Jacques Chirac has opened the new Musée du Quai Branly, a pet project of his, devoted to what is no longer called primitive art, and I drove by it yesterday out of curiosity. It stands on a spot near the Eiffel Tower that has been an eyesore for many years, so that will be a nice change. The building is very odd, multicolored, covered with plants, and looks as if it were stuck together by a playful giant. I am looking forward to visiting it. Rumor has it that Chirac really would like it to be named after him.
Today is the Gay Pride parade in Paris and half a million people are expected to watch it. It starts in Montparnasse and ends at Place de la Bastille. It will be interesting seeing which politicians are not there, as this year's theme puts them on the hot seat: gay marriage and adoption. I have already heard that Ségolène Royal has "other commitments" today.
"La Mère Royal?"said one of my neighbors when I asked her opinion of the présidentiables. "She always manages to escape having an opinion. D'ailleurs her relationship with François Hollande is about as authentic as Nicolas Sarkozy and his wife, all towers and castles from a distance, but everyone knows they live separate lives...." [By the way, the Wikipedia articles about Sarkozy in English and French are both under attack by people who consider they are not neutral-- unlike the articles on other politicians. He seems to call up extreme feelings in people.]
"And I don't understand," said her husband, "why all the women think Jean-Louis Borloo is sexy."
The French soccer team made it into the next round of the World Cup last night, but by the skin of its teeth. You didn't have to watch the match to know the score-- just walking down the street, you could hear the groans at France's missed goals and the belated roars when they finally scored in the nick of time. The captain, Zinedine Zidane, whose birthday it was, had had to sit out the game as a penalty, and wisely preferred to watch the match in the locker room away from the cameras. The Parisien published a cartoon showing an ordinary French couple saying to Prime Minister Villepin, "We don't dare support les Bleus." "It's cowardice!" replies the Prime Minister.
The mayor of Paris is pushing to name the new floating swimming pool, which will be installed in the Seine near the Bibliothèque nationale, after Josephine Baker. What a nice idea! She is still very popular in France and there is even a brand of underwear named after her most famous movie, Princesse Tam-Tam.
And the Académie Française has just admitted its first Maghrébin woman, the Algerian writer Assia Djebar, who has lived in France since 1980.
Wow! That's the best one yet!
Posted by: Sedulia | 26 June 2006 at 12:14
Ah yes Josephine Baker. I went on a bicycle tour of the houses near where I live (Chatou), and we came across the rambling mansion that she lived in Le Vésinet. Where she brought up all her adopted children.
L'equipe de France? The nation seem very half hearted about supporting them don't they? Well compared to England where I come from anyway. Domenech was saying it was said there weren't so many French fans in Germany, and that even he had spare tickets to games!!
Posted by: andre veloux | 26 June 2006 at 15:17