39Vaugirard

Bad timing if you have reservations this week.

[From Strike to disrupt French air traffic this week | Business News | Reuters]

We haven’t gotten any shots out here in far-flung San Francisco, so we’ve been waiting anxiously for a wave of swinish flu to break over our shores. So far, lot’s of other childhood coughs and sniffles, but no porcine fevers. However, to be on the safe side, and be four more defense links in the chain, I’d love to get us all innoculated. I doubt France is selling these through Amazon though.

France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots
PARIS
Sun Jan 3, 2010

PARIS (Reuters) – France is looking to sell millions of surplus vaccines for the H1N1 flu strain after ordering many more shots than it actually needed, officials said on Sunday.

[From France wants to sell millions of surplus flu shots | Reuters]

As reported in NYT,

PARIS | Nearly all of France’s main museums and monuments were open to the public on Wednesday, including the Louvre, after a museum workers’ strike had shut their doors. The Musée d’Orsay was also open, with protesters blocking access to ticket booths. At Versailles, the royal apartments and temporary exhibitions were open at full price, though some rooms, like the Dauphin apartments, were closed. The Pompidou Center, the Arc de Triomphe and the Château de Compiègne remain closed.

[From Most Paris Museums Reopen After Strike - Globespotters Blog - NYTimes.com]

I hope the strike at gave some tourists motivation to see some of the “second tier” museums in Paris, many of which we would build a temple around if they were in the U.S.

Inevitable during “strike season.”

PARIS — On a gray, drizzly day just made for a Paris museum visit, workers at the city’s premier art institutions went on strike Wednesday, leaving tourists out in the cold and some residents worried about the image that France projects.

The Pompidou Center modern art museum and the Musee d’Orsay, with its famed paintings by the Impressionists, were closed Wednesday after workers angry over a government cost-cutting measure voted to strike.

Workers at the Louvre, the crown jewel of Paris museums, also voted to strike, but by midmorning parts of the sprawling complex had been opened to visitors. The museum reduced its euro9 ($13.50) to euro6 ($9.00) for the day.

[From The Associated Press: Many Paris museums closed due to strike]

Ah, politics is so grand in France. Imagine a conservative President in the United States embracing a leftist intellectual figure (or several) in order to burnish his own intellectual credentials and position himself as a worthy heir to the 20th Century intellectual tradition of France. I’m afraid we Americans go the other way, with “Democrats” debasing themselves by honoring a B-movie star champion with disputable intellectual credentials.

Given the Panthéon’s function as the final repose for France’s greatest heroes, it’s perhaps not surprising that efforts are now afoot to relocate the ashes of writer and philosopher Albert Camus to a site beneath the 18th century Paris building’s cupola. But rather than earning plaudits from intellectuals and ordinary French people alike, the move to honor the man some call France’s most influential postwar thinker is sparking controversy. Some pundits and historians say that Camus’ legacy is being exploited for political gain, while others argue that glorification of the philosopher by the French government would make a mockery of Camus’ deeply individualist convictions.

President Nicolas Sarkozy said last week that he wanted to add Camus to the giants of French history who are buried at the Panthéon — figures like Voltaire, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, Victor Hugo, Emile Zola and Louis Pasteur — as a way of revering an author whose defense of the downtrodden and veneration of the individual over the oppressive forces of society earned him fame and respect around the globe. But the announcement outraged Camus’ son, Jean, who saw a motivation of a different sort — an attempt by Sarkozy to “requisition” the legacy of a ferociously independent thinker who has long been a hero of the intellectual left.

[From Reburying Albert Camus: A Political Ploy by Sarkozy? - TIME]

The debate goes on between Camus’ son, Jean, who says the ploy runs counter to everything his father stood for, and his daughter Catherine who could imagine her father in the Panthéon.

As for myself, as a long long time fan and student of Camus, I think anything that keeps the memory of this thinking and work alive in the minds of the French and foreigners is a good thing. If anything, those who read Camus would tend to be less “des moutons” in following the thinking of Sarkozy and others on the Right.

There are two amazing facts in this story reported all over the blogosphere, and also in the New York Post.

The first is that the Louvre, in a situation they can’t control, will have to co-exist with the odeurs of a MacDo in its midst. Seems the Louvre can’t control the actual tenants in the big mall under the Carrousel, which is managed by a private company. I guess that’s why there is already a Starbucks there.

Second, though, is the fact that never ceases to amaze: France is the second most important market in the world for McDonald’s after the United States. A spokesman for McDonald’s says it’s because McDonald’s is perceived as a French company. I find that very hard to believe, but it sure is a great trick if have pulled it off.

