell off his chair, hit by a bullet in his abdomen.
The police, quickly [...]

One thing the French will never learn: spreading the summer holidays
This weekend marks the traditional start of the French summer season. Yesterday was a 'black' day on French motorways. By noon, the combined traffic jam measured no less than 556km (345 miles). This was 'less bad' than last year, when the French created a total [...]

Photoshop contest on Worth100.com:
All past, present and future world leaders and political figures are fair game to be dressed as the opposite sex.
Bush and Blair were (obviously) the most cross-dressed politicians. The only two French political figures among the 104 entries were Jacques Chirac and Nicolas Sarkozy – shown above. As far as [...]

The best of the web and the international press, collected for you by Frogsmoke. Today, a disappointing Africa traveler, the crook of the century, rejecting motherhood, banking in France, and a man who never looked his age. Enjoy!
Sarkozy under fire for African vision (France24)
During his Africa trip Nicolas Sarkozy laid out his vision of a [...]

Near-Murder By Hairdryer:
A Frenchman in the north of the country narrowly escaped electrocution when his wife, her sister and her sister's boyfriend tried to kill him by throwing a hairdryer in his bath. The man was saved by his reflexes: he managed to change the direction of the projectile, so it didn't land in the [...]

Nicolas Sarkozy on wings:
French newspaper 20Minutes keeps track of Sarkozy's long-distance moves. They promise to update this Google Map regularly. The one shown above covers Sarko's flights in just one month.
It will be interesting to see what the map looks like at the end of his 5-year term. I'll keep track of it on [...]

Villepin: "You'll never get there if you run that way". Sarkozy: "You'll be surprised"
Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin is under formal investigation – a first step to possible criminal charges – over a smear campaign targeting President Nicolas Sarkozy.
Villepin was questioned by two judges probing the so-called Clearstream affair, in which Sarkozy's name [...]

Not clear enough?
It's clear now what caused the accident that killed 26 Polish pilgrims and seriously injured 24 in the East of France last week.
The 22-year old driver simply ignored about a dozen road signs telling him not to take the road that sent his bus into a ravine. Rather than heeding the warnings [...]

Ex-presidential candidate Segolene Royal can't make up her mind:
A few weeks ago, Paris Match weekly showed Royal swimming with her daughter during a holiday in Corsica. First she tried to stop publication of the weekly, but failed. Then she wanted to sue the magazine for violation of her privacy, and ask “significant damages”. Now she [...]