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
« The eyes have it | Main | Can France stop smoking? »
The poster says: All the left feet will tell you: more and more owners clean up after their dogs in Paris.
Underneath, it says: Today, that's Paris. 30,000 waste baskets are at your disposal in Paris. A canine excrement left on the sidewalk, that's a fine of 183 €.
It's true-- more and more masters clean up after their dogs in Paris. In my entire time here, I have seen five people (once each) clean up after their dogs. But two of those were this year.
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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
Hi !
Yeah, the city is at the end of its financial rope (reportedly the coffers are bare), taxpayers are moving out, parking is impossible, continual traffic jams are destroying trade and commerce … and the Maitre d'Hotel is worried about doggydoo ! Merci Monsieur Delanoe !
Heureusement que les elections approchent … !
Best,
L'Amerloque
Posted by: L'Amerloque | 09 October 2006 at 18:18
This cracked me up! We lived in the Savoie region for a year, and we certainly noticed les crottes de chien. Glad to know the problem is, er, clearing up.
Posted by: edj | 10 October 2006 at 00:50
Wow, first the smoking ban and now this. Paris is sounding better and better to me. Can't wait to get there.
Posted by: The Bold Soul | 10 October 2006 at 01:07
Now if we can just get folks to do the same down this way. While the situation is improved, Nice still has a problem. At least most of the dogs are small, so their, ahem, are small too.
Dog poop AND smoking...what's next???
Meilleurs vœux!
Posted by: blueVicar | 10 October 2006 at 08:17
30,000 wastebaskets, yet few can be bothered to walk their cigarette butts to one. At a cafe recently, I watched a young woman chain smoke, throwing each butt on the street in front of her, rather than asking for an trash tray.
On the other hand, I do see less poop. Or maybe I've just become accustomed to walking around it.
Posted by: sfgirl | 10 October 2006 at 15:29
I think the ads are working because I've had 3 people stop to encourage me recently while in mid-crouch over my dog's crotte. They used to just look at me like a crazy foreigner (which I am) when I picked up.
Posted by: Meg | 13 October 2006 at 17:07