Puerto Rico à Paris

Forthcoming post on PR dinner (by Olga).





Eiffel Tower opened to public

1889: The 984-foot (300-metre) Eiffel Tower, a wrought iron technological masterpiece created by Gustave Eiffel to commemorate the French Revolution, was opened to the public at the Centennial Exposition in Paris this day in 1889.

Tourisime MO1

After our de rigeur ascension of the Eiffel Tower, I visited Napolean's tomb, at les Invalides, thanks to Manny & Olga, which, even after a dozen years of living in Paris impressed me greatly. If you go be sure to take the free audio tour - it's quite informative. Also don't try to lead any demonstations/marches as Manny is doing in this photo (Olga and I decided to hang back - given the vociferous crowd).

Our walk up the Champs-Elysées was marred somewhat by the rainy weather, but we had a nice time anyway.

Wonderful shrimp, piperade, rice (can we ever get enoough?) dinner by Odile. We were joined by Fanchette, in fine fettle pre-smoking arrêt.

D-Day: Anti-CPE protest march

Odile and I are meeting Denis around 3:00pm at the demonstration start point: Place d'Italie.

It's rainy and cool, so that may affect turnout, but at least we, diehards, will be there! YOU coming?

UPDATE: Let's split the difference and call it 2 million people who demonstrated throughout France today. What will that change? Stay tuned ...

With Denis we walked all the way up to the Bastille where we met Janine - we all stopped for a drink nearby and then met again, post-manif, for dinner at Le Bistro de Beaubourg. Good food (as usual - and at really reasonable prices), good post-march conversation and plans for an Indian dinner this Saturday at Janine's in the 19th.

Strum und Drang?

In expectation (1) of tomorrow's nationwide strike and demonstrations (and perhaps De Villepin's Götterdämmerung) we are off to the theater tonight: Marie's daughter Félice is part of the cast in "Sainte Jeanne des abattoirs" by Bertolt Brecht. I'm looking forward to seeing the play. What seems clear is that France has reached an impasse regarding the CPE. Which way out?

UPDATE: Brecht's play, "Saint Joan of the Stockyards" (in part about labor strife in Chicago), written in 1929, holds up surprisingly well 77 years later - especially the capitalism/religion connection. This version, although a bit longish and sluggish at times, has a number of clever staging ideas (mmm, smell that grilled steak) and, overall, very good acting. If you're in town drop by the Théâtre du Nord-Ouest (13 rue du Faubourg-Montmartre - Paris IXe) to see it.

(1)
"Je vécus parmi les hommes au temps de la révolte. Et je m'insurgeai avec eux."
"Dialectiser, c'est extraire la dimension politique de toute chose."
- Bertolt Brecht

Daylight Savings Time

We got invited by Hélios and Regina to dinner ... but at Denis' rather than their apartment (still being remodeled).

A really excellent dinner. Plus good talk, plenty of dancing (Odile was a regular Terpsichore) and we were all up until 4am (actually 5am with the advancing of clocks by one hour).

I met (re-met) Eliane ( kindergarten teacher) and heard about Béatrice's plans for guiding groups on trips to Vietnam, China and Turkey (she'll have a website soon - if you're interested in guided trips just return here as I'll post a link). Sylvie was there also - and in fine form.

Magia ...

Harry Houdini, born today in 1874, adopted his last name based on French magician Jean Eugène Robert-Houdin.

That gives me pause to think that it'll take some kind of magic for us in France to get out of the pickle (1) we're in (not just related to the anti-CPE demonstrations this week ... and next). I'm still planning on participating in the nationwide strike/march on Tuesday (although Odile is getting cold feet), but I will be prepared to scoot should violence break out (as in the most recent events in Paris).

Hopefully Dominique de Villepin will pull a magic card out of his sleeve ... and things will calm down ... but I doubt it.

On the home front - a productive day (of banging away to get the new laptop in line) and a nice, quiet dinner with our neighbor, Anne. Simple grub, red wine,honest and warm conversation on a rainy Parisian night - that's the real magic.

(1) not definition #4!

Despair?

After two full days of beating my head against my new laptop computer I finally have my mail (a half-decade's worth) transferred from my old (and ailing) PC to this gleaming, over-clocked XPed monster. So you all can write now ... I'll actually get your mails!

I plan to get ruthlessly effective in e-mailing (friends, especially) more often in 2006 (since I have no metrics on this blog I don't even know how many people visit it). There remains tons of stuff to copy over but luckily (Saint) Benj told me yesterday that he "happens" to have a nifty Ethernet USB-ish cable that will plug the two beasties together for some kind of unholy mass-transfer! Vive l'informatique !

Hasta luego, amigos ...

Today is the last full day that Lara and Daniel are spending in Paris ... such a short but FRUITFUL visit for us ... always great to make new friends.

