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Sarkozy takes French presidency

Conservative candidate Nicolas Sarkozy has won the hotly-contested French presidential election. The final count gave Mr Sarkozy 53.06%, compared with 46.94% for socialist Segolene Royal, with turnout at 85%. Mr Sarkozy, 52, the son of a Hungarian immigrant, takes over from the 74-year-old Jacques Chirac.

» bbc.co.uk

Defeated Socialists search for scapegoats

Let the finger-pointing begin. Ségolène Royal’s defeat on Sunday night left the French Socialist party in disarray and searching for someone to blame. There is hardly a shortage of scapegoats.

It is the party’s third consecutive presidential defeat. The Socialists now face the question of whether they can ever regain power without ditching their anti-capitalist rhetoric, as the mainstream left has done across almost all of Europe.

Ms Royal can argue that she did better than Lionel Jospin, who in 2002 led the Socialists to a humiliating third place behind Jacques Chirac and far-right leader Jean-Marie Le Pen. But France’s main opposition party still faces a wrenching crisis.

» ft.com

Police battle anti-Sarkozy protesters

CLASHES between police and protestors have been reported in central Paris and the southeastern city of Lyon after conservative leader Nicolas Sarkozy was elected French President overnight.

In the Place de la Bastille in Paris riot police fired tear gas and at least one burst of water cannon after hundreds of rioters – some wearing masks – began throwing bottles, stones and other missiles.

Earlier, a small crowd brandishing black and red anarchist flags set fire to an effigy of Mr Sarkozy before tearing it limb from limb and then stamping on it. Demonstrators chanted "police everywhere, justice nowhere".

» news.com.au

French parties call voting machines a 'catastrophe'

The Socialists, the Communist Party and the Greens put on a rare show of unity to call the machines, used for around 1.5 million of France's 44.5 voters, a "catastrophe." It is the first time the machines have been used for a presidential election in France. Amid big queues in general to vote, people using the electronic machines were forced to wait up to two hours to cast ballots. The left wing parties complained following problems at Noisy-le-Sec, a suburb east of Paris.

"In line with our forecasts, the electronic vote has been a catastrophe," the parties said in a statement. They said that many voters had walked away in disgust because of the wait.

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MET Museum Podcast: An Americans in Paris, 1860–1900

The actor Charles Turner reads amusing descriptions of Parisian daily life by Henry Ossawa Tanner (1859–1937), the first African American artist to achieve international acclaim.

[ mp3 ] listen or download

Jodie Foster, teenage chanteuse

Here's a 1977 video of a teenage Jodie Foster singing Je T'Attends Depuis La Nuit Des Temps. She recorded the song and several others for the film Moi, fleur bleue.

» youtube.com [ Contribute: submit link / submit article / submit company ]

New airline L'Avion offers Paris-NY with French frills

A new low-cost, high-frills French airline entered the cutthroat transatlantic market on Friday with an all-business class service aimed at cost-conscious "Paryorkers". The made-up catchword, derived from Paris and New York, is the slogan for a daily round-trip service between the two cities to be operated by start-up airline L'Avion from December 27. The airline began taking reservations on Friday and changed its brand name from Elysair after market research found, to the airline's surprise, that Americans as well as French people warmed to the simple French word for "aeroplane".

"We chose the name for its 'French touch'. We will have French cuisine and wine too," said former AOM-Air Liberte chief Marc Rochet, chief executive of L'Avion's operating company. For 1,600 euros ($2,118) roundtrip, travelers will be able to fly between Paris's second airport, Orly, and Newark, New Jersey, the second-largest intercontinental airport serving New York.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: L’avion - French Airline - Paryorkers
» lavion.com

Book Review: The Story of French

The Story of French. By Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow. 483 pages. $25.95. St. Martin's Press.

The unique relationship between French speakers and their language is one of the grand themes in "The Story of French," a well-told, highly accessible history of the French language that leads to a spirited discussion of the prospects for French in an increasingly English-dominated world.

The authors, Jean-Benoît Nadeau and Julie Barlow, are bilingual Canadians with a sense of mission. They value French as a vehicle of expression uniting 175 million people scattered in a linguistic archipelago across several continents. They also see it as a counterweight to U.S. political and cultural power.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: The Story of French - French Language - French Culture
» International Herald Tribune

Chirac's France 24 starts broadcasting tomorrow.

