In a journalistic first, the
secretive Michelin guides permit a reporter to accompany one of their anonymous
critics to lunch at trendy Jean-Georges restaurant in New York. A fascinating
look behind the scenes, part of the stodgy Michelin guides’ new mission to
reach out to a new public in America and Asia.
how much Lévi-Strauss owed to New York where he lived from 1941-1947. “When I lived in New York,” he once told me at his Paris apartment, where we often met for tea, “I discovered that the whole world could be found there.”
He would scout New York antique shops. It was in those shops, not in the field, that he discovered American Indian artifacts. Later, he would write major books about the Northwestern American Indians and their totems. New York was also where Lévi-Strauss joined a circle of Jewish refugees: Franz Boas and Roman Jakobson. One could argue that Lévi-Strauss became the Lévi-Strauss we know while living in New York.
Swiss-French architect Le Corbusier was to architecture what Pol Pot was to social reform. He turned his gifts to destructive ends, and it is no coincidence that he willingly served both Stalin and Vichy. The raw-concrete-clad rectangular towers that obsessed him canceled out centuries of architecture. Hundreds of cities had their composition wrecked by architects and planners inspired by his soulless buildings and ideas.
Chirac’s ban on the Islamic veil was a panicky reaction to the public demonstrations of a few fundamentalists among France’s 4 or 5 million Muslims. In relaity, the law was excessive: few Arab women wear the veil, and French Arabs consider their identity more cultural than religious. The veil law said more about French politicians who never pas up an opportunity to reaffirm the republic’s secular values, its “laïcité” or secularism.
Former French president Valery Giscard d'Estaing's controversial novel
‘The Princess and the President’, modelled on himself and Princess Diana, has been declared a literary flop. After an initial print run of 100,000 books, the tale of a secret and passionate love affair between President Jacques-Henri Lambertye and Princess Patricia of Cardiff has attracted a little over 18,000 buyers. Le Passage, Mr Giscard d''Estaing''s first novel, was also a commercial failure and slated by the critics as displaying "a total absence of originality.”
The affair of Thierry Henry's handball in the France-Ireland World Cup elimination soccer game that France won, but should have lost, has outraged many in Paris. French pundit Bernard-Henri Lévy declares: “American friends, France is not a country of cheaters.” On his website he publishes the opinion of French businessman Marc Ladreit de Lacharriere, Chairman of Fimalac, head of the Fitch rating agency, and director of La Revue des deux Mondes. It is entitled: "We Must Replay the Match."
First A380 superjumbo flies Paris-NY
ABC. Nov. 21, 2009
The world's largest airliner, an Air France Airbus A380, made its first Atlantic crossing from Paris to New York on Nov. 20, 2009. Air France is the first European airline to put the giant aircraft into service and will launch regular flights on November 23. Passengers said the plane was quiet but crowded with seats tooclose together.
Vivendi’s Messier admits “mistakes” in court
AP. Nov. 21, 2009
Vivendi's former CEO Jean-Marie Messier r told a federal jury in New York that he made mistakes in his troubled bid to turn a French water company into a global media giant but never misled shareholders about the risks involved. The flamboyant financier saddled the company with billions of dollars of debt and its shares lost more than 80 percent of their value. Messier is on trial in a lawsuit filed for thousands of investors.
France cleanses its political stables
UK Guardian. Nov. 21, 2009
The corruption and abuses of France's rulers have traditionally been ignored by a compliant media, but recent events suggest that political immunity is being worn away. In recent weeks former prime minister Dominique de Villepin has been put on trial for allegedly smearing his political rival Sarkozy. Former defence minister Charles Pasqua was found guilty of illegal arms trafficking. Now even former president Jacques Chirac will be investigated for corruption when he was Mayor of Paris. “France … does not yet have a truly democratic culture.” But is the "republican monarchy" about to be humbled?
Air France has reported a net loss of €147 million in the quarter ending September, due to reduced cargo traffic and fuel hedging losses. It
plans to cut 1,700 more jobs by next year, in addition to 3,000 cuts already announced.
