Nicolas Sarkozy will officially announce that he is a candidate for the UMP party nomination for President of France this coming Thursday. The UMP party will hold a congress on January 14, and the 300,000 card carrying members will elect their candidate at that time. Mr. Sarkozy is currently the President of the party, as well as the Interior Minister. It is no surprise that Mr. Sarkozy will be a candidate, as he is currently the favorite to oppose Segolene Royal in the general election which will be held next April.
The UMP party is right of center politically, and it is also the party of the current President, Jacques Chirac, who might also try to go for a third term. It is roughly equivalent to the Republicans in the U.S. All other party members who wish to declare themselves candidates must officially do so before the end of the year.
It will be an interesting election in France with clear choices. Sarkozy is considered tough and sometimes outspoken, leaning toward free market solutions to economic problems. Segolene Royal of the Socialist party is charming, does not have a lot of experience in high level government positions, but she is very popular. Polls show a tight race if the two of them are in the second round.
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Tuesday, November 28, 2006
Tuesday, November 21, 2006
Two New Art Exhibits in Paris
There are a couple of interesting new art exhibits going on in Paris:
1. At the Musee d’Orsay there is a special exhibition of about 300 objects of Art Nouveau, which was a popular style in the early 1900’s, about 100 years ago. This collection was recently given to the museum by the wife and daughter of the deceased Antonin Rispal, who died in 2003. Rispal started collecting these objects over the years, even when they were not very popular. This collection is worth a lot of money, equal to about 10 years worth of acquisition funds available to the museum, and it will increase the number of objects owned by about 15%. After this special showing the pieces will be displayed in different areas throughout the museum. Included in the collection are pieces of furniture, vases, sculptures, ceramics, silver and gold works, crystal, etc.
The exhibit runs from 21 November until 28 January.
2. From 22 November until 18 May at the Rodin Museum in Paris there will be an exhibition of erotic drawings by Rodin. The exhibition is entitled “Rodin. The figures of Eros. Drawings and watercolors 1890-1917”.
Rodin, of course, is well known as the father of modern sculpture, but not many are aware of his drawings. He made several thousand drawings of women, mostly nudes, in his later years. From the couple of photos of drawings I saw, some of this is pretty racy stuff.
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1. At the Musee d’Orsay there is a special exhibition of about 300 objects of Art Nouveau, which was a popular style in the early 1900’s, about 100 years ago. This collection was recently given to the museum by the wife and daughter of the deceased Antonin Rispal, who died in 2003. Rispal started collecting these objects over the years, even when they were not very popular. This collection is worth a lot of money, equal to about 10 years worth of acquisition funds available to the museum, and it will increase the number of objects owned by about 15%. After this special showing the pieces will be displayed in different areas throughout the museum. Included in the collection are pieces of furniture, vases, sculptures, ceramics, silver and gold works, crystal, etc.
The exhibit runs from 21 November until 28 January.
2. From 22 November until 18 May at the Rodin Museum in Paris there will be an exhibition of erotic drawings by Rodin. The exhibition is entitled “Rodin. The figures of Eros. Drawings and watercolors 1890-1917”.
Rodin, of course, is well known as the father of modern sculpture, but not many are aware of his drawings. He made several thousand drawings of women, mostly nudes, in his later years. From the couple of photos of drawings I saw, some of this is pretty racy stuff.
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Friday, November 17, 2006
Segolene Royal Chosen as Presidential Candidate
Yesterday the PS (Parti Socialist) in France chose their candidate for the presidential elections which will be held next spring (April for the first round and May for the second).
The winner was Segolene Royal who will now be the first woman to have a serious chance at becoming the President of France. The PS is the major party on the left of the political spectrum, and its nominee almost always has a serious chance to win. The PS is loosely similar to the Democrats in the U.S. or the Labor Party in the U.K.
The major party on the right of the spectrum is the UMP, which has not yet decided its candidate or even how he or she will be chosen. The presumption is that the controversial Nicolas Sarkozy will be the candidate, but other leading party figures have expressed interest. Jacques Chirac, the current President, is even leaving the door open for another term. His job satisfaction ratings have been low for some time (in the 30% range), and it would seem unlikely that he could win again, as the French people seem ready for a change at the top.
