Archive for January, 2008
How Parisians Stay Thin
You would think with the vast number of bakeries, candy shops and specialty foods that the average Parisian would be hefty, but the typical Parisian is trim. Want to know some of their secrets?
If you guessed ’stress and cigarettes’, then I know you’re a Parisian! But the main reason is good eating habits.
When I first came to Paris, I studied at the Sorbonne and had the good luck to be hired as an ‘au paire’ for a French professor. During that time I learned that day-to-day meals don’t resemble in any way the meals you might have in restaurants or even the meal you may have at a French friend’s home when you’ve been invited over for dinner.
Here’s a typical example of the day’s meals:
Date: January 14th, 2008 |
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Napoleon’s ‘Eye’-Baron Dominique-Vivant Denon
Every day hundreds of tourists rush toward the Denon wing of the Louvre, rarely bothering to wonder about the man for whom this museum wing was named.
Baron Dominique-Vivant Denon studied to be a lawyer but he ended up becoming the confidant of kings, mistresses of kings, and emperors, starting with Louis XV, Madame de Pompadour, straight on through to Napoleon. Hired by Napoleon as the acquisitions director for the new Napoleon wing of the Louvre museum, Denon was most often described as ‘Napoleon’s Eye’.
Date: January 11th, 2008 |
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Museum Envy: Musee du Luxembourg, Stand Proud!
Green with envy?
Last week for Arcimboldo - closes January 13th, 2008- Hurry! Don’t Miss it!
Parislogue readers know that I’ve highly praised some of the recent shows at the Musee du Luxembourg - most recently the Arcimboldo exhibit, featuring the whimsical portraits of 16th century Hapsbourg court artist Giuseppe Arcimboldo.
The Musee du Luxembourg has no permanent collection. These are temporary shows, extravaganzas normally focused on one artist - recently Titian and Lalique. This blossoming into an ‘attraction’ might come as a surprise to a museum that for some people represents the epitome of government-stamped conventionalism. (Its 19th-century state-purchased art was transferred to the Musee d’Orsay and featured the darlings of the day such as Bouguereau). Apparently, in spite of the number of people lining up for show openings (many of them, Parisians), the museum has received some flak from the ‘experts’.
Date: January 8th, 2008 |
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Wedding Bells for Sarkozy and Carla Bruni?
First Disney Land and now the sound of wedding bells for Carla Bruni and France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy?
According to the Journal du Dimanche and Le Parisien, it looks like wedding bells may soon be ringing by mid-February for the couple that so recently walked hand-in-hand this past December in Disney Land.
Date: January 7th, 2008 |
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Dakar Rally
Even if the Dakar cross-country hadn’t been cancelled, it wouldn’t have begun in Paris. Once known as The Paris-Dakar Rally, it hasn’t begun in Paris since 1995. Over the years, the 7,000 mile race open to amateurs and professionals has changed its starting and finishing points a number of times. This year the cross-country race would have begun in Lisbon, Portugal. Still, for French spectators the race is closely followed - perhaps even with greater sentiment than the Grand Prix or Le Mans. Whereas those races are all about the racing personalities, Paris-Dakar is just as much about the desert, the drama and the sense of adventure involved in such a feat.
The timing in January is just the thing to chase away the mid-winter blues and when Paris’ streets are gay and drizzly, you push away the clouds with the images of jeeps, motorcycles and trucks negotiating sand dunes.
Back in mid-nineties, Paris’s mayor no longer wanted the rally to start on the Champs Elysees and shipped it out to Eurodisney. L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican City newspaper described the rally as “a vulgar display of power and wealth in places where men continue to die from hunger and thirst.”
At most, one might consider the decision to cancel the race as hypocritical for several reasons. Already, a number of people have died over the years - it’s a risky race. You’re driving for long hours in extremely inhospitable terrain (geographically speaking). A sudden sandstorm caused a news crew to plow into a dune one year.
Date: January 6th, 2008 |
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Paris’s Mayor Proposes ‘Autolib’
The City of Paris’s bike rental program called ‘Velib’ has met with such resounding success that Paris’s mayor Bertrand Delanoe has proposed a comparable short term car rental service called ‘Autolib’. ‘Autolib’ would put app. 2000 cars into play. Sounds like fun. How Paris taxi drivers might respond to this program remains to be seen.
In his bid for reelection, Delanoe also has promised more subsidized housing for middle and low income residents as well as day-care centers. He’s quoted in today’s ‘Le Parisien’: “My adversaries are conservatism and lack of sincerity.”
Some of his additional quotes …
Date: January 13th, 2008 |
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When Diamonds are Not a Girl’s Best Friend
Although Parisians have an affinity for gold bangles, one thing you won’t see quite as often are ostentatious diamond rings. That may have something to do with Marie Antoinette. It’s one thing to be a spendthrift and fritter government money away on baubles - it’s another thing to be accused of having secretly commissioned an outrageously expensive necklace - through the intercession of a cardinal.
The Queen’s Necklace scandal makes modern-day excess look positively stoic in comparison. While we watch reality TV mimicking every day banality,18th-century Paris brimmed with real life scandal of operatic proportions. Some historians feel the scandal may have been the last straw propulsing the French people toward a revolution.
You have to read the whole story to see how such a great con was pulled off, but more importantly for 21st-century Paris visitors, you can actually relive the juiciest moments of this tale of greed and deception which gives new definitions to ‘cardinal sins’.
Date: January 10th, 2008 |
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Cluny Museum - Free Daily Admission until June 30th
The Ministry of Culture has decided to allow free admission to the Musee du Cluny, Paris’s Middle Ages museum. Starting January 2, 2008 until June 30th, 2008, the museum will be free to the public. (For some strange reason, this handy bit of information is only posted on the French version of the official museum site!) This is a good opportunity to see the famous Dame and the Unicorn tapestry series as well as statuary from the Notre Dame Cathedral facade which was rediscovered in the 1970s.
Date: January 7th, 2008 |
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Where is Raimundo Querido?
Postscript to the Dakar Rally. Not only the Dakar Rally has been thwarted in starting its race. Likewise, Raimundo Querido who decided to do the Dakar rally on foot has also been advised to bypass Mauritania. Raimundo has lived in Paris suburbs and has gained notoriety as a stuntman (his skills were portrayed in the James Bond film Casino Royale).
Visit Adrenaline Team to learn more about Raimundo Querido. And P.S. Good News - the trek continues according to Raimundo’s site - he’s just posted. This may well be the first year …
Date: January 6th, 2008 |
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Paris-Dakar Rally canceled!
The annual Paris-Dakar Rally which has been an institution since 1979 has been canceled this year because of terrorism threats. The organizers insist that the safety of participants comes first. The killing of four French tourists in a Mauritanian town through which rally participants pass, coupled with advisories from French intelligence were reasons for the cancellation.
The Mauritanian government had planned to place 4000 military personal in bivouacs at various points along the route. Ba Madine, the Minister of Tourism in Mauritania says, “When there’s a terrorist menace, the best way …
Date: January 5th, 2008 |
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