"Do you know why May 8 is a holiday?"

While perusing Le Parisien's main page last week (a website that has been nicely improved to compete with 20minutes.com, among others) I found a 'reporter in the street' video piece asking parisians enjoying their morning café why they celebrate May 8 every year.

To preclude this, I find myself often trying to correct the cocky American perspective that 'we saved those thankless french' in World War 2 and how 'unappreciative they are today'. I normally make good headway in explaining the impossible situation pre-1940 and how strong the french military actually was/is.

This video I found will surly make my job even harder if it ends up on video sharing websites. The reporter shows as several people struggle to come up with an answer to the 8 may holiday question: "Because of the warm weather?" ..."It has something to do with us winning" ...these responses go on. Out of the handful of responses, I believe only 1 person accurately explains that the French celebrate May 8 as the the liberation of Europe (V-E Day)...although the cute French smurf gets darn close.

Half comedy, half social profile, I found this video quite interesting (and also a strong counter to the many Jay Leno 'Man on the Street' clips showing how ignorant Americans can be).

May 1968: Les Soixante-Huitards

It's not often american 'internauts' have the opportunity to experience French bande-dessiné albums online- obviously owing to copyright issues. However, Le Monde offers interested francophiles the opportunity to do so while gaining a better understanding of the May 1968 'revolution' which took place in France- not a very approachable subject for American audiences removed from the ongoing debate about its' effectiveness.

Le Monde's focus/promotion of "Mai 68: Histoire d'un Printemps" allows internet surfers to scroll page by page through an excellent album in a sort of 'sneak preview' of the ENTIRE ALBUM. Who knows how long this will be available, but while it is, I strongly suggest everyone take a look.

Aside from good storytelling with many different narrators, the authors include clever and funny artistic devices- a real staple of any french album.

Trains: Classify under "Ways France is Better"

A recent issue of "Voyages d'affaires" magazine published a small article entitled "The SNCF to remove the paper ticket at the end of 2008". After a quick search, I found it in original french here. Now I'm a fan of the SNCF french system...it's hard not to be after experiencing it. I'd imagine fellow students/travelers have taken enjoyment in knowing that without a car or the need for a flight, one can 'deplace' around the country quite easily, something not so easily done here in the U.S.

In fact, chance meetings were always a happy recollection of trips long past- my favorites were when a Californian student and I shared out life stories and concerns (the ability to be frank with a complete stranger has limitless depths) and meeting an older gentleman who spoke no less than four languages, now retired from a career in the nuclear science industry.

To seriously compare the technology, the SNCF is fully committing to a ticketless program by the end of 2008, while US-Continental Airlines is giving a similar system a dry run.... in very limited capacity.

Even without comparing the obvious logistical problems here in the U.S., the SNCF, simply has a powerhouse marketing team. This previous summer for the "Coup du Monde", parisian train stations were outfitted with Madame Tussaud-esque mannequins of rugby players and SNCF employees, all in mid-play. And that is what makes 'le chemin de fer' so much FUN. I admit it, I was dazzled by the marketing and atmosphere around the system, contrasting with my younger memories of a gray dreary Amtrak train in Chicago.

US Visa Debate borders that of France

Bill Gates made it clear he believes more H1-B visas for foreign workers in the U.S. is a cure to the U.S. job concerns. The U.S.' current soul-searching translates as an attempt to analyze possible sources for new jobs, or for ways to protect jobs already inside this country.

Some politicians arguing against Gates' opinion want employers to make a good-faith effort to find U.S. citizens for the job before looking abroad-something strangely familiar to anyone who has tried to find a job inside France.

Fresh from an internship in Paris this past summer, I was confident in my abilities and the possiblities. Two months later though, as my internship drew to a close I was left without any options and sensing my dream job in Paris wasn't to be. The difficulties I encountered weren't because of a lack of experience, but because of France's own visa rules- that an arduous search must be done domestically before a visa is granted to a 'foreigner'.

