Thursday, February 12, 2009
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Cheese Scandal, E-Babe and Free Museums
I'm sure you've all heard the big news this week but just in case you missed it, a scandal of seismic proportions is brewing ... French government and food industry officials on Thursday denounced a US decision to triple import duties on Roquefort cheese, warning that it could spell the end of Roquefort exports to the US market.
"Incomprehensible and inadmissible" fumed Anne-Marie Idrac, secretary of state for state for foreign trade. "I am very shocked that one of the last moves by the outgoing Bush administration is this increase in customs duties." Roquefort cheese was among a number of European Union products to be hit with new US tariffs in retaliation for an EU ban on US hormone-treated beef.
Speaking of scandals, a student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit $3.7 million. Natalie Dylan, 22, is auctioning off her virginity to fund her master's degree and claims her offer of a one-night stand has persuaded 10,000 men to bid for sex with her. Last September, when her auction came to light, she had received bids up to $243,000 but since then interest in her has rocketed.
The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself and was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.
And if that wasn't enough good news for this week, in a New Year's address to the arts world, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said under-25s and school teachers would be allowed in to all museums free of charge from April 4, in addition to under-18s who already enjoy free tickets. As part of a raft of announcements aimed at promoting French culture and the arts, Sarkozy said he planned to create a new national history museum, in a "symbolic" site, in a bid to reinforce France's identity.
France's annual national heritage budget will be boosted by 100 million euros, with priority given to preserving "emblematic great monuments, cathedrals, abbeys and small town monuments," he said.
I love the French reaction to a global financial meltdown!!
Some photos of the week:
Real Food at Cafe Lea
Light From My Neighbors Window
Credit Card Image I Submitted to Capital One (It Was Rejected)
Obama Carved in Elevator in Montmartre
Making Baguettes
"Incomprehensible and inadmissible" fumed Anne-Marie Idrac, secretary of state for state for foreign trade. "I am very shocked that one of the last moves by the outgoing Bush administration is this increase in customs duties." Roquefort cheese was among a number of European Union products to be hit with new US tariffs in retaliation for an EU ban on US hormone-treated beef.
Speaking of scandals, a student who is auctioning her virginity to pay for a masters degree in Family and Marriage therapy has seen bidding hit $3.7 million. Natalie Dylan, 22, is auctioning off her virginity to fund her master's degree and claims her offer of a one-night stand has persuaded 10,000 men to bid for sex with her. Last September, when her auction came to light, she had received bids up to $243,000 but since then interest in her has rocketed.
The student who has a degree in Women's Studies insisted she was not demeaning herself and was persuaded to offer herself to the highest bidder after her sister Avia, 23, paid for her own degree after working as a prostitute for three weeks.
And if that wasn't enough good news for this week, in a New Year's address to the arts world, French President Nicolas Sarkozy said under-25s and school teachers would be allowed in to all museums free of charge from April 4, in addition to under-18s who already enjoy free tickets. As part of a raft of announcements aimed at promoting French culture and the arts, Sarkozy said he planned to create a new national history museum, in a "symbolic" site, in a bid to reinforce France's identity.
France's annual national heritage budget will be boosted by 100 million euros, with priority given to preserving "emblematic great monuments, cathedrals, abbeys and small town monuments," he said.
I love the French reaction to a global financial meltdown!!
Some photos of the week:
Sunday, January 11, 2009
Snow, Snow and Daniel Craig ...
Snow was the talk of the town this week. It wasn't like Paris got hit by some huge snow storm (which unbelievably happened in Marseille along the Mediterranean coast this week) but for the first time in a long time, the snow fell and stayed ... and stayed ... and stayed.
It's very rare to see Paris covered in white and as you can imagine, it's very beautiful. I went up to Montmartre and photographed some almost dream-like images of Sacre Coeur.
It was pretty odd seeing Place du Tertre (the square in the center of Montmartre where all the artists paint each day) almost completely empty and covered in white (see image below). It looks like things are finally thawing out but along with the oppressively cold temperatures, it's been a memorable week.