PARIS: France goes head-to-head with CNN and the BBC from Wednesday with the launch of its state-funded 24/7 news channel, part of President Jacques Chirac's efforts to make his country's voice heard.

France 24 will broadcast two channels, one in French and the other mostly in English.

"Our mission is to cover worldwide news with French eyes," CEO Alain de Pouzilhac told Associated Press Television News. He said the channel will emphasize in-depth reporting and debate, culture and "l'art de vivre" — the art of living.

The channel launches its trilingual Web site — with video on demand and content in French, English and Arabic — at a gala in Paris' Tuileries Garden on Wednesday evening. Chirac is to attend.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: France 24 
» IHT

Terrorist organization opens 'new phase in struggle against French state

A new phase must be opened up in the struggle against the French State in order for it to take an interest in the (Basque) conflict and its solution." Reported by the Spanish Basque nationalist daily Gara on 4 November, this threat comes in number 111 of Zutabe (The Column), the clandestine internal bulletin of the terrorist organization, ETA. This publication is used mainly to convey instructions to ordinary members and to set out the organization's positions.

Finally, in July, the nationalist Batasuna party, viewed as ETA's legal wing, addressed a letter to President Jacques Chirac, in which it said that "the French State must act responsibly and stop analysing the Basque problem as an internal Spanish problem." Batasuna added that Paris must "reject repressive approaches and seek a political solution to the conflict".

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: Terrorist - Basque Country - Paris
» lefigaro.fr

Paris street to gallery, the pochoir artist arrives

PARIS: It was an unlikely juxtaposition: A green, graffitied face of the Mona Lisa staring out from the eminently respectable cover of a Sotheby's auction catalogue.

Yet even stranger were the auction results of the Contemporary Art sale at Sotheby's London Olympia last month. As stalwarts of the contemporary art's scene - Damien Hirst, the Chapman brothers, Cindy Sherman - nestled around their estimates, it was the works of "Banksy," a shadowy British graffiti artist, that set the sale alight. The artist's "Mona Lisa," spray-painted with stencil on canvas, set the auction's top sale at £57,600, or $109,600, closely followed by six Warholesque silkscreen prints of Kate Moss, which sold for more than five times their estimate. Banksy has "underlined his credentials as a heavyweight in the art world," wrote Matthew Beard in The Independent. Graffiti blogs agreed that Banksy had been given the "green light" by the art establishment.

» LaPanse.com / IHT

A survey of France: Sophie Pedder, Paris Bureau Chief of The Economist

"There is nothing inevitable about decline in France. There is a sense sometimes elsewhere that this is just the way the French are... that they are conservative and resistant to change. That is actually nonsense."

[mp3] Listen or Download / The Economist

On the Ile Saint Louis / Paris and Suburbs

Splendid reception apartment on the Ile Saint Louis, with exceptional views on the Seine river. Luxuriously renovated, this 330 m² apartment on the 3th floor of an elegant 18th century building offers spacious volumes. Versailles parquet. Closed garage in the courtyard.

» Marie-Hélène LUNDGREEN / Tel : 01.53.23.81.82
» mh-lundgreen@daniel-feau.com Ref Pericles : MHL639

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: Ile Saint Louis - Seine River - Paris Suburbs

Air France confirme la création d'une nouvelle compagnie touristique

Comme révélé ce matin par La Tribune, le groupe Air France KLM va créer une compagnie aérienne régulière à vocation touristique, en s'appuyant sur Transavia, la filiale de KLM spécialisée sur les activités touristiques. Basée à Orly, la nouvelle compagnie proposera des vols vers des destinations comme le Maroc, la Tunisie ou l'Espagne.

Air France-KLM a confirmé ce matin les informations publiées ce jour par La Tribune, à savoir son projet de création d'une nouvelle compagnie touristique moyen-courrier. Une initiative qui répond, selon le communiqué de la compagnie aérienne, à "la croissance du marché des loisirs" et à "la demande des professionnels du tourisme français". Cette nouvelle entité sera filiale à 60% d'Air France et à 40% de Transavia.com, la filiale de KLM dédiée au transport de passagers vers des destinations loisirs moyen-courriers. Elle permettra de mettre en place de nouveaux "vols réguliers vers des destinations loisirs actuellement non desservies par Air France".

