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 If you like commercials - I'm talking good commercials - the place to be tonight and tomorrow is... Paris! Why, Because you could attend the 28th Nuit des Publivores ( The night of the Ad eaters!), a 5,5 hour long "commercial break" that takes place in one of the most famous movie Theaters in Paris: Le Grand Rex. This show, created by Jean-Marie Boursicot in 1981, is now so famous that it even takes place in many cities around the world (not in the US yet...). I attended one, in the 80's, and I must say, it was a lot of fun : partly because I love creative commercials and partly because the fun was also in the audience ;)
 Here is a very typical and historical area of Paris I never told you about. It's called Le Sentier (after the name of one of the major streets that runs through it) and it's the heart of the French clothing wholesale. It's a place where a lot of immigrants started their company - and sometimes made their wealth: originally mostly Jews (from North Africa), but now more and more Chinese and Pakistani. It's also a place known for its illegal workshops (constantly chased by the Police though) and illegal day workers hired to carry loads of garments and fabric from one place to another on these little red and blue trolleys that you can see in the photo. And, last but not least, in my opinion, it's the next up and coming area of Paris...
 It's a tradition that has almost never ceased since 1924: the "straw vote" at the famous Harry's Bar... The principle is simple: any American citizen (who can show an American passport) and who is older than 18 can participate in the vote. The results are posted in front of the bar (and on the Web site) every week leading up to the election until the very final moment (I took this photo at 7 pm on November 4th Paris time). The interesting part is that ever since 1924, the straw vote at Harry's Bar was wrong only twice: in 1976 (Ford/Carter) and in 2004 (Bush II/Kerry). At the time I'm posting this photo, I still don't know if they were wrong a third time...
 I'm still at the Women's Forum in Deauville until tomorrow evening and I thought this photo would be appropriate for the day ;) I took it in a hair dresser's shop close to the Edouard VII near Madeleine. That's all! Let me just wish you a nice weekend. PS: since I'm going to be in NYC on Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 someone asked me if I would organize a little gathering in Manhattan. Are there several of you interested?
 I don't always get the things that people I share society with go for. Hence, Techno Music! But precisely, when I don't understand something, I try my best to get to know it better, to make sure I don't miss something ;) That is precisely the reason why I went to the "Techno Parade" today (Saturday). The Techno Parade is a big march in the streets of Paris where thousands of young people - and sometimes less young - gather and dance to the beat! It was fun to watch, but I'm not sure I'll stay tuned to Radio FG (the "official" Techno music station!) all day long! More photos here in a little Animoto video.
 It's a very unexpected scene that I came across a few days ago, as I was passing by the Paris Opera (well the one we call Le Palais Garnier) ; a real "forest" growing on the front steps! I searched the web to find out more and I discovered that this was a street marketing operation to promote a new perfume for men by Guerlain (have a look at their web site, you have to be patient but it's quite impressive). I'm talking quite impressive!
 To prove to you that Paris is such an open-minded city, I wanted to show you this woman and her dog who decided to take a stroll between the revelers of happy hour one evening. I realize that for some of you, you'll be disappointed to notice that it's not a "French poodle", but therein lies our diversity. We welcome most any animal and their owner when it comes to sharing mojitos in the 2nd arrondissement!
 Curiously enough, most of the famous clothing designers are men. France makes no exception, even if we've had Coco Chanel of course and a few others. That is why today I would like to introduce you to Nathalie Garçon, one of the rare French female " Stylistes" (designers) we count. She started her own company in 1989, after working for several senior designers, and sold it 10 years later to a larger group (Garella), but she still continues to design clothes for the brand. Last but not least, she claims she designs them for "the average woman in the street" not for anorexic models!
 Wow, " ça chauffe sur PDP!" (I'm talking about yesterday's photo comments!). Let me buy you all a drink to cool off a little. And don't start commenting about me advertising for Cuba and the Castros (Fidel and Raùl!), I just like the colors of this photo. Besides, I understand Havana Club is a brand owned by Pernod Ricard (the company that makes Pastis a very French drink that you find mostly in the south) and yes, also by the Cuban State. Have a nice Sunday.
 A very Parisian scene today and... a very odd way of carrying such a music instrument through the streets of Paris! I took this shot rue Montmartre (2nd arrondissement) while I was having a drink with friends on a terrace. Of course, I found out later that this lady did not just happen to carry her cello (is it really a cello?)... She was actually playing it in front of each café, to collect a few euros - (of course, I contributed ;).