Photographed actor Daniel Craig for the French premiere of his new film "Defiance". He seems like a nice enough man but he looks like he really could kill you at any moment if you do something wrong.
There were a couple of news stories this week that I found culturally interesting - one in England and the other in France. I think both articles highlight general differences in the mentality of Europeans and Americans. Have a read ...
CLICK HERE for the first article.
CLICK HERE for the second article.
(SNOW!) Photos of the week:
Notre Dame in Snow
Might be better to eat indoors
Street in Montmartre
View from Montmartre
Leaves in Snow
It's very rare to see Paris covered in white and as you can imagine, it's very beautiful. I went up to Montmartre and photographed some almost dream-like images of Sacre Coeur.
It was pretty odd seeing Place du Tertre (the square in the center of Montmartre where all the artists paint each day) almost completely empty and covered in white (see image below). It looks like things are finally thawing out but along with the oppressively cold temperatures, it's been a memorable week.
Photographed actor Daniel Craig for the French premiere of his new film "Defiance". He seems like a nice enough man but he looks like he really could kill you at any moment if you do something wrong.
There were a couple of news stories this week that I found culturally interesting - one in England and the other in France. I think both articles highlight general differences in the mentality of Europeans and Americans. Have a read ...
CLICK HERE for the first article.
CLICK HERE for the second article.
(SNOW!) Photos of the week:
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
2009, Parties, Car Burning and Snow ...
Since this is my first blog posting of 2009, let me first send out my best wishes to everyone for 2009. My visitors and I did a bit of partying starting on New Year's Eve and continuing for the next couple of days.
The New Year's Eve party that we went to had so much food left over that it forced a secondary party just to finish off the food. There were many noteworthy scenes that I witnessed, like this photo below.
But each of us has our own way of celebrating the new year. Each new year in France, one of my favorite January 1 rituals is to check how many cars were burnt the preceding night. According to figures from the French Interior Ministry, 1,147 cars went up in smoke on New Year's Eve — a 30% rise on the 879 autos torched the same night in 2007. I'm always stunned by the figure. I've tried to research why this happens and there are all sorts of theories but I don't find any of them completely satisfying. If you want to read more about this annual "event", click HERE to read a Time Magazine article about it.
This week also brought a pretty rare event to Paris ... snow that actually stayed on the ground for a while. I didn't get to shoot much that day but I expect to have some serious snow photos next week.
Some photos of the week:
Paris Street Gang
Parisian Partygoer
Muscle Car On My Street
Frozen Fountain with Rainbow - Palais Royal
One Chief
The New Year's Eve party that we went to had so much food left over that it forced a secondary party just to finish off the food. There were many noteworthy scenes that I witnessed, like this photo below.
But each of us has our own way of celebrating the new year. Each new year in France, one of my favorite January 1 rituals is to check how many cars were burnt the preceding night. According to figures from the French Interior Ministry, 1,147 cars went up in smoke on New Year's Eve — a 30% rise on the 879 autos torched the same night in 2007. I'm always stunned by the figure. I've tried to research why this happens and there are all sorts of theories but I don't find any of them completely satisfying. If you want to read more about this annual "event", click HERE to read a Time Magazine article about it.
This week also brought a pretty rare event to Paris ... snow that actually stayed on the ground for a while. I didn't get to shoot much that day but I expect to have some serious snow photos next week.
Some photos of the week:
Sunday, December 28, 2008
Visitors, Christmas and a Good Resto
Visiting period has opened. For the next few weeks, 5 different visitors will be coming to hang out in Paris. First up were my cousins from New York. We've been having fun just tooling around the city, catching up and trying to survive the bitter cold.
Had a great night out with my 10-year old cousin. We hit the town together and spent an action-packed evening that included bowling, air hockey, pool, Elvis pinball and multiple crepes.
Took a break from the city and headed out to spend Christmas Day in Ivry-la-Bataille, about 50 miles from Paris.
