Zarkface and Zollandman in Limited Editions
Bastien Rochard, a 25-year-old entrepreneur from Lille, is marketing collectible figurines of France’s two main presidential contenders ahead of the May 5 runoff. The drawcard — and a possibly unintended comment on politics in general — is that they are limited editions. If it catches on, this limited-edition-politician idea – numbered, rare and destined for [...]
Merkozy Legacy: an EU on Edge of Implosion
It will be decades before the deepening financial and social crisis affecting EU democracies is over and along the way the very EU itself may implode. The popular shorthand answer for all the angst caused to largely innocent voters and taxpayers has been “string up the bankers” but the realities are hugely more complex than [...]
Rock in France – A Review
In France, in the beginning there was Johnny Hallyday, 68, the musical equivalent to that other French ‘incontournable‘ the steak frites. Johnny Hallyday And like all good national treasures, he’s still around, writes Tony Smith in this review of Rock in France. Tony Smith,a British-born folk and pop singer and French restaurateur today launches an occasional column on [...]
A Zero Watt Night Quiz
Did you know in France it is reported that to power the ads on JC Decaux or Clear Channel bus shelters and ‘city information’ hoardings during the dark hours uses the equivalent of all the energy generated by one of France’s 58 nuclear reactors! Second Zero Watt Night – 27 April 2012 Tony Smith [...]
Try Nancy When Seeking Macaron Mecca
Is Nancy. Paris or Vancouver the true Mecca of the Macaron? Thanks to Marguerite Gaillot and Marie-Elisabeth Morlot, two sweet-toothed Bénédictine nuns from the Dames du Saint-Sacrement order, Nancy can claim that crown. But Paris has since upstaged its Lorraine rival with a silky smooth ganache upgrade coupled with classy, gourmet-tailored touches, while Vancouver has [...]
McBaguette’s Tasting Notes – ‘Pas Terrible’
Le McBaguette just landed in the favourite fast food outlet of Euro MEP José Bové (!), to garner but lukewarm approval from critical French gastronomes. At least that was the majority view of a 12-strong panel of editorial epicureans at the online French newspaper 20Minutes (pictured here) Gathered round the editorial conference table for a McBag tasting (ouf wine connoisseurs look away [...]
French Hard? Pfff… Not Like This
Having trouble with French verbs? Stop worrying, just make sure you’re equipped with the right props, a few plosives, and voilà your next conversation in the Café du Commerce will be a linguistic triumph. Of course it will help considerably if the wine is a fine and eminently drinkable vintage! With thanks for an amusing [...]
Mont-St-Michel Saved from Wind-Farms
The threat of wind farm blight to Mont-St-Michel the tidal island and Unesco World Heritage site, appears to have been averted, but proposals for subsidy-hungry turbines off the Normandy coast and notably the D-Day landing site at Arromanches are going ahead. Following a major campaign by anti-wind groups and conservationists and concerns voiced by UNESCO, French authorities April 4 [...]
Eurozone Crisis – Breaking Up is Hard to Do
There are fresh concerns about the sovereign debt crisis with fears that Spain could follow Greece, Ireland and Portugal to be the fourth Eurozone (EZ) state begging for a bailout. Voices in election-fevered France and elsewhere again question the survival of the single currency union. Should the eurozone fail, warns Professor Richard Baldwin of the [...]
EuroNewsTV Goes Far Right Hunting
Euronews TV has been out on the election trail to see what makes the far right in France and elsewhere in Europe tick. Here is their report in French with English voice-over. Watch the report here or on YouTube: Published on 6 Apr 2012 by Euronews http://www.euronews.com/ Lyon is France’s second city and birth place [...]
Missing the E-word in the French Election
Jacques Attali, French economist and writer is clear — whoever wins the presidential election faces an economic minefield that all candidates in the campaign have so far carefully ignored . Here he points to the serious issues he believes are set to erupt: “(Come election day plus one) either François Hollande is elected or Nicolas Sarkozy is re-elected. In both cases, the [...]
Ali Baba and the 41 (000) Bottles of Wine
France will soon have a second Louvre – the one known and loved by all in Paris will, if a former boilermaker gets his way, be complemented by the Louvre du Vin, an extraordinary collection of 41,000 grands crus now looking for a home in the south-West. (Read more French News here) For Michel-Jack Chasseuil, a [...]
Why did Google Street-View our Village ?
A Google Street-view camera car recently trundled slowly down our street (7 residents) and now even this tiny French village can be virtually-walked by anyone using the Internet to plan a holiday. At the time a neighbour wondered why Google would have any interest in a pretty but obscure village such as ours in a somewhat forgotten [...]
Erosion of Common Law and Common Sense
How responsible is the EU for changes that many fear are eroding freedom of speech and expression, common law and common sense? These and other questions are raised here by a UK blogger writing just months after Brussels — with breathtaking disregard for democracy — imposed unelected placemen on two sovereign member states in a desperate [...]
EU’s Sovereign Debt Crisis – Just Cancel It?
Economists, politicians and protesters have at various times since the global economic meltdown hit, questioned French membership of Euroland as well they should given what could lie in store with the European Stability Mechanism. As the republished analysis that follows shows the Manifeste des economistes atterrés drew a huge response in France for its denunciation of financial excess and its proposals [...]
