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January 25 2012
Difficult times...
France is not exactly doing too well at the moment (highest unemployment rate since 1999, a 2012 yearly budget short of 81,7 billion €, terrible perspectives...). It's very unlikely that President Sarkozy will be reelected in May, when we're going to have new elections. Who will be in his shoes in May? It's hard to tell for sure, but most likely François Hollande, the former head of the Socialist party. The extreme right or left parties may also play a large role as people don't know who to turn to to escape this very grey times that we're going through...
November 04 2011
Building Europe...
President Sarkozy and Obama were interviewed on television last evening and it was a first. This shows how tough the times are. We're trying to build a unified Europe, but it's not easy (like it was probably not easy to build the United States over 200 years ago). They talked about friendship, confidence and trust. Of course these are politician words, but still, it felt good to have some support (even if the US economy is not exactly in better shape than the one of Europe actually. But who's counting?!) Have good weekend everyone, how about a little Ouzo with your Pasta?
June 30 2011
Free, at last!
Unfortunately, it's not the first time I mentioned that some French people are held hostage somewhere in the world... (remember Ingrid Betancourt?). Well two of them (Stéphane Taponier et Hervé Ghesquière) have just been freed today after 547 days in Afghanistan, among the Talibans. I took this photo in September 2010, during a demonstration to support their cause, but never used it because I did not think that adding more publicity (even though PDP is not exactly CNN LOL!) would help. Now I'm glad to use it!
May 18 2011
From Sofitel to Rikers Island...
My week vacation in the States was good, but intense and I must say I'm happy to be back home to my daily routine LOL. Here, the news has suffered a real tsunami, after the head of the IMF (Dominique Strauss Khan Kahn, a French politician who was to run for French presidency) has been accused of assaulting a chamber maid at the NYC Sofitel last Saturday. It's a big shock here, not only because the French find it hard to believe, but also because they discovered how American justice works. In France, for instance, it is forbidden to show people with handcuffs on TV and it is not allowed to film a court room. Now, whether he's guilty or not, the odds that he runs for Presidency are very very slim...
April 12 2011
Old cars pollute too much
Look at this car. Beautiful isn't? It's an old Citroën Traction Avant, a very famous French car that was built between 1934 à 1957. There are still a few ones running in France (and everywhere apparently!) including Paris. But pretty soon, they might disappear from our scenery, as the French Ecology Minister is planning to ban all cars that were manufactured before 1997 from getting into Paris and 7 other big cities in France. The goal being to drop the level of pollution. Probably a good idea, but I will regret these old cars.
January 13 2011
Dead hostages return
Two poor young French guys got killed last Saturday in Niger after they were kidnapped in a bar by
what is believed to be Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) - see more here if you're interested. Why them? For no reasons, they were simply picked up by chance... I had no intention of mentionning this sad episode as, unfortunately, tens of people get abducted and die everyday in the world, and then I saw this paper in the middle of the street, just like this (I did not touch anything), partly wet because of the rain. It simply moved me.
November 14 2010
New Government
As of today France has a new government. Don't go thinking President Sarkozy resigned or anything, no, in France we have a weird system: the President is elected every 5 years, he then appoints a Prime Minister who appoints the other ministers. When things go a little shaky (like recently with the retirement law that put many people in the streets), the President calls for a new Prime Minister who then appoints new Ministers... This time though, the new Prime Minister remained the same as the old one (François Fillon), only the rest of the team got reshuffled (more on France 24). Are you still following? Anyway, it gives me the opportunity to use a photo that I took about a month ago while Culture Minister Frédéric Mitterrand (the nephew to François Mitterrand, the former French President) inaugurated le Studio 13/16, a place dedicated to Teenagers in the Beaubourg center. He happens to remain at the very same position in the new Government...
October 19 2010
War?!
If you watched the French news, you may have heard that once again our country is almost under siege! Due to the new law about retirement (we will have to work two more years starting 2018), people have started demonstrating, then going on strike and now the country is almost paralyzed. It is now very difficult - if not impossible - to find gas/petrol and they say that soon food will also be short. I did not really think the situation was as bad as what they said on television, but this morning I have been unable to fill the tank of my scooter... I'm not too worried about not being able to fill my stomach though, as I have some spare energy around my waist!
September 07 2010
When to retire?
There was a big demonstration - and strike - in Paris today. Still about the same issue: the legal age of retirement. The government wants to postpone it by 2 years (from 60 to 62), but the people and the unions are not too happy about that... As always, it is extremely difficult to know how many people were actually in the street (between 1,2 and 2,7 million depending on the sources!), but it is a real concern for sure, even for people who will retire in a very very long time, like the ones in this photo!
August 30 2010
Gypsies...
If you visited Paris, you probably noticed what we call the "Roms" (Gypsies), that is an ethnic group who originates from India and who settled down mostly in Eastern Europe. They are very poor and not really welcome anywhere (including their home country) but with the opening of the EU borders a lot of them emigrated to the West, including France. They are now in the middle of a political battle as the government is trying to send them back to where they are from (Romania mostly) and the opposition is accusing the Government of being inhuman.
May 08 2010
Happy anniversary Mister President?
I found this "figurine" (a little 3D portrait) in an art gallery (Galerie Lefor Openo), in the 6th arrondissement. Mougey, the artist that is featured there until the end of May made funny little statues of famous people ("pipoles" as we now call them!) including politicians... I thought this was the most appropriate one to post at this very moment, as President Sarkozy just celebrated his 3rd year in power. Times really flies, as I recall taking this photo so well, that it seems like yesterday.
March 13 2010
Election Day
Today is an election day in France (we always vote on a Sunday). We vote for our local representatives. There are 26 regions in France (but only 22 for Metropolitan France - that is without the West Indies, the Reunion and French Guyana). Paris is included is what is called "l'île de France", a sort of "Greater Paris". Regions are in charge of Public transports, Schools' maintenance, roads... and other local equipments and services.The left - that is the opponents to the present Government - are predicted to win most regions (if not all of them) according to polls. More (if you're interested!) here.
February 22 2010
Léon Blum
Léon Blum was a French Politician who was born in 1872 and died in 1950. He is famous for taking part in a government called Le Front Populaire (Popular Front, that is a coalition of left parties) in 1936 and 37. That is when - among other measures - payed vacations (2 weeks per year), a work week of 40 hours (instead of 48) and the right to strike were enacted. Léon Blum was also Jewish, and for a Catholic country like France, having a Jewish Prime Minister (well Président du Conseil, was the exact term) was really a small revolution! I photographed this statue at Place Léon Blum, in front of the 11th arrondissement Town hall.
December 03 2009
A man ahead of his (DST) time
Let me instroduce you to André Hannorat, a French politician that, I 'm sure, nobody in France remembers! I just like this sculpture - that I shot at the Cité Universitaire, where he lived the last years of his life. And though this man should be remembered for one thing that we still experience nowadays: the daylight saving time. In fact to be perfectly honest, he apparently "borrowed" the idea from Benjamin Franklin and had a bill passed at the French Parliament in as early as 1917.
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