Current polls show Royal and Sarkozy in a dead heat for a second term race, but polls in France can be misleading, especially with this much time to the actual election.
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The winner was Segolene Royal who will now be the first woman to have a serious chance at becoming the President of France. The PS is the major party on the left of the political spectrum, and its nominee almost always has a serious chance to win. The PS is loosely similar to the Democrats in the U.S. or the Labor Party in the U.K.
The major party on the right of the spectrum is the UMP, which has not yet decided its candidate or even how he or she will be chosen. The presumption is that the controversial Nicolas Sarkozy will be the candidate, but other leading party figures have expressed interest. Jacques Chirac, the current President, is even leaving the door open for another term. His job satisfaction ratings have been low for some time (in the 30% range), and it would seem unlikely that he could win again, as the French people seem ready for a change at the top.
Current polls show Royal and Sarkozy in a dead heat for a second term race, but polls in France can be misleading, especially with this much time to the actual election.
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Thursday, November 16, 2006
Smoking Ban in France
It was announced today that a law has just been passed in France to ban smoking in public places. Unfortunately, in restaurants and cafes this will not go into effect until January 2008. In other public places, including work places, the law will go into effect in February 2007. The violations include a fine of 68 euros (about $87 US) for individuals who break the law and 135 euros (about $173 US) for proprietors who allow someone to smoke at their place of business. A publicity campaign is also kicking off to inform people in more detail about the harmful effects of second hand smoke. The emphasis will be on trying to convince people not to smoke in public places and helping them quit rather than relying on fines and other enforcement measures.
For those of us who spend a fair amount of time in French restaurants, it is a shame we’ll have to wait until 2008 for the smoking ban to take effect there, but at least we know it is finally coming. To be honest, I never thought it would. It will also be interesting to see if people actually follow the rules that are in place or simply just go ahead and smoke.
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For those of us who spend a fair amount of time in French restaurants, it is a shame we’ll have to wait until 2008 for the smoking ban to take effect there, but at least we know it is finally coming. To be honest, I never thought it would. It will also be interesting to see if people actually follow the rules that are in place or simply just go ahead and smoke.
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Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Today, Nov. 7, 2006, is election day in the U.S., and for at least the last week or more there have been segments on the French national news about our congressional elections. In fact it is not unusual to have several references to what is happening in the U.S on the French evening news. They watch us pretty closely.
An important election will also be held in France soon, the presidential election taking place next April and May. There are usually two rounds of voting in France. A candidate can win outright in the first round by having 50% or more of the vote. This is almost impossible, since there are usually 5 or 6 candidates on the ballot and the votes get split. The top two will be on the second ballot, and obviously one of them will get more than 50% of those votes and become the winner.
The two major parties in France are the PS, or Parti Socialist (Socialist Party), and the UMP, which is right of center politically. The PS is loosely analogous to the Democrats in the U.S., but they are somewhat to the left of the Democrats, I think it’s fair to say. They are not crazy left-wingers, however, like people in the tiny Socialist Party in the U.S. Those people certainly exist in France and are in other left wing parties. In any case the PS will decide on its candidate soon, as the first round of party voting takes place on Nov. 16. If a second round is needed, that will occur a week later on Nov. 23rd.
Article continues at this link: French Presidential Elections
Return to Beaux Voyages home page.
An important election will also be held in France soon, the presidential election taking place next April and May. There are usually two rounds of voting in France. A candidate can win outright in the first round by having 50% or more of the vote. This is almost impossible, since there are usually 5 or 6 candidates on the ballot and the votes get split. The top two will be on the second ballot, and obviously one of them will get more than 50% of those votes and become the winner.
The two major parties in France are the PS, or Parti Socialist (Socialist Party), and the UMP, which is right of center politically. The PS is loosely analogous to the Democrats in the U.S., but they are somewhat to the left of the Democrats, I think it’s fair to say. They are not crazy left-wingers, however, like people in the tiny Socialist Party in the U.S. Those people certainly exist in France and are in other left wing parties. In any case the PS will decide on its candidate soon, as the first round of party voting takes place on Nov. 16. If a second round is needed, that will occur a week later on Nov. 23rd.
Article continues at this link: French Presidential Elections
Return to Beaux Voyages home page.
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