Archive for March, 2008
Beyond Paris: Happy Easter!
Wherever you may be in the world, even Yap, hope your Easter is sunny!
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2007 Yap, Federation of Micronesian States
Thinking of our friends in Yap today - hope your dream to come to Paris becomes reality!
Date: March 22nd, 2008 |
1 comment
John McCain in Paris
Republican presidential candidate John McCain may not have his memoirs Faith of my Fathers translated into French as of yet, but he’s the first U.S. presidential candidate to be received by France’s president Nicolas Sarkozy and prime minister Francois Fillon at the Elysee palace for an visit as member of the President Bush’s security commission.
McCain is quoted as saying that “relations will continue to improve between France and the US regardless of who becomes the next US president because this president (Nicolas Sarkozy) is determined to create cooperation.” According to the news reports, McCain states …
Date: March 22nd, 2008 |
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Paris Markets
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
Okay, I’ll be honest. Paris markets intimidate me. Just down the street we have the Edgar Quinet Market every Wednesday and Saturday Metro: Edgar Quinet. Even though I speak French well enough, my accent labels me as a foreigner and I still have memories of agonizing encounters at a 13th arrondissement market when I was an au pair/student trying to buy a piece of fresh fruit or a box of strawberries. The fruit always seemed too expensive and the vendor would give me strawberries that hadn’t even ripened.
“The strawberries are practically white,” I’d complain.
“I’ll show you how to make strawberries turn red!” the vendor would chuckle.
These might be the kinds of encounters that account for the “Paris syndrome” which may cause other timid souls to hide themselves in their apartments for days - or go to Monoprix to do their shopping - where they can pick out their own produce, have the products weighed by an impersonal attendant (but not risk any chance of embarrassment).
Date: March 22nd, 2008 |
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How Much does a Gourmet Meal Cost in Paris?
$60 per person. And up.
$136 per person at the Grand Vefour (88 Euros for the lunch menu -not including wine)
$170 per person at the Jules Vernes (Eiffel Tower) (110 Euros for the lunch menu including wine)
The exchange rate between the Euro and the U.S. Dollar has never been worse (at least since we’ve been coming to France) - even worse than the oil crisis days of the seventies. And if you thought that was bad, the cost of living index has been inching upward in France. It costs Parisians more money to do their daily grocery shopping - and those prices are reflected in restaurants as well.
So, can you afford to have at least one gourmet meal while you’re in Paris? For foodies, it would be inconceivable to spend time in Paris without this indulgence. So, here’s the scoop:
Date: March 21st, 2008 |
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Gorgeous Guys (and Beautiful Women) in Paris and the Best Neighborhoods to See Them
Cedric.
“Le plus beau mec du quartier”
Photo by Chris Card Fuller 2008
My friend at Amsterdam Logue laments the fact today that Amsterdam hasn’t made the list of Top 12 Places to see beautiful people. He also mentioned that he would argue the fact that Paris deserves its Trip Adviser rating as one of the top places to see beautiful people. So, I’m on a ‘crusade’ of sorts to track down the best neighborhoods in Paris to simply savor the delight of beauty in motion.
Until today, I would have agreed with my friend that generally speaking, I don’t find the Left Bank to be overrun with ‘beautiful people’ but today during my walk to a neighborhood butcher shop in the Val de Grace neighborhood, I met Cedric who was just in the process of parking his ‘moto’ when I asked if he’d agree to have his photo posted on this site as the ‘plus beau mec du quartier’.
Rue St. Jacques (Metro: Pont Royal RER) is the old Roman route which if you continue to follow its axis, will take you straight to Rome. (Rome was the other city listed as having the best-looking locals). One of the reasons you’re likely to find extremely attractive Parisians in the Val de Grace neighborhood is its proximity to the universities. Plenty of students live and work here, but natural beauty is one thing in life that really can’t be bought - Mother Nature sees fit to distribute her bounty to people of all races and all classes.
If you’re wondering if the Val-de-Grace neighborhood has attractive women as well - the answer is ‘yes’.
Date: March 20th, 2008 |
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Oceanspray Cranberry Juice in Paris: It's Here!
You don’t have to go to specialty shops for American food and beverage products such as Ocean Spray Cranberry Juice Cocktail. I have to admit for years I had trouble coming up with the right translation - canneberge, les airelles, myrtilles, etc. but Oceanspray is on the shelves at Monoprix’s Montparnasse branch:
Metro: Montparnasse
Rue du Depart, 14eme arrondissement.
(You’ll note that Oceanspray has two separate site links- one is oceanspray.fr and the second is cranberry.fr. I think the second site is better - which do you prefer? If you have trouble posting a comment, …
Date: March 22nd, 2008 |
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English language Easter Services in Paris
If you’re in Paris for Easter Sunday and want to attend services in English:
Saint Joseph’s Roman Catholic Church
50 Avenue Hoche
Metro: Charles de Gaulle Etoile
Saturday vigil 11 am to 6:30 pm
Sunday Masses: 9:30 am, 11 am, 12:30 pm and 6:30 pm.
www.stjoeparis.org
American Church in Paris
65 Quai d’Orsay 7eme
Sunday service: 9 am, 11 am. Contemporary service at 1:30 pm.
Metro: Alma Marceau or Invalides
www.acparis.org
American Cathedral
23 Avenue George V, 8eme
Metro: George V or Alma Marceau
www.americancathedral.org
Easter Eve Vigil (2008) 7 pm. With music.
Sunday services: 9 am 11 am and 8 pm.
Date: March 22nd, 2008 |
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Obama fascinates France
It’s always interesting to see which books written by politicians are the quickest to be translated into other languages. Excerpts of Barack Obama’s memoir “Dreams of My Father” were printed in the daily newspaper Le Figaro this week, and according to Katrin Bennhold’s IHT story “Obama grabs spotlight in Europe, too” (March 21 ‘08) the French publishing house Presses de la Cite has just released Obama’s memoir in French.
Last summer, I read and reviewed Nicolas Sarkozy’s memoir, Testimony, in English. (A friend lent the book to me during our visit in Saipan). …
Date: March 21st, 2008 |
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Protests near the Chinese Embassy
This past Sunday, March 16th, protesters gathered not far from the Chinese Embassy in Paris. One Tibetan protester climbed the facade of the embassy to replace the Chinese flag with a Tibetan flag.
You’ll see from these photos the quick police response .
Date: March 20th, 2008 |
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Notre Dame By Night
Photo by Chris Card Fuller ©2008
It’s true that you can only appreciate the beauty of Notre Dame’s stained glass windows during the day - which is part of the reason - just about any day of the year - you’re bound to encounter huge crowds of visitors. However, if you want to appreciate a totally different aspect of the cathedral, come at night for a concert.
Earlier this month, I mentioned the Easter week concert of Gregorian chant which took place last night. We walked over to the cathedral during the day to purchase our tickets for the concert. That allowed me the opportunity to spend a few mesmerizing moments before the stained glass windows. No matter how many times, we visit Notre Dame, the kaleidoscope of color never ceases to amaze me.
The strange thing is that this is the first time - when we arrived simply to buy tickets for a concert - that the beauty of the Notre Dame suddenly struck me like the sudden smile or a toss of the head in a manner totally lacking in pretension. The problem with being a tourist is that sometimes we just try to hard to be good tourists.
Date: March 19th, 2008 |
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