The Michelin restaurant guides have award Tokyo more three-star restaurant ratings than Paris, thereby crowning the Japanese city the new gastronomic capital of the world. Tokyo also beats Paris in the total number of stars received - 261 awarded to 197 establishments. Statistically speaking these results reflect the fact that Tokyo is home to 160,000 restaurants, compared to 60,000 in Paris. And France still wins the country count with 25 three-star establishments nationwide to Japan's 18.
French artist Jeanne-Claude, who co-created the 2005 Central Park installation "The Gates" and other large scale "wrapping" projects around the globe with her husband Christo, has died in New York of a
brain aneurysm at
74. Jeanne-Claude,
with her
trademark dyed red hair, was the more outgoing of the artistic duo. She handled public relations,
money matters, and defended Christo against intrusions.
Survivor Christo was saddened but announced that “the art of Christo and Jeanne-Claude would continue."
Der Spiegel. Nov. 19, 2009
Amid complaints that Parisian nightlife has lost ground to cities like Berlin and Barcelona, French officials are doing their best to buff up the city's reputation with a new website. But partygoers, perturbe
d by red tape and the closure of famous clubs, say that more has to be done to enliven the city in the wee hours.
French philosopher Roland Barthes died almost 30 years ago, on 26 March 1980, but his works continue to engage new and old readers with remarkable consistency. Now we have two new/old texts by Barthes himself, transcriptions of his notes on the trip he made to China in spring 1974, and of his so-called diary of mourning written after his mother’s death in the autumn of 1977.
A test of 14 champagnes and 10 sparkling wines organised by the British consumer group Which? demonstrated that price is far from being a reliable guide to quality. Bargain champagne sold by supermarkets offered equal or better value than some fancy French brands like Möet & Chandon.
Twitter now available in
French
WashPost. Nov. 19, 2009
The messenging ad micro-blogging system Twitter rolled out a French version to
accommodate “les twitteurs” - users of nearly 30 Francophone countries.
It joins the Spanish version
already online, and German and Italian versions in production.
At this year’s
Dubai air show,
European Airbus received $5.3bn (£3.2bn) in orders and letters of intent, against two orders worth $800m for American Boeing. But Airbus sales are down sharply from the $75bn at the last show in 2007
Analyses of 914 films released between 2001 and 2005 indicated that sex and nudity do not, on the average, boost box office performance, earn critical acclaim or win major awards,' reports a new study titled "Sex Doesn't Sell.”
Sex and nudity were negatively correlated with a film's net profits, according to a paper published in the November 2009 issue of the journal Psychology of Aesthetics, Creativity and the Arts.
Cerralvo, an uninhabited island in the Sea of Cortez, has been renamed in honor of French explorer Jacques Cousteau (1910-1997) who spent a great deal of time studying marine life in the Sea of Cortez, according to Mexico’s INEGI statistics institute. Earlier this year the Jacques Cousteau Observatory of Oceans and Coasts was inaugurated in La Paz, Mexico, dedicated to studying the impact of climate change on the area.
The number of people expressing a lack of confidence in the president’s leadership skills has risen in France, according to a poll by CSA published in Le Parisien. 55 per ce
nt of respondents do not trust Nicolas Sarkozy, up three points since October.
The Comité Colbert, a 70-member French luxury industry group including Christian Dior, Baccarat, Boucheron, Hermès and the Plaza Athénée hotel, have launched a webste Ccolbert.com.con, aimed at promoting French luxury goods to China’s nouveau riche, accoridng to a slavish puff in the NYTimes. The website promises “you will find yourself wandering through space, admiring marvelous images, videos and sounds and gravitating towards different constellations in the galaxy of French luxury: romance, classicism, craftsmanship, elegance and creativity.” But on a recent visit, the website was only accessible by downloading special UnityWeb player software, an obvious impediment and marketing blunder, since few
internautes are willing to install a new browser to view just one website.
Sarkozy is to get a new presidential jet,
UK Telegraph. Nov. 17, 2009
The French President currently uses an ageing Airbus 319s but next year a larger Airbus A330-200 nicknamed 'Air Sarko One' will come into service. Critics in the opposition Socialists claim that the 185 million europs (£165 million) earmarked to fund "Air Sarko One" is putting extra strain on the budget.
A decree banning women from wearing trousers in Paris is still technically in force. The rule banning women from dressing like men – namely by wearing trousers - was first introduced in 1800 by Paris' police chief and has survived repeated attempts to repeal it.
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