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: Air France - Vocation Touristique - Tourisme Francais
» latribune.fr

Ségolène Royal wins French Socialist party’s presidential primary with majority of votes, boosting her bid to become the country’s first woman president next May.

Her victory, hailed last night by one of her supporters in Paris as the “birth of a new Socialist party”, helps her to dismiss criticisms that her candidacy was based more on style than substance and she lacked the experience to win the hearts of her party.

“I am conscious of having received this boost; to have been chosen in this way is something extraordinary,” said Ms Royal, speaking from her home at Melle, the small village in her rural constituency of Poitou-Charente in western France.

“France is going to write a new page of its history. The country has a desire for change. I want to incarnate that change, to give it credibility and legitimacy, and I believe that this legitimacy has been offered to me tonight,” she said.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: French Socialist Party - Poitou-Charente - Western France
» Financial Times

Saint Cloud. Exceptional estate of about 600 m².

This outstanding property of about 600 m² stands in a landscaped garden of 2.300 m² enjoying an unspoilt view of Paris. Fully and luxuriously renovated in 1999, this elegant house comprises on the ground floor : a triple reception opening onto a large terrace facing south-west and a superb fitted kitchen. On the first floor : a master suite and sitting room with a large terrace. Second floor : 3 bedrooms and bathrooms. On garden level : a beautiful indoor swimming pool with broad bay windows opening onto the garden, a small gym, separate studio with kitchen and bathroom along with an extraordinary wine cellar and a linen room. A 2-car garage. Elaborate security system. Charm and perfection. A rare opportunity.

» Belles Demeures de France / Phone: 00 33 1 53 23 81 81

Charges sociales allégées pour les très petites entreprises

Le prélèvement de 3.000 euros de charges sociales payé par les entreprises en création va être remplacé par un prélèvement assis sur le chiffre d'affaires effectivement réalisé. Une mesure qui devrait procurer un soulagement appréciable aux créateurs d'entreprise.

» La Tribune

Sofia Coppola To Have Baby in Paris

Movie maker Sofia Coppola is so smitten with Paris, France, she has determined her first child will be born there. The director will give birth to a baby daughter this winter, and she's moving into a new apartment in the French capital to make sure her baby is born European.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: Sofia Coppola - Paris Baby
» Starpulse

Laurent Joffrin candidat à la direction de Libération

Les actionnaires de quotidien se retrouvent ce lundi pour un cinquième conseil d'administration afin de débattre d'un projet prévoyant 100 suppressions d'emplois. Laurent Joffrin, directeur de la rédaction du Nouvel Observateur, a annoncé son départ de l'hebdomadaire dans l'intention de prendre la direction de Libération.

» La Tribune.fr

Journée de grève chez Nestlé

La CGT de Nestlé France appelle à une « journée nationale d'action » dans l'ensemble des sites du groupe agroalimentaire, avec des arrêts de travail, mardi, jour d'un comité de groupe France. Le syndicat dénonce « les problèmes liés aux restructurations, délocalisations, perte des emplois en masse, remise en cause des acquis sociaux », et demande des « augmentations de salaires.

» Les Echos

Paris is rich pickings for China's new elite

DROVES of Asians pour from buses into a side entrance of Galeries Lafayette, the venerable Parisian department store, and march into its duty-free boutique beneath a "Japan Welcome" sign. But these are not the flush Japanese of yore; they are mainland Chinese, now Paris's most sought-after tourists. We're from Wuhan," said Dina Li, 31, who is travelling with her mother. Since China put the European Union on its list of approved tourist destinations two years ago, the volume of Chinese sightseers to the Continent has surged, and France is their top destination. About 700,000 Chinese tourists visited France last year and the number is climbing annually. By 2020, the World Tourism Organisation estimates 100 million Chinese will make foreign trips each year.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: Chinese Tourists - Galeries Lafayette
» Scotsman

French growth sputters after a spurt

BRUSSELS: The French economy ground to a halt in the third quarter, prompting banks to lower their forecasts for growth across Europe on Friday. The surprisingly bad news also dealt the center-right government a blow as campaigning gains pace, with a presidential election just six months away. France had been expected to grow by an annualized 0.5 percent in the third quarter after posting large gains in the second quarter. Along with declining unemployment, continued growth in France was expected to help the Gaullist governing party to rally voters. Instead French output was unchanged during the third quarter, while industrial production fell, reinforcing a picture of the French economy as somewhat plodding and unlikely to repeat the exceptional growth spurt in the second quarter anytime soon. "Things have definitely improved from a year ago, but we have yet to see evidence that France can do better, or even get back to the high growth rates of the late 1990s," said Jean- François Mercier, an economist with Citigroup in London.  

