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
« Admiring the "mirrored wardrobes" (armoires à glace) | Main | Des fleurs qui s'ouvrent en mars, on n'en a que le regard »
It's time to say goodbye to Rue Rude for a while. I am leaving my Paris home, a bit unexpectedly, for a long sojourn in my native land.
If you like, you can come with me to California.
It's going to be weird.
"The emigrant's destiny: The foreign country has not become home, but home has become foreign."
--Alfred Polger (d. 1955), Der Emigrant und die Heimat
Emigranten-Schicksal: Die Fremde ist nicht Heimat geworden. Aber die Heimat Fremde.
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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
Quelle tristesse ! Rue Rude me manquera beaucoup ! Quel plaisir j'ai eu à vous lire...
Posted by: Léonor | 30 January 2007 at 15:11
Quelle choc! I didn't see it coming...
You had the most classy, the most ecclectic, the most profound views on "la vie francaise" and I will miss my daily dose of Rue Rude!
Best of luck in CA!
Posted by: isabella | 30 January 2007 at 21:47
I'm speechless (a rare event for me). Bouche bee.
Rue Rude IS Paris. Will you at least return for visits?
Best of luck in California.
Posted by: Polly | 31 January 2007 at 09:07
Oh no! You must, of course, keep blogging.
Posted by: Maribel | 31 January 2007 at 15:10
Very sad news. Hope all is well, and I look forward to reading you again one day...
Posted by: Chris Late | 31 January 2007 at 16:40
All the best, and thanks very much for keeping us posted on France and Germany!
Posted by: MHG | 01 February 2007 at 03:55
I wish you the best!
I've enjoyed your blog and your insights into French culture and life.
Posted by: Arne | 01 February 2007 at 06:10
I am very surprised and touched to have received these messages. It makes me feel "hot at heart" (as the French say). Thank you. À bientôt, tout le monde!
Posted by: Sedulia | 01 February 2007 at 08:18
Oh! Sad to see you go, I've enjoyed your posts and laughed/ranted along with you. Enjoy L.A.--I suspect things will be much eaier there, though I'd still love to hear about your readjustment.
Posted by: Gabrielle | 01 February 2007 at 11:06
I'm sure where ever you are, it will be a fascinating and worthy read.
Bonne chance in CA
Posted by: ParisBreakfasts | 01 February 2007 at 15:05
Heavens! I hope all is well and that the move isn't for anything too horrible or dire. In any case, you have my best wishes. I have always been extremely fond and in awe of your well-informed and written blog. Respect. Will read about you in Cali with irritation and jealousy because as much as I love the gorgeous romanticism of Paris, I dream of the warmth and sun of Cali, even with the Governator in residence.
I hope to meet you one day in person, hopefully when you get back. Till then...
Bisous.
Posted by: nardac | 01 February 2007 at 19:36
I am sorry to see you go. I enjoy reading your take on Paris, France and the world in general. I also enjoy the sometimes very lively comments. Thanks for expanding my world view and good luck.
Posted by: Nancy | 01 February 2007 at 21:37
I will miss your comments on Paris living as well. Will you post your CA life here or elsewhere?
Posted by: Linda | 02 February 2007 at 09:28
Your blog has been a great addition to my new life in Paris. I read it with glee, and share it with all my friends. How very sad to lose you so soon! I do hope you keep blogging from Califoria, and good luck with the move. Your voice will clearly be missed by many.
Posted by: rachelurk | 02 February 2007 at 10:36
Bonne chance pour ta nouvelle vie,
ce fût trés agréable de lire ton blog.
Amicalement,
Flip.
Posted by: Flip | 02 February 2007 at 23:59
As a fellow import-Parisian, I always enjoyed reading your take on this very special city on Rue Rude.
You were often able to educate me about peculiarities of France in general or Paris in particular that I had not (yet) discovered and able to make me laugh about things I had subconsciously already taken for granted. Thank you for a wonderful experience —you will be missed!— and I wish you the best of luck in LA!
Posted by: W.M. | 03 February 2007 at 01:22
I am GUTTED.
Good luck in your new/old home, but know that you are leaving a brilliantblog-sized hole.
Posted by: Le Meg | 03 February 2007 at 18:11
The woman who introduced me to my husband lived on Rue Rude! Rue Rude is the BEST in the expatriate blogosphere. Please continue to write about the experience of repatriation in California and then write the book for God's sake!
Posted by: Patricia | 03 February 2007 at 22:50
Life takes on turns and twists at times. You see the world around you and show it to others; that is a gift. I hope that you'll watch and report in California as you did in Paris.
Best wishes to you, Sedulia, in this time of transition.
Meilleurs voeux!!
Posted by: blueVicar | 05 February 2007 at 07:30
Good luck in LA. I've spent the past 2.5 years living in France and just returned in November. It's not all that easy to readjust...Bonne chance
Posted by: Tara | 13 February 2007 at 18:58