WWI Truce Celebration

Today is a holiday in France. We celebrate the end of World War I which ended precisely November 11, 1918 at eleven o'clock. This truce (armistice) was signed by Marechal Foch in a train carriage specially fitted for this occasion (this same carriage was also used in 1940 by Hitler to sign the rendition of France). For the first time there will not be any Poilus (that is what we call the soldiers who fought this war) at the ceremony as, like reported previously on PDP, the last French witness of this war died last Mars at the age of 110.

The world according to Le Monde

Le Monde is one of the leading French national newspapers even though its certified circulation only amounts to 316 851 copies (it amounted to 800 000 copies in 1968!). Its original location was rue des Italiens in the 9th arrondissement; this address was so famous that sometimes Le Monde was referred to as "the daily paper from rue des Italiens". Because of its financial problems, however, Le Monde had to move to cheaper places in Paris - and in the suburbs. Its latest location is here, where I took this photo, at Boulevard Auguste Blanqui, in the 13th arrondissement. I'm told it's a very nice building inside (designed by famous architect Christian de Portzamparc). More - in French - here.

Safe way to the Safes...

Every year since 1984, on the 3rd weekend of September the Journées du Patrimoine (heritage days) take place. During 2 days, a lot of buildings that are usually closed to the public open their doors to the average citizen. About 15,000 architectural masterpieces (public and private) can then be visited throughout France. Needless to say that some (like L'Elysée, the home of the President of the Republic) are more visited than others... I had the opportunity to visit the headquarters of one of the largest French bank: La Société Générale (yes, the one where famous trader Jérôme Kerviel used to work!), located on Boulevard Haussmann. What you see here is the entrance to the safes. The door that protects them can be seen on the making of together with other details. PS: since 1991 other countries in Europe take part in the Heritage days; more info here.

Théâtre Athénée Louis Jouvet

I'm just back from a dinner at Les Paparazzi, a very nice Italian restaurant located near the opera, in a little passage sheltered from the noise of the street (which is unexpected in this area). Next to this restaurant I found this superb - and very famous - theater called L'Athénée-Louis Jouvet (Louis Jouvet was a beloved actor during the first half of the 20th century). It was built before 1900 but it was renewed and 1996 and is now part of the French Historical Monuments which means it cannot be destroyed nor altered.

A cool château!

On the eastern side of Paris there is a massive fortress with an impressive donjon called Le Château de Vincennes. It may not be as big and prestigious as the one of Versailles, but it's definitely worth a visit (it's easy to get there by metro). At the origin - in 1150! - it was just a simple hunting lodge (built for Louis the VIIth) and then it was turned into a castle over the centuries - including a large moat in which several people (such as spy Mata Hari, Duke of Enghien and Nazi hostages) were executed. The photo I took last night shows the main entrance door (you can have a global look of the Château lay out on the official site).

Eye on France

What would Joséphine de Beauharnais (I guess it's her in the photo!) have thought of today's (Sunday) debate in Le Sénat, where CNN was closing its Eye on France week. I don't know, but it was interesting to hear what the 5 representatives of the nowadays French society had to answer to the questions of Hala Gorani, the host of the debate. Has France turned a new page since the election of Nicolas Sarkozy? The answer depends on which political side you stand, of course, but all along this debate, I could not help but thinking that the set CNN chose to close this week was the Senate, that is something symbolic of our past glory. What is France currently building/creating/inventing... that will be chosen by the next CNN in 300 years?

Stock Market

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.

Raider of the lost island...

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 ;)

Highest Point in Paris

What is the highest point in Paris? Montmartre? La montagne Sainte Geneviève? None of those... It's 40 rue du Télégraphe, in the 20th arrondissement (148,48 m - 162.4 yards). Montmartre is only second (130 m - 142 yards). The interesting part is that this "summit" is precisely located in La rue du Télégraphe, because that is where the first telegraph was used by its inventor, Claude Chappe. I could not believe it was already 2 centuries ago, in 1791, between Paris and Lille (north of France)!

Mai 68 celebration

In 1968, in France, students started a mini revolution that became pretty successful throughout the month of May. That is why it's now referred to, by all historians, as "Mai 68". It's been 40 years now and "those who've done it" (called "Les Soixantehuitards") dream of a repeat in memory of their youth! All what's coming, though, are... anniversaries. This year, there are several exhibits, including this one that shows several photos by famous press photographer Marc Riboud who took great shots at the time. I chose this angle because you can actually see 2 photos of La Sorbonne with the actual Sorbonne in the background!

Marie-Antoinette makes it to Le Grand Palais

For some reason queen Marie-Antoinette is probably the most famous French queen in the world. Most of the people remember her 1) because she was beheaded during the French Revolution - well technically, slightly after - and 2) because she's supposed to have said "If [people] have no bread, let them eat cake". I say supposed because apparently this quote already existed in a book written in 1736 [Les Confessions] by Jean-Jacques Rousseau (a French Swiss writer). Anyway, they're currently having an exhibition about Marie-Antoinette at Le Grand Palais which has good reviews. I went last night but taking photos is prohibited, so I stayed at the entrance... Hope your Easter [for those who celebrate Easter!] weekend is doing OK, mine just started!

A night at the Senate

When you think of senators don't you picture old farts, half sleeping while having endless discussions over a new law?! Well, in fact these "wise men" seem to be much more dynamic than what we think. Thus, last evening I attended there a debate about "micro incomes" generated by blogs, ebay, adwords, etc. This also gave me the occasion to see this venerable institution from the inside - and take this photo! On top of that, they even have part of their website in English;)

Statue of Liberty

I already mentioned it several times here - and you may know it anyway - but the statue of Liberty that you can see in New York has been given to the Americans by the French as a gift. Several mock ups and replicas have been made prior and after, like this one I recently found in the Musée des Arts et Métiers, a fantastic museum near Place de la Republique where you can also see the first - French - planes, the first - French - bicycles, the first - French -television set (1931!) and several displays about buildings and constructions. That is where I photographed this mock up.

Bourgeois de Calais

Since you apparently all like the musée Rodin let me show you one of my favorite sculptures there: un bourgeois de Calais (a burgher of Calais). Calais is a city in the north of France which was besieged by British King Edward III in 1347. To free the city he was offered the life of 6 inhabitants (burghers) that he finally did not kill (read the captivating story here). In 1884, the city ordered Rodin a sculpture depicting this historical episode; it became the famous Bourgeois de Calais. The original is in Calais of course, but there are 12 copies throughout the world: Rodin museum, Copenhagen, London... and also studies in Stanford University that I had the occasion to photograph last June while I was in Silicon Valley.