PARIS — French culture and American convenience will come together in December — thanks to plans by the McDonald’s restaurant chain to hang its shingle in the shadow of the Louvre.

McDonald’s is delighted at the prospect of feeding hungry culture vultures. But not everyone is happy about mixing high art and fast food.

The McDonald’s will be installed in the food court of the underground mall adjoining the museum, known as the Carrousel du Louvre, as the fast food chain fetes its 30th anniversary in France, McDonald’s France said.

The pairing could serve the interests of both. The Louvre is the world’s most visited museum; France is McDonald’s top market outside the United States.

[From McDonald's restaurant to be placed inside food court at Carrousel du Louvre]

The food is already about as bad as it can be in the Louvre food court. Visitors are strongly advised to eat after or before they enter the Louvre maze.

Funny. I can’t imagine the fact that stores are closed on Sunday to be a reason not to stay an extra day in Paris, but I guess some people must be shopping all the time. As a student, I resented the Sunday closings because it just meant so much more to pack into a Saturday, but now I treasure the idea of one day where everyone is forced to really take the day off. No “Honey-do” lists, no grocery shopping, and less stuff to fill the void in our souls, but rather a long day of family meals and walks in the park. TV, of course has ruined some of that nothing-to-do feeling already, but it’s more than a bit sad to see the French put one more nail in the coffin of true leisure, which many of us has felt was at the very core of spending time in Europe.

Paris is counting on American tourists — and a new law allowing more stores to open on Sundays — to boost tourism revenues pinched by the global financial downturn.

The French capital registered an 11.1-percent drop in foreign visitors in the first half of this year compared with the first half of 2008, according to figures released Wednesday by the Paris Tourism Office.

The number of Americans in Paris — long the largest contingent of foreigners here — dived last year because of U.S. economic woes and the expensive euro. But it started to pick up again, by 1.1 percent, in the second quarter of this year, the tourism office said.

[From The Associated Press: Paris hopes Americans boost flagging tourism]

Alas, again, it’s the Americans’ fault and hopes that we’ll come here in greater numbers for the shopping.

It was to be another great American come-back story, but not to be this time. And, after last weekend’s disappointment for Tom Watson, this has been a bad year for the hopes of old geezers everywhere. From what I’ve read about Armstrong, I doubt if he’s happy “just to be in it,” but still for us over 40 or 50, it’s still amazing to see these guys get so close, even if they don’t take away the final trophy. I’m sure in France, older French men were cheering for Lance this year, even if he had to pop little blue pills to make it to the finish.

Paris – Alberto Contador won the 2009 Tour de France on Sunday, the second Tour title of his career following victory in 2007.
The 26-year-old Contador outdueled Luxembourg’s Andy Schleck and seven-time Tour champion Lance Armstrong, who finished third in his comeback after four years away from the race.

From ROUNDUP Contador wins 2009 Tour de France, Armstrong takes third

Final Stages of the Tour de France

Tour de France leader Alberto Contador trails Astana teammate Lance Armstrong during Tuesday’s 16th stage. Contador remains the overall leader by 1:37.

[From Final Stages of the Tour de France - washingtonpost.com]

A friend asked me what to do on Bastille Day and I suggested fireworks on the Champs de Mars. But what about for our Independance Day. Here’s a fun idea for kids and adults that will get you out and exploring. Sitting in my office in San Francisco, I feel smug that I already had Clue 1 (below) for the 6th figured out without leaving my chair. I wish we could be there for this.  

On July 4th, the 4th annual Paris Treasure Hunt will take residents and visitors alike on a day-long quest through the streets of Paris. Previous years’ events drew upwards of 15,000 participants, and this year’s event will surely do the same. The event is open to individuals or teams (of up to six people), and prizes are awarded at the end of the day.

The treasure hunt is actually a series of hunts divided among the ten districts (arrondissements) that participate. Each district has its own quest and a variety of “enigmas” – the story that leads you along the path – to put people on different paths to the finish line. Each district also has an English-language enigma, so fear not. It’s not necessary to parle vous Française.

In the 6th arrondissement, for instance, your enigma may start off with a paragraph that reads: “Walk along the great garden. Your direction: the palace. You are on the longest street of Paris. On your right side, you will see the museum. Reach the painter, behind the forest. And when you see the arches, go under them. Against the wall, you will find a meter.“

[From The Paris Treasure Hunt: A Great Way to Explore the City of Paris | Parisien Salon]