 It's hot and stormy in Paris at the moment. Consequence? The level of pollution has jumped from "good" to "poor". When this happens, the Paris authorities declare a "free parking day" where all residential parking (that is only the cars that show a resident parking permit) is free all day. This clever measure aims at encouraging people to use public transportation instead of their car. Parking in many locations (outside the very center) will also be free during August. But it has nothing to do with pollution, it's just the tradition.
 The stock Markets crashed quite a lot today in most places and this made me think of a photo I took recently in Le Palais Brongniart (after the name of the architect who built it) precisely located on the Place de la Bourse (" Bourse" means stock exchange in French). It is now more a historical place than a financial one for, since the early 80s all transactions are computer based. What you can see in this photo (the " corbeille" in the foreground, where stock brokers used to trade stocks by yelling "I buy" or "I sell" and the large board in the backboard where they would write the price of stocks with a choke chalk) is just there for the memories and for visitors, for now the place is used for conferences only.
 A few days ago, I noticed this old map of Paris in a shop window. It says " Nouveau plan de la ville de Paris, capitale du royaume de France" (new map of Paris, France's kingdom capital) but it's probably 600 years old, as it mentions l' Isle Louvier (after the name of its owner , Mr Louvier!), an island that was then next to île Saint Louis . Don't look for it if you come to Paris, this island does not exist anymore, as it has been "attached" to the right bank in 1847. I had never heard of this story until today. Thank you PDP ;)
 Do I really need to tell you who designed these shoes? No, I know, you all guessed Jean-Paul Gaultier (don't forget to pronounce the "L" in Gaultier, he's very picky about it!) did. Despite being a great designer (you may not like what he does, but you cannot deny he's got talent) he also happens to do other things. Hence his presence in Eurotrash, a program for the British Television (Channel 4) and soon, he's going to co-present the Eurovision song contest for the French television! Hilarious! BTW, these shoes cost 615 €. I know you would ask...
 Last week, a friend of mine who publishes a site dedicated - among other things - to sustainable developement, alerted me that the soda brand Orangina (a famous orange juice soda in France) was about to organize a " Greenwashing" in some areas of Paris. Principle? Turn parking spaces into a little fake grass green spot (an idea that was apparently "stolen" from the park(ing) day movement). I had to see this... I chose to visit the one spot located on my favorite place in Paris: La Place des Victoires. Here you go. Nothing really extraordinary, but unusual enough to be worth a post on PDP ;)
 Advertisers love Paris, but Paris doesn't like them... Today, the Paris council decided to reduce by 1/3 the amount of advertising space in the city. This will impact not only the space in general but also the size of posters. Thus the 1,000+ 4 x 3 meters (13 x 10 feet) billboards will soon be banned and so will the 6,000 smaller ones that are on display in the windows of shopkeepers and cafés. It will also be forbidden to advertise within 50 meters (164 feet) of a school, on the embankment, in Montmartre, etc. Needless to say that this measure is pretty controversial...
 Several of you have asked me for some Paris Christmas decoration photos, so let me start with this one, that I just shot a couple of hours ago on Place Vendôme (which I already shot from further away here). They scattered several candlesticks throughout the place and installed special projectors to enlighten the column in the middle. Really nice.
 OK, this is not the most glamorous photo I've shown on this blog, but I've found it "funny". It reads " here, there is an alarm that goes off every night, please do something!". The noise is a problem that Parisians have to deal with daily even though, from what the Paris town hall says, there has been some improvement lately. Apparently, at night, less than 50% of the Parisians are exposed to less than 55 decibels, and only 4,5% are exposed to more than 65 decibels. If you're interested, check the Paris noise maps at the bottom of this page.
 I know I'm going to make some of you very jealous! But yes, yesterday, I had one of these delicious baguette sandwiches for lunch... Fresh, crunchy, fully loaded, just like I love them. Not to mention that this kind of baguettes - called La flûte Gana, created by Bernard Ganachaud - is one of the best kinds I ever tasted. I've tried to look for more info on the baguette, but I 'm unable to know if it was created under Napoleon or much later, in 1920. More info here or on Wikipedia.
 Each year in November the 10 members of the Goncourt Academy jury elect the "the best and most imaginative prose work of the year" (well, according to them) and give him - or her - the Goncourt Prize. According to the tradition, the announcement of the winner is made every year at 1 pm on the dot from this restaurant, called Drouant. If you look more closely, you will see several names on the facade of this restaurant; they are all Goncourt Prize winners. By the way, this year's winner was announced yesterday's morning. His name is Gilles Leroy, he wrote «Alabama Song», a French novel, despite its title...
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