-Now I can't say I fault the country for protecting their jobs, but obviously for an outsider, it wasn't doing me any favors. Now comes the axis of the visa/worker argument. Are we here in the US trying to simply protect opportunities for the people already in this country (like the French policy), or is the United States in the business of attracting and keeping the best the world offers to continually advance?

Klapisch's Lutece...et la mienne

I always treasure unique experiences and special encounters. Each of us embrace their own unique experiences and encounters in life. Fleeting memories can dissolve into the murkiness of the daily grind, or likewise solidify into the defining moment of a trip. A step beyond this scrapbook of personal souvenirs, the opportunity to share one of these intimate recollections with another is always fulfilling for multiple reasons.

I had the good fortune of 'experienceing' one of these shared memories while reading a promotional interview Le Parisien did with filmmaker Cedrick Klapisch about his new and tantalizing film "Paris". Klapisch predictably shares recollections of Paris, giving readers a glimpse into the anectdotal portfolio that helped birth his cinematic vision for the city (although he shares it in other films as well).

Ensuite j'ai vécu les dix premières années de ma vie place de la
Contrescarpe, dans le Ve . Le jardin où j'allais, en sortant de l'école
primaire, c'était les arènes de Lutèce. Quand votre espace de jeu est l'endroit
le plus vieux de Paris, il y a un mélange troublant entre votre propre enfance
et l'enfance de Paris. Le nombre d'heures que j'ai passées dans ce square ! Ça
donne un rapport extrêmement... organique avec cette ville.

Instantly on hearing Klapisch's childhood memory of amusement at the Lutece roman arena, I saw myself back in the same coliseum this past summer, enjoying a brilliantly sunny afternoon watching a group of children gleefully running through the arena's open center and windy stone steps just as Klapisch might have those years ago.

Many places in Paris, I could daydream of the bohemian past of Montmartre or of the long-dead royalty who passed the Louvre's halls, but the Lutece arena offers a different glimpse, the chance to understand Paris before there was a Paris. Here you can perceive the simplicity of the ile de la cite when it WAS the city, before it became the carrefour of a much larger and developed community.

And in the moment, I could appreciate sharing the fleeting recollection of a shared memory.

Le Pen... in the pen

Jean-Marie Le Pen, the friendly old fellow would could pass for everyone's old racist grandfather (but that would be too nice a comparison) was just sentenced to three months in prison suspended sentence ('trois mois de prison avec sursis') and a fine of 10.000 EUR.

What earned him a punishment this time?

«En France du moins, l'Occupation allemande n'a pas été particulièrement
inhumaine, même s'il y eut des bavures, inévitables dans un pays de 550.000
kilomètres
carrés».
- 01/05 Rivarol

Translation: "In France at least, the German occupation wasn't particularly inhuman, even if there were some small problems, inevitable in a country of 550,000 square kilometers."

While Le Pen's latest comment is no new surprise to those familiar with his 'work', it seems to produce an ongoing shock among French and the public in general- regadless of nationality. And most, I would imagine, harbor a sense of schadenfreude every time Le Pen goes to court for his many many comments.

My event of choice to prove the alternative of Le Pen's rosy view of Occupation-era France is Oradour-sur-Glane, which I would greatly like to visit some day, as a testament to the horrors of occupation.

The unfortunate thing is that the 10,000 EUR fine will probably be a drop in the bucket to someone like Le Pen.

When the case first began, Le Monde cited a maximum of 5 years imprisonment and 45,000 EUR possible fine. Obviously looking at the actual end-result, there is a big difference between the two.

Sleeveface...off

I originally picked up on this from French blogs. The concept is pretty simple, using the cover of a vinyl album to imitate a person's expression. Here's a nicely narrarated how-to.

Ironically, the first place I actually saw this was on a towering billboard in Cleveland to promote the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame's current "The Doors" exhibit. Imagine, the Rock hall is THAT far ahead of the curve!

...and what would sleevefacing be without a little 'Frampton Comes Alive!"

et enfin, un 'best of' a la francais.