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: French Economy - Gaullist Party - Paris Travel
» IHT

Spies lost 25m kitty meant to preserve France

French spies have lost a secret war chest of 25m meant to fund a government-in-exile in the event of invasion or nuclear attack. The money was hidden in bank accounts and investments controlled by a handful of intelligence officers who passed on the details by word of mouth. The cache is apparently distributed around the world, but exactly where is unknown.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: France - French Spies
» guardian.co.uk

France 24 to challenge CNN, BBC, Al Jazeera

Chirac's pet project promises to 'spread French values abroad' While Francois Mitterand commissioned I.M. Pei's Louvre pyramid, soon-to-be-retired French President Jacques Chirac is betting on France 24, a round-the-clock French CNN, to cement his legacy. To be broadcast to 90 countries in Europe, Africa and the Middle East, and initially to New York City and Washington in the U.S., the channel promises to offer an alternative to what France regards as the dominant, Anglo-Saxon take on global events. It will be about "seeing the world through a filter other than that of CNN, BBC World and [Al] Jazeera," according to a France 24 press kit.

» Search Paris-Specific Tags: CNN - Jacques Chirac - France 24
» Market Watch

A Clash of Civilizations in Europe?

Secular Europe and some of its Muslims citizens continue to clash – not in direct battle but over cartoons, operas, newspaper essays and school customs. The clashes are a product of a globalized media system, according to French journalist Patrick Sabatier, with instant information about any perceived slight to faith over satellite television or internet obscuring complex issues and provoking anger.

Globalization of the media allows instantaneous dissemination of the extremists’ point of view, both jihadists and far-right extremists who advocate violence, intolerance and segregation. European leaders are uncertain about how to handle the rising tension – whether to refrain from any criticism of Islam to defuse tension or to allow a free and robust exchange of ideas.

» Yale

For France, Video Games Are as Artful as Cinema

France is proud of its contribution to culture in such forms as existentialism, Impressionism and amateur films.

Now the French culture minister wants to add Donkey Kong to his country’s pantheon of high art. “Call me the minister of video games if you want — I am proud of this,” the minister, Renaud Donnedieu de Vabres, said in an interview last month. “People have looked down on video games for far too long, overlooking their great creativity and cultural value.” Mr. Donnedieu de Vabres is seeking to have video games recognized as a cultural industry eligible for tax breaks, similar to French cinema.

In March, he pinned medals from the Ordre des Arts et des Lettres — a prize awarded to acknowledge cultural accomplishments — on three prominent video game designers, including Shigeru Miyamoto, the Japanese creator of Donkey Kong.

» NY Times

Madame Figaro - Luxe : Le très haut de gamme

Van Cleef & Arpels : 100 ans sous toutes ses facettes Claudine Hesse. Madame Figaro. Photo : Paul Delort/Le Figaro Le célèbre joaillier de la place Vendôme fête son anniversaire avec éclat : 186 bijoux aux noms évocateurs sont créés pour l'occasion.

Victoire à secrets

Sa frange, ses robes de princesse, ses bagues hypertrophiées... On croit tout connaître de Victoire de Castellane, la créatrice de la joaillerie Dior. Et pourtant, le mystère reste entier.

via: LE FIGARO Madame - Luxe

NetEconomie, Les blogs de Juppé et Royal séduisent la presse traditionnelle

Parallèlement à son top 100 des blogs les plus populaires, Edelman dévoile l'identité des blogs politiques les plus référencés par la presse traditionnelle en France.

Le blog-notes d'Alain Juppé, qui vient de reprendre ses fonctions à la mairie de Bordeaux (al1jup.com), un blog non officiel de Nicolas Sarkozy, candidat UMP à la présidentielle 2007 (sarkozyblog.free.fr), et le forum participatif de Ségolène Royal, candidate à l'investiture socialiste à la présidentielle (desirsdavenir.org), forment le trio de tête de ce classement.

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