Il y a longtemps que notre pays est beau mais rude.
--Newspaper editor Olivier Séguret, 25 January 2012
The USA are entirely the creation of the accursed race, the French.
--Evelyn Waugh (1903-1966), writing to Nancy Mitford, 22 May 1957
The mayor of Calais is suing Marine Le Pen of the Front National for saying "repeatedly" that citizens in Calais need a pass issued by the mayor to get to their own homes (because of the number of migrants in the town). In fact, the passes are issued by the police prefecture.
"À nous de vous faire préférer le train!"
"Voyager autrement"
"Avec le SNCF, tout est possible"
--Former ad slogans of the SNCF (French national trains), each in turn quickly dropped
(literally: marmoset)
Etymology: onomatopoeia from the sound a marmoset makes. Actual meaning: this is what you say in France when you want people to smile for the camera.
Selon une étude réalisée par le fabricant d’appareils photo Nikon, le « ouistiti » utilisé en France au moment de se faire prendre en photo est le petit mot le plus efficace pour s’assurer un joli sourire.
Private sector
First strike in 43 years at an aeronautics company in Toulouse, Latécoère
Public sector
The SNCF (toujours eux), regional train employees in the Lyons area guaranteeing unpleasant travel from the 17th-21st December
Also yet another strike by Sud-Rail, a particularly truculent SNCF union in the south of France, this time five days in January: 6,7, 21, 22 and 23. "We have no choice." Right.
Marseilles trams on strike until February
« America vs Italy, 1-1 | Main | They burned Washington, so we don't study Trafalgar »
Panorama of taxis waiting at Paris-Charles de Gaulle airport. Notice all the drivers just standing around waiting. Night and day, week in, week out, there are now hundreds upon hundreds of taxi drivers waiting here for three and four hours, not wanting to spend a wasted hour going back empty in the NEW traffic jams created by Paris mayor Delanoë and his insane traffic policies.
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In Paris, the purest virtue is the object of the filthiest slander.
–Honoré Balzac (1799-1850), in Scènes de la vie privée
À Paris, la vertu la plus pure est l'objet des plus sales calomnies.
Annual Geminids meteor shower (shooting stars!) coming this weekend, if it's not too cloudy out at night.
Keith Eckstein also has a new book review site, Books About France
last week; 4.15 PM landing in Paris it took me 2.5 hours to get into paris...
Posted by: schuey | 19 June 2006 at 17:28
Hello,
Flying out of CDG a couple of weeks ago I noticed the same swarm of waiting taxis. Did you see that there is even a digital clock telling the drivers how long they will wait for a fare. I was there early in the morning and the wait was about three hours.
Your blog is excellent and I look forward to reading it every day.
Regards,
Ed Morrow
Posted by: Ed Morrow | 20 June 2006 at 06:15
Aha! So is Delanoe to blame for the lack of taxis at Eurostar? For the last three months, coming from London there have been about five taxis in a 20-minute period, with probably 250 people waiting. It happened again last night and I was wondering if suddenly there's a strike. In the end, carrying a heavy bag, I had to take the metro. I felt really sorry for elderly people still waiting for a taxi.
Posted by: Paris Parfait | 01 July 2006 at 01:11
The short answer is: yes.
It's never easy getting a taxi when coming off a train with 250 other people. But the area around the Gare du Nord has suffered more than any other in Paris from Mayor Delanoë's street-blocking. So the taxi drivers avoid the area, with predictable effects on Paris visitors.
http://www.ruerude.com/2006/06/driving_to_engl.html
Posted by: Sedulia | 01 July 2006 at 16:20