Spent a night laughing, eating, drinking champagne and watching the ups and downs of gift giving.
Speaking of eating, went to an excellent restaurant this week. It's called Alcazar and is located at 62 rue Mazarine in the 6th. The food is modern French but it's generally a non-French experience. Located on a small street, the restaurant is large (by Paris standards) and chic, almost LA-like, and is own by a Brit (Terence Conran). I can attest that the fish and chips are absolutely delicious. Go for lunch if you can because they have a great specials.
Photos of the week:
A new mosque? No, a Bush press conference (thanks to Norman)
Individually-wrapped french fries
Large paintings at the Louvre
Nipple pinch at the Louvre
Had a great night out with my 10-year old cousin. We hit the town together and spent an action-packed evening that included bowling, air hockey, pool, Elvis pinball and multiple crepes.
Took a break from the city and headed out to spend Christmas Day in Ivry-la-Bataille, about 50 miles from Paris.
Spent a night laughing, eating, drinking champagne and watching the ups and downs of gift giving.
Speaking of eating, went to an excellent restaurant this week. It's called Alcazar and is located at 62 rue Mazarine in the 6th. The food is modern French but it's generally a non-French experience. Located on a small street, the restaurant is large (by Paris standards) and chic, almost LA-like, and is own by a Brit (Terence Conran). I can attest that the fish and chips are absolutely delicious. Go for lunch if you can because they have a great specials.
Photos of the week:
Monday, December 22, 2008
Compassion ...
Not much happened this week but what did was a grand experience. Both good and bad. An elderly woman who I've been friends with for almost 7 years now needed to have a rather complicated form of cataract surgery performed on her this week. She's pretty much all alone in Paris and her relatives who live in the suburbs were out of town. So I picked her up at her apartment and brought her to the clinic for the procedure.
It's hard to explain the level of fear and anxiety she experienced, starting with the taxi from her apartment. By the time we arrived at the clinic, she was almost inconsolable. We checked in and sat for about 20 minutes in a waiting room. Every time the clerk would come in and call someone's name, she'd jump up and nervously say "was that my name ... I think it was my name". We eventually got called and admitted to a private room.
The room was absolutely perfect. Seemingly new, like a hotel room, with a touchscreen television that had an internet connection, telephone, cable, etc. I was relieved to see that the room was great, thinking that might help ease my friend's angst a little. Nope. She looked around for a few seconds and then launched into a tirade that maybe only a mother who's child throws a tantrum at the supermarket could understand. The bed was too high (of course we lowered it), she was used to taking baths and the room only had a shower, she's used to a bar of soap and here there was only liquid soap. But the topper was the heating system. The room and the whole clinic had a central heating system that would blow warm air into each room. It made noise but just above a whisper. Well, my friend convinced herself that there was no way she could sleep in a room that noisy. First she called the department administrator and said that she had specifically requested a quiet room. Of course the clinic had actually given her their best room, the most quiet and had even (I found out later) actually upgraded her to a VIP room. It had zero street noise and was at the end of the hall with only one adjacent room. She had the best room.
The administrator was quite kind and found a solution for my friend. They brought in a radiator heater which made no noise and turned off the fan in my friend's room. Perfect right? Wrong. My friend decided she didn't like the KIND of heat from a radiator heater so that wouldn't do. She demanded to be moved to another room. The administrator told her that all the rooms had the same heating system and besides that, the clinic was full. Well, over the next 2 hours(!) my friend called just about everyone involved with the clinic from the admitting officer, the janitor, the heating technician, the top person and a few people I didn't even know who they were.
