A Slap in the Face to Sarkozy- French Municipal Elections

About a week ago the French went to the polls once again to elect mayors and local officials. A message of discontent was sent to President Nicolas Sarkozy and his UMP party, and the principle winner was the Socialist Party which had lost the Presidential election to Sarkozy 10 months earlier.

The major issue was diminishing purchasing power (pouvoir d’achat). With rising commodity prices around the world (oil, grains, metals, etc.) the cost of living in most countries is rising. Sarkozy’s strategy is to allow people to work longer hours and earn more money if they wish to. The 35 hour work week introduced by the Socialist Party some years ago limited the amount of time people can work.

Let me emphasize that point for people in countries where one is free to work as long as he/she wishes. It has been illegal to work more than 35 hours in France for a number of years and illegal for employers to pay people for more than that amount of work (there are a few exceptions)- this in a supposedly free country. The law was put in place by the Socialists in order to make more jobs available, that is, where 10 jobs existed before at 40 hours per week, about 11 jobs at 35 hours per week would now take over. Of course this ridiculous effort by the left to simplistically manipulate human activity didn’t work, and the French continued to have about double the unemployment rate of most industrialized countries. Undeterred, the French left continues to claim the 35 hour experiment as a success, claiming they have made “social progress”.

Other issues in the municipal elections defeats no doubt included Sarkozy’s personal style which was typified by an incident at a large agricultural show in Paris recently. A farmer, who was near Sarkozy and whose hand Sarkozy attempted to shake, insulted the President by saying something like “Don’t touch me- you’re dirty”. This provoked Sarkozy’s anger, and in his combative style he returned an insult to the farmer, who no doubt deserved it since he showed no respect for the position of President of his country, even if he doesn’t care for the man. The incident is curious because Sarkozy draws a crowd, and for this person to get so close to him makes one wonder if the incident wasn’t staged. The bait was taken, however, and the incident was caught on video with Sarkozy looking less than “presidential”. Additionally, after being elected Sarkozy seemed to be everywhere, trying to personally resolve almost every issue himself. He was dubbed the “Hyper-President”.

Sarkozy’s personal life may have also been a factor, but the French normally don’t make an issue of such things regarding their elected officials. Sarkozy has been divorced and remarried in the 10 months since he was elected.

After this municipal election setback, Sarkozy has changed some personnel in his cabinet and promised to back off a bit with respect to his personal style. He still intends to move forward with the reforms he promised in his election campaign. It is still early days, as the British say, and Sarkozy has more than 4 years left in his 5 year mandate.

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2008 Michelin Red Guide Released- Only 26 3-Star Restaurants in France

The 2008 Michelin Red Guide was released a couple of days ago. The first restaurant in Marseille to ever be awarded the coveted 3 star award, Le Petit Nice of chef Gérald Passédat was one of only 26 restaurants in France rated at the 3 star level (must be expensive bouilliabaisse). A famous restaurant in Paris, the Grand Véfour, lost one of the three stars it has held for the past eight years. The Grand Véfour has had many famous clients dine there since it was established in 1784.

Rating restaurants is serious business in France. A famous chef appeared to have committed suicide in 2003 after his restaurant was downgraded (not by the Michelin Red Guide but by another well known restaurant guide).

Only 68 other restaurants in France were awarded 2 stars, and 435 rated 1 star this year. If you have ever dined in a restaurant in France rated even 1 star, you know that is a treat. We are looking forward to dining in a 2 star restaurant for two nights later this summer with one of our groups.

The 2008 Michelin Red Guide rated 3,569 restaurants in total. Even those not awarded stars will still be quite good. You can purchase a copy on Amazon, or if you are in France you can pick up one of the guides almost anywhere. Your hotel will probably have a copy as well, so ask if you can have a look. The guide also rates hotels.

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French News Ecstatic About Best Actress Oscar Win

The French national news last evening was ecstatic that a French woman, Marion Cotillard (pronounced co- tee- yard) won the Best Actress Oscar the previous night. They spent about 10 minutes talking about Ms. Cotillard, who starred in the role of Edith Piaf, the well known French singer in the movie “La Vie en Rose”. This was the first such win for a French woman in about 50 years when Simone Signoret also won the best actress Oscar. What makes this win even sweeter is that Signoret's Oscar was for an English speaking role, while Cotillard's role was in French. A couple of other Oscar's were won by French people on the night for non-acting efforts. The total of 3 Oscar's in one year is a huge boost for French film making.

I learned that Ms. Cotillard is 32 years of age, and she certainly looked stunning at the Academy Awards in her designer gown. In fact I would say that the word stunning is an understatement. If you saw the Oscars show you know what I mean.

We haven’t seen the film yet- I think it came out when we were in France last year. We will either see it in a theater if it comes out again or rent the DVD. I’ve heard from a fellow Francophile that it is an excellent film. In France the film was released with the title “La Môme”. “La Vie en Rose” is actually the name of one of Piaf’s well known songs.

La Môme is a slang word in French, and I believe the best translation might be “The Brat”, although not having seen the film, this is only an educated guess. According to my French-American dictionary it could also mean “The Kid”. I recall a song by the French singer Renaud when we lived there in the 80’s that had the word in a title. In that case it meant “little kid” if memory serves. In fact I think the song may have been about one of his children.

Perhaps a French reader of this post might be so kind as to clear this up with a comment.

