Paris: city of light, love...and affairs!!!!

If you happen to go around Paris these days, look carefully at the advertising billboards that are located in various corners of the city, particularly in the subway stations. Perhaps, as it happened to me, your eyes will fall upon the gigantic pink posters advertising messages entirely unconventional, as theses: 

These are ads posters, somewhat audacious, of a popular website for extra-marital exchanges, which, in contrast to other similar agencies dedicated to singles, has no qualms to promote....yes, cheating! I admit, these ads are original and impertinent, although they look perfectly at ease in a city where infidelity is a value much more advertised than morality. Only in France?

School agenda...

I remember when I was in elementary school, my main concern in the late summer was to choose the school agenda. It had to be of adequate size, updated, easy to use but also trendy. The front cover above was to express in a single image, the personality its owner, or mine. Obviously, the brand agenda then determined the choice of the box, notebooks, folder. In short, every year my grandmother or my mother led my sister and me in the most supplied stationery store in the area and after about an hour we left with all the necessary for the school year. A real adventure.
Things have changed a lot: in the US, since our son started his school adventure, I've never seen a school diary. The teachers give each week a stack of sheets of papers to fill out and it all ends there. Not worth the effort for the kids to write every day tasks for the next day. Everything has been chosen and decided by the teacher: photocopies are already stapled by a class parent and distributed by the kids. Not worth the effort for the kids to write every day tasks for the next day. Everything and 'already' choice and decided by the teacher: photocopies are already 'ready and stapled.
Here it's as Italy 30 years ago: throughout the year Josh had to mark on his school agenda every homework for the day or the following week with results nothing short of .... exhilarating: our son marked the tasks on the first available page. Too bad the first page was the one corresponding to 27 August, while the school started on September 5! You see? Not only the agenda serves the purpose of empowering young people (they have to listen, understand, write, read, understand...) but also to enable them to appreciate the lapse of time, important facts as how many weeks are missing until the Christmas holidays, etc..

Although the school has almost 'comes to an end, are already' out the new agenda for the next school year. So, to continue the family tradition, I brought in Josh stationery store near the school and gave him "carte blanche" choose between the many agendas: there were of all colors, titles, photos, forms, etc..
Of course my son has immediately chosen the only agenda that certainly will not have the opportunity to use the Marengo: here it is.

 
That's right, those noodles colored with crowns on their heads and colorful clothing are "just sperm" ... "what 's wrong, Mom? Even my friends have this agenda ...". I know, there 's nothing wrong for a nation of libertines like the French, who probably use the school agenda to clear the tabu of sex already in elementary school ... but I doubt that the agenda itself would be considered as "appropriate" in the American school!

He chose the one with the Union Jack's flag. 

Emergency room in Paris...

Today I had to go to the Emergency Room at the nearby hospital Pitié-Salpêtrière (the one famous for Lady Diana's death....), which is one of the biggest hospital in Europe. 

I couldn't handle the pain any longer but there was no other alternative. The problem is that, not only it's a huge and extremely busy hospital, but we also are right in the middle of the high-touristic season so I expected a very long wait. I couldn't be more wrong. I arrived at 11:00 am and with nobody in line in front of me, I was registered at the "accueil" within 1 minute. I was only asked an identity card and my Carte Vitale. I used my Californian driving license, which they accepted without problems. Of course I had my Carte Vitale with me and they registered me as Madame Caire (so funny!). I was asked my french address, which I gave them. End of the questions. The guy was nice and kind and in excellent mood: he didn't have any problem with my accent and invited me to wait in the triage room where a nurse would take my vitals as soon as possible. Again I sat on the chair, psychologically prepared to the longest wait ever. The building is old (about 400 years) and didn't look sparkling and sterilized, but definitely cleaner that the County L.A.!!! At 11:25 am the nurse called me in the room, took my vitals and some generic medical information. I was assigned a code and asked to wait outside the door for the surgeon to visit me. I stepped out of the room, thinking: "Here is it, now it will be at least 2-3 hours....get out your book and read and be ready to alert another parent to pick up your son at school at 3 pm". Wrong. As soon as I sat on the chair, I heard my name being called from the other end of the corridor: I looked at my watch. It was 11:30....I couldn't believe it. The surgeon, a smiling 50-55 years old guy, dressed with his white coat with his name clearly visible, introduced himself and  started visiting me. His words were clear and he made also some effort to speak in English, just to make sure that everything was perfectly understood. He asked all pertinent medical information, much detailed, as I expected him to do. At the end of the visit, he typed all the information on the computer, went through all the details of the drugs he was prescribing me and asked me if something wasn't clear. He was very nice, polite and patient. The visit was finished. It was 11:50 am and I was ready to walk out from the ER with everything clear in my mind except .....the payment. I asked him where could I take care of the payment for the consultation in the ER and he told me that I would receive the bill directly at home (not more that 25 euros, according to him). Awesome!!!!! 

