Frogsmoke

Frigging expensive: A diamond-studded screwing ring

A Paris jeweler is selling a 40,000-euro (55,000-dollar) 18-carat diamond ring mounted in a sex toy that it claims is the world's most expensive erotic novelty.
"This sex toy was designed for rich people who want to declare their love in a special way," said Jean-Francois Tokars, a manager at Maison [...]

Two wonderful photo mishaps in one day:
FAIL One. Earlier this week a group of Spanish ETA members killed a French policeman. Most of them escaped, but fortunately, the gang was spotted on security cameras in a supermarket, and their photos were used to ask the public to find the baddies. But…

… it turns out that [...]

After a childhood populated by nasty experiences, the proprietors of this site have devoted themselves to identifying Entrances to Hell around the world. Submissions are open to all religions, pantheons, and faiths (or lack thereof).
Below are some French entrées à l'enfer:

Find more here.

Yesterday I asked for the name of this teenage boy on a motorbike.
It's French international rugby player Sébastien Chabal. He is known for his full beard, long hair and ferocious tackling, leading the French rugby fans to nickname him l'Homme des Cavernes—the Caveman. With this look, he has a number of lucrative commercial contracts [...]

Your end-of-week clicks:

Don't you wish you'd kept your clothes on, Carla? Provocative photos of Miss Bruni aged 25 are put up for auction (Daily Mail)
Bring back the brothel, says female French MP (The Guardian)
Champagne bottles get lighter and greener (Times Online)
Medieval child's brain to unlock human thought processes (Telegraph)
French law drives country’s first television wine [...]

For what it's worth (and never mind the subtitle errors): A Muslim woman's creative solution for those who choose to cover their face in public where the Niqab is banned.

Want to go on Facebook in imperial style? Get yourself a Louis XVI computer.

Commemorating their 10th anniversary, Chirita in Paris introduces computers, exclusively designed to blend in the elegance of a majestic living room or office. They are handcrafted out of brass, bronze, alabaster, malachite and lapis lazuli. For € 13,000 ($17,800) and more the [...]

I'm afraid there's no time for serious blogging today so I leave you with some pretty pictures from France, courtesy of Golberz.com. Click to view bigger.

Holocaust survivor Veil joins Académie Française

Simone Veil, a French political icon who survived Nazi death camps and went on to lead Europe's joint parliament, is joining the prestigious Académie Française, guardian of the French language. Veil is only the sixth woman to join the academy since it was founded by Cardinal Richelieu in 1635.
Looking at [...]

He's French and pretty famous these days. Tomorrow I'll reveal his name but feel free to guess.

These guys won't murder, rape, steal or become politicians again. They're part of a chilling show in Paris: French guillotine exhibition opens 33 years after the last head fell (Guardian)

Click pic for more images from the "Crime and Punishment" exhibition in the Musee d'Orsay.

[Source: unknown]

2m40.com is a high-impact blog (with a great 4-character domain name), dedicated to the tunnel at the Place de l'Etoile in Paris. Since the tunnel has a clearance of just 240 cm (7.9 ft) it's a wonderful trap for lorries that are too tall to pass. Here are some of the photos, but there are [...]

Believe it or not: anyone publishing a photo of the Eiffel Tower by night is in breach of copyright laws!

From the FAQ on the official site:
Q : Are we allowed to publish photos of the Eiffel Tower?
A : There are no restrictions on publishing a picture of the Tower by day. Photos taken at [...]

A stunning presentation of the place where archaeologists identified a series of marks believed to be a precursor to the game of tic-tac-toe. Click pic to start the tour (requires Flash).

[Thanks Max]