This is a bit ironic in a way. If you read down several posts you’ll see one about a Time cover story recently which argued that French culture is essentially dead, and that French films in particular are only being made for the French market. It looks like the Motion Picture Academy in the U.S. disagrees.

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Flight Delays in Paris This Week

If you are flying into or out of Paris this week, 11-15 Feb., you are likely to encounter flight delays and cancellations due to an air traffic controller strike.

The CGT union, which is affiliated with the PC, or communist party, has decided to call a strike of air traffic controllers to protest a plan to consolidate the efforts of air traffic control at Paris airports. This plan won’t take effect for several years, but the CGT is objecting to an initial first step for 2011 to transfer some controlers from Orly airport to Charles de Gaulle.

If you are flying to or from Paris this week, keep a close eye on events and contact your airline to see if they have news about your flight.

If you are heading to Paris, check out this page for numerous resources- Paris Sightseeing Tours

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Current Art Exhibits and Cultural Events in France

Here are some new art exhibits and cultural events going on in France right now:

L’Atelier d’Alberto Giacometti- (The Studio of Alberto Giacometti)

With more than 600 sculptures, paintings, drawings and photographs, most of them from the Alberto and Annette Giacometti Foundation, this is the most complete retrospective of the artist’s work ever organized.

Centre Pompidou
Place Georges Pompidou, 4th
Métro: Hôtel de Ville
01.44.78.12.33
www.centrepompidou.fr
€10. Through Feb 11.

Christian Lacroix: Histoires de Mode- (Christian Lacroix: Stories of Fashion)

Plunging into the museum’s archives, couturier Christian Lacroix has assembled a history of fashion from the 18th century to the 21st, with some 400 historical articles and 80 of his own couture creations.

Les Arts Décoratifs, Musée de la Mode et du Textile
107 rue de Rivoli, 1st
Métro: Palais Royal
01.44.55.57.50
www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr
€8. Through April 20.

Benjamin Franklin: Un Américain à Paris, 1776–1785

A big show documenting the political influence—and immense social success—of Ben Franklin during the nine years he spent in Paris as ambassador of the new U.S. Congress.

Musée Carnavalet
23 rue de Sévigné, 3rd
Métro: St-Paul
01.44.59.58.58
www.carnavalet.paris.fr
€7. Dec 5–Mar 9.

Carnaval de Nice

The city’s annual two-week carnival, with traditional parades of flower-covered floats. This year’s theme is the Roi des Ratapignatas, Raminagrobis et Autres Ramassis de Rats Masqués, an alliterative play on the Chinese Year of the Rat, with Ratapignata a bat in the medieval Niçois bestiary and Raminagrobis the Rabelaisian fat cat in a fable by La Fontaine.

www.nicecarnaval.com
Some of the parades are free, others require tickets. €10–€25.
Feb 16–Mar 2

Menton Lemon Festival

A citrus-flavored cousin to Nice’s Carnaval, the Fête du Citron celebrates the balmy microclimate of Menton, on the Côte d’Azur near the Italian border, the only place in France warm enough to grow edible lemons. Thousands of them are used, along with oranges and grapefruit, to construct giant sculptures and decorate floats for the festival’s parades.

www.feteducitron.com
€9–€16.
Feb 16–Mar 5.

Heading to Paris? Here are some other excellent resources and things to do: Paris Sightseeing Tours

Planning A Trip To Paris? Click Here

Here is an excellent site if you are planning a trip to Paris: CityZeum. You’ll find useful information about museums (you can even download an audio file about each museum to an MP3, iPod, PDA/Handheld, mobile, or GPS handheld), restaurants, bistros, amusements, gardens, transportation, monuments, and shopping. There is a handy map of Paris you can print out as well. This appears to be an excellent site for Paris, whether this will be your first trip, or if you have been there many times.

After all, you can never see everything in Paris, so click here: CityZeum

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Hallelujah!- No Smoking in France Restaurants!

Have you ever walked into a restaurant or bar in France and been practically knocked over by the wall of cigarette smoke? That won’t happen any longer since as of Jan 1, 2008 smoking is prohibited in restaurants, bars, night clubs, etc. in France. Smoking has already been banned in other public places for some months, but the aforementioned establishments were given more time to adapt. In other words they held the law off as long as they possibly could.

All this brings back some painful memories that we won’t have to deal with again, like dining in a cute little “Bouchon” in Lyon (a typical type of restaurant in Lyon- there are many of them in the city), and by the end of the meal my poor sinuses were screaming for relief for the smoke. Or how about hopping onto a smoking train car by mistake? I remember too years ago being stuck in the smoking section of a trans-Atlantic flight before smoking was banned completely. For a while all was well, as no one was smoking around us. But then a couple of people who were sitting in the no smoking section came back and sat in empty seats just long enough to puff on a couple of weeds before returning to their regular seats, leaving us to consume the residue of their cigarettes.

I made a blog post about this subject once before and received a comment from an irate smoker who suggested that I was somehow deficient and could not appreciate the unique ambiance of French cafes and restaurants, of which smoking was a part. As if gagging on second hand smoke, not to mention the possibility of developing cancer from it, was somehow “quaint”. It will be a pleasure not to have to worry about this in the future, assuming people comply with the laws. I think it is fair to say that even in many restaurants that had so-called non-smoking sections, these were often very close to the smoking area and didn’t help much at all. It’s about time!

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