Can someone please explain to me what is the problem with socialized medicine? Because I don't see it!!!! 

Update (July 07): I just received  the bill in my mail box.....6.23 euros.....I don't know whether to laugh or cry !!!! 

The Olympic fever in Paris...

In the past couple of days I noticed, in various Metro stations here in Paris, some interesting and certainly eye-captivating ads: the campaign promotes the Eurostar, a train that is well know for connecting Paris to London in just a bit more than two hours, as one of the sponsors of the Olympic games that are about to start in London this summer. But, as you can see from your eyes, there's more than that....

Here the Greek-style statues seem to have been used to mock the well known British stereotypes of athletic heroes, at least in the French view: overweight naked bodies with beer bellies playing darts and snooker! 

Perhaps the French company that is responsible for this ads is still suffering from the "defeat" (in terms of numbers of medals won) in Beijing....

I would love to see how the ads are in Metro in London... French athletes shooting snails or throwing goose liver instead of the javelin? 

Voting in France

Here in France, you can vote by "procuration" i.e. by proxy. Quite different from the absentee ballot in USA. I'm not talking about nominating the Director of the HOA. I'm talking about selecting their President!

Since, as in this turn, the election day occurs on a holiday (all school are closed, it's Printemps...) and since going in vacation is the main activity for the French, well, they needed to figure out a way to prevent absenteeism and improve voter turnout ...so here's what happens. 

Absent voters (you don't need a valid reason) designate a person to vote freely in its place on the day of an election. The process is conducted at the police, the gendarmerie, the district court or consular authorities. It's free and the only documents required are proof of identity allowed to vote (national identity card, passport or driving license for example). Then, you can relax, get in the car and forget about all this fuss..It's holiday, right?

 

I can't imagine what would happen in Italy if we were allowed to vote by proxy.....

New York or Paris?

Does it look familiar? 

 

I'll give you a hint: this one appear to be standing over the balconies of a building facing the Seine...

  

We've seen the first replica at the Jardins of Luxembourg back in September.

This one, near the Grenelle Bridge, on the Ile aux Cygnes, is much bigger even though, compared to the Tour Eiffel in the background, it looks tiny. 

  

 There are two dates on the tablet (I'm not sure you can see them from the picture): the USA Declaration of Independence (July 4th, 1776) and the Storming of the Bastille (July 14, 1789).

We are on a quest now, to find the other two (a replica and the flame) around Paris....to be updated.

Chocolate, hang drums and other discoveries

How many discoveries this week?
First, the chocolate museum, of which, my bad, I had never heard of. Very nice, well organized, with explanations in many languages. Excellent also the idea of a chocolate atelier. The best part was the boutique for a little taste of all kind of assorted chocolate goodies. Yumm!!!

Second discovery: leaving the museum we walked on the blvd de la Bonne Nouvelle to the junction with blvd du Sebastopol. As we approached this intersection, I noticed more and more women of an age between 20 to 50, dressed (actually half-naked) in a very provoking way, leaning against the walls or sitting on scooters. Some of them were carrying bag of groceries, but something in their attitude told me that they were there for other reasons .... I did a quick search on the internet with my phone and I got confirmation of my suspicions: streetwalkers, in broad daylight, waiting for customers. How naif of me to think that Pigalle is the  red light district...

Latest discovery : we walked to the Beaubourg. When we arrived we heard this extraordinary music, that I never heard before . It came from an instrument unknown to me, the HANG DRUM (originally from Switzerland!!). How magical is it? 

Street cleaning

Did anyone ever mention to you that Paris is a dirty city? After spending seven months in this city, I can absolutely assure you that this is true.  You walk around the city with your nose mostly pointed up to admire the beautiful monuments, the bow-windows,  the roofs and the facades... Everything looks so spectacular that sometimes you forget to look down towards your feet. In this city the probability of "messing up" your shoes is very high. Somewhere else, i.e. the rest of the civilized countries, people normally use trash cans, disposable bags for animal litter, ashtrays, etc. Here there is only one common garbage disposal: the curb. You can't really conceive the discrepancy between what is above and what is below the level of your eyes. 