The four of us went to have dinner at Le Paradis near the Montparnasse tower for a fine, fun time. Of course everyone had escargots for a starter (well, except Odile - naturally the one French person passed on the snails).

Afterwards we stopped at the Rosebud for a post-prandial drink, then (around 2am) walked together to say adieu near their hotel. Luckily the Falstaff pub was still open so we stopped in for a wee doch-an-dorris before parting ways (until a near future, I hope). Mucha ginga!

Anti-CPE protest march

All over France today we're in the streets to protest the CPE (a new law that allows employees under the age of 26 to be fired without cause until they have held their job for two years). I took this photo near the Observatoire.

In Paris the sendoff for the march was from nearby Denfert-Rochereau. Odile and I went with Denis, met Milène and other friends along the way. If there is no appropriate reply from the government there is now talk of a nationwide strike in the coming days.

Feliz San Patricio

"We should consider every day lost on which we have not danced at least once. And we should call every truth false which was not accompanied by at least one laugh."

Friedrich Nietzsche (I didn't know he had it in him)

Anyway, we're going out tonight with Lara (Puerto Rico) and Daniel (Brazil) to La Parrilla (21ter rue Voltaire - 75011) for a Latin American dinner ... with dancing and laughing included. Juan Carlos Rossi will be playing his guitar and singing ... so come join us!

Fork on the right...

Wonderful dinner tonight at La Forchette Adroite over on rue Château. Jean-Marie invited Odile and me (for PC services rendered) and we were joined by Kinette and her husband, Arnaud (our doctor running buddy from Saint Malo).

I'll add the details of a fine meal over on the "dining blog", but suffice it to say that someone would have to PROVE to me that I'd have as many gastronomic choices before I'd move anywhere else than Paris!

The Ides of March

Please ... no knives today.

"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science." - Albert Einstein (127 years old today)

I wish you all even more mystery in your lives.

Studio 54 (bis)

Lucky's big S54 party tonight ... and I don't know what to wear, eek!

"I’m gonna live out my dreams even if they kill me in the end"

Thank you to Vonda Shepard for that line, above, from her song "Cross To Bear" - it's 2am in Paris and the lyrics really resound in me tonight. Later, amigos.

Placeholder question for today

The Foreign Legion, whose unofficial motto is “Legio patria nostra” (“The legion is our fatherland”), was founded this day in 1831... have YOU ever thought of joining (assume it were open to both males and females)?

IWD

To celebrate International Women's Day we (me and 3 ladies: Odile, Myriam and Brigitte) are off to dinner at the just-opened Japanese restaurant Sushi Itchi.

Cooking up a storm

A very nice dinner tonight , made by yours truly, with Odile, Benjamin, Anne, Fanchette and, as a surprise last-minute guest, Sylvie.

I was inspired to make some bortsch (using Flora Mikula's great, if not totally authentic, recipe) followed by the main dish (see my "dining blog" for a pic) of lieu noir (called either Boston bluefish or Pollock in English). Then salad, cheese ... but we unanimously passed on dessert.

Still @ Vosves

Returning to Paris late this afternoon (after great encounters and superb meals here at Vosves).

Helen and her Corsican Guy

Down at Vosves for lunch at Geneviève's (Odile's godmother) where, amonst others, we met Hélène and Guy - both, like me, have Corsican ancestors. Also here: Anna (starting at RFO soon), Pearl (look for her website soon) and Edouard. Besides the usual suspects.

http://www.fermedevosves.com/

Home day

Dinner tonight upstairs at the Bony's - Eva and Christian. She's originally from Greece and we should be in for some great dishes. Eva is also a gifted artist working in various media. You can see some of her work at: http://www.bony-tourtoglou.net/. I especially like her scupltures for their purity and inventiveness - the piece you see here is entitled "Déplacement" - one of my favorites. Christian runs Studio Bastille, an image bank (if you're looking for downloadable quality images).

Finding Mickey ...

Dinner (with Odile, Myriam and Françoise) at Le Select (frequented in former days by Picasso, Modigliani, Henry Miller, Hemminway, etc.) invited by Babs, who is in town on one of her twice-annual fashion shows rafle and buying (for her boutique in Berlin). Had an interesting conversation about what it takes to succeed in your own business.

Expo tonight at the Cherche Midi location of l'Ecole de Communication Visuelle (where both Fanchette & Odile used to work years ago).

Even the turtles are called Nguyen!

Our dear friend and film-maker, Marie-Christine, has invited us to a private showing tonight at the Scam of her documentary "Même les tortues s'appellent Nguyen !" - a documentary she filmed in Vietnam last year. It relates the voyage of nine-year-old Ophélie and her adoptive parents, Odile & Yves, back in Vietnam for the first time since she was a baby. Funny, touching and thought-provoking.

Afterwards there was a cocktail party where we were able to see some of the drawings and painting thet Yves did during this trip. There was also an interesting (and troubling) expo of photgraphs called "Nothing Special" by Martin Kollar.