At one point, there were 7 clinic people standing in our room trying to make the situation better. The were completely at their wits end but other than the heating technician, refused to give up. I tried to stay out of the situation the best I could because it was difficult for me to following everything in French and truly there wasn't really anything I could do. Finally, the top administrator, not knowing what else to do or who I was, tried to enlist my help but asking me "Monsieur, que-ce que vous pensez (Sir, what do you think)? Feeling a bit on the spot and having 8 French people staring at me and hanging on my response was quite a moment. I paused and then said "I think you've done everything humanly possible and that my friend has created a problem without a solution". Everyone looked around for a couple of seconds and then my friend seemed to realize that what I said might be true and quite unexpectedly calmed down a bit. She told the mob in her room that of course a clinic can not be like home and that she would just have to deal with the inconveniences, or something to that effect.
I ended up spending 7 hours there and another 3 hours when I went to pick her up two days later. My friend's behavior was outrageous and painful but what will stay with me the most was the compassion of the clinic staff. Can any of you out there imagine the employees of a clinic where you live being that compassionate? Seven people over two hours trying to solve an unsolvable situation. As often as I call the behavior of Parisians savage (and that's often), events like this happen and I gain a whole new respect for the people and the "humanness" of their culture.
Some photos of the week:
Metro scene
Metro scene
It's hard to explain the level of fear and anxiety she experienced, starting with the taxi from her apartment. By the time we arrived at the clinic, she was almost inconsolable. We checked in and sat for about 20 minutes in a waiting room. Every time the clerk would come in and call someone's name, she'd jump up and nervously say "was that my name ... I think it was my name". We eventually got called and admitted to a private room.
The room was absolutely perfect. Seemingly new, like a hotel room, with a touchscreen television that had an internet connection, telephone, cable, etc. I was relieved to see that the room was great, thinking that might help ease my friend's angst a little. Nope. She looked around for a few seconds and then launched into a tirade that maybe only a mother who's child throws a tantrum at the supermarket could understand. The bed was too high (of course we lowered it), she was used to taking baths and the room only had a shower, she's used to a bar of soap and here there was only liquid soap. But the topper was the heating system. The room and the whole clinic had a central heating system that would blow warm air into each room. It made noise but just above a whisper. Well, my friend convinced herself that there was no way she could sleep in a room that noisy. First she called the department administrator and said that she had specifically requested a quiet room. Of course the clinic had actually given her their best room, the most quiet and had even (I found out later) actually upgraded her to a VIP room. It had zero street noise and was at the end of the hall with only one adjacent room. She had the best room.
The administrator was quite kind and found a solution for my friend. They brought in a radiator heater which made no noise and turned off the fan in my friend's room. Perfect right? Wrong. My friend decided she didn't like the KIND of heat from a radiator heater so that wouldn't do. She demanded to be moved to another room. The administrator told her that all the rooms had the same heating system and besides that, the clinic was full. Well, over the next 2 hours(!) my friend called just about everyone involved with the clinic from the admitting officer, the janitor, the heating technician, the top person and a few people I didn't even know who they were.
At one point, there were 7 clinic people standing in our room trying to make the situation better. The were completely at their wits end but other than the heating technician, refused to give up. I tried to stay out of the situation the best I could because it was difficult for me to following everything in French and truly there wasn't really anything I could do. Finally, the top administrator, not knowing what else to do or who I was, tried to enlist my help but asking me "Monsieur, que-ce que vous pensez (Sir, what do you think)? Feeling a bit on the spot and having 8 French people staring at me and hanging on my response was quite a moment. I paused and then said "I think you've done everything humanly possible and that my friend has created a problem without a solution". Everyone looked around for a couple of seconds and then my friend seemed to realize that what I said might be true and quite unexpectedly calmed down a bit. She told the mob in her room that of course a clinic can not be like home and that she would just have to deal with the inconveniences, or something to that effect.
I ended up spending 7 hours there and another 3 hours when I went to pick her up two days later. My friend's behavior was outrageous and painful but what will stay with me the most was the compassion of the clinic staff. Can any of you out there imagine the employees of a clinic where you live being that compassionate? Seven people over two hours trying to solve an unsolvable situation. As often as I call the behavior of Parisians savage (and that's often), events like this happen and I gain a whole new respect for the people and the "humanness" of their culture.
Some photos of the week:
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