But the French know that this is a huge problem, so instead of instructing and teaching their inhabitants (and visitors) to learn not to litter, what do they do? They implement the cleaning of the streets in such a way that every day, in all Paris, the curbs are fully washed twice. Additionally they adopted crews of sweepers and cleaning vans that carefully patrol all the streets. Hundreds of men and women, dressed in green, go around the city with brooms, pooper-scoopers, and all other tools and sweep about 2400 km (yes, everyday!!) of the city curbs. Needless to say,  the day after everything looks exactly the same, as in an endless cycle of poop and water. Let's hope these guys never go on strike!!!!

Why do French say ...." faire long feu" ?

Literally it means "fizzle out".  When the action drags on length and it does not produce the desired effect, it is said to "faire long feu". This phrase has its origin in the middle of the artillery. Formerly, when too wet powder was put in the barrel of a pistol or a rifle to load it, the primer within was consumed very slowly. So the wick could not ignite and couldn't cause the explosion required to propel the ball out of the barrel.

Why do French say ...."pleurer comme une madeline" ?

When a person is overcome with emotion, she may start to "cry like a madeleine," that is to say, weeping bitterly. The term has its roots in the Gospel. It refers to the story of Mary Magdalene, repentant prostitute who, upon hearing that Jesus came to Galilee, had presented to him in tears, consumed by remorse for his sins. Her tears were so heavy she could wash the feet of Christ, before drying them with her hair. She then became one of his most faithful disciples. Today, a Magdalene or Mary Magdalene means a former prostitute, and they say a person to "cry like a madeleine" when one finds that her tears are excessive or unjustified.

Why do French say..."tout de go" ?

When he has nothing to hide or lose, a person can achieve or say something "tout de go" ("straight out"), which means directly or frankly. Although the word "go" suggests an English origin, it is actually derived from the French verb "gobler" ("suck"). During the  mid-seventeenth century, one could "swallow a whole gob of" an oyster (literally) as well as good news (meaning figuratively), that is to say to eat or digest in a single swallow. Over time, the term has become synonymous with "no difficulty " and was reduced to its present spelling, simpler.

Why do French say..." prendre son pied" ?

To know the origin of "prendre son pied" (literally "take his foot"), we should not take this expression, which means "get a kick out of something", "having fun doing something", literally. Here, the "foot" refers to a measurement unit still widely used during the XIXth century. At the time, the foot, which measures about 30 cm, was used by pirates and thieves to share their booty. It was collected in a heap. After measuring the height, each one took up the equivalent of a "foot" of the treasure, objects or money stolen. Part of this amount was then spent for their pleasure in various activities (mainly prostitutes...). "Take his foot" was then generalized in the popular language. This unit of measurement is however still valid in aeronautics.

Place des Vosges

The Place des Vosges is the oldest square in Paris, built by Henri IV from 1605 to 1612. Place des Vosges was originally known as Place Royale. Napoleon changed the name after the French Revolution when the region of Vosges was the first to pay taxes to the new French government. To honor them, one of the most beautiful squares in Paris was named after the region. A true square (140 m x 140 m), it was one of the first efforts of royal city planning, setting a precedent for the future architecture of Paris. The spreading style of the Place des Vosges was due to King Henri IV order that the 35 buildings bordering the square have the same design. The two pavilions of the Place des Vosges were intended for royalty; however no King or Queen has ever lived there.

22 rue Saint Severin, Paris or 12 Grimmauld Place, London ?

When you look at the size of this building, with its two windows, I bet all you who are fan of JKR's books can't help but think at the headquarters of the Order of the Phoenix. 

We waited for Sirius Black to come out of the door, in vane...

This is the thinnest building in all Paris, in the Latin Quarter. You can't live here if you're claustrophobic ...but honestly, you can't live here at all. The price/square meter is outrageous!

Why do French say ... "l’habit ne fait pas le moine" ?

Well-known proverb, "clothes do not make the man"  invites never to trust appearances. The term was coined in XIIIe century, but two hypotheses compete on its origin. The first relates to a historical event, when on January 8, 1297 Francois Grimaldi decided to conquire Monaco. The ancestor of the current House of Grimaldi, the family of the current Monte Carlo Principality, had his men disguised as Franciscan monk to trick the guards. An event still engraved in the Grimaldi coat of arms, symbolizing monks holding a sword. A second hypothesis refers in turn to Pope Gregory IX (1145-1241) as saying: "It is not by the dress that you recognizes the monk, but by the observance of the rule and the perfection of his life".