Tuileries Art

Modern art in the Jardin des Tuileries.

What kind of prints?

Less than a month after Rachida Dati’s fellatio inflation mix up, it appears that she isn’t the only French politician with something other than politics on the mind.

During an interview, France's interior minister, Brice Hortefeux mixed up the terms empreintes digitales (fingerprints) and empreintes genitales (you don’t have to speak French to understand that one).

Read about it here.

Oops, I put the wrong link in the original post. It's now been updated with the correct one.

Seattleite ET Parisienne

About 3 weeks ago I opened my mailbox to find one of the best birthday gifts I have ever received. When I saw the return address, I got a bit nervous because the envelope was so thin and I assumed it was probably bad news.

Then I opened the letter and read:

That's right folks, as of last month, I am officially a froggette (froggette-yank, or Framerican according to the Brit, to be more accurate).

Of course, this being France, I still have to wait up to 6 months to receive the official documents I need to get a French passport and ID card. But now I can whinge about French bureaucracy as a foreigner and a citizen....

Manif et moi

I had an appointment yesterday evening and when I got to the bus stop I discovered that the bus I was supposed to take wasn’t running due to a manifestation. So I decided to walk and ended up smack in the middle of the protest.

I’ve seen Parisian protests before, but usually from a safe distance. While part of me didn’t mind adding this to my list of French experiences, the rest of me was annoyed at having to push my way through the crowd.

Here are some photos:

Anglophone?

I stopped by the local Monop to pick up a couple of things and had an odd exchange with the cashier. It took place in French, here’s a rough translation.

Him: Bonjour
Me: Bonjour
Him: (after a few seconds): Do you speak English?
Me: Yes
Him: Are you Anglophone?
Me: Yes
Him: You’re not American?
Me: Yes
Me: Did you ask because of my accent? (even though all I had said was “bonjour)
Him: No, I’ve seen you a couple of times and you have a certain style.

I’m not sure how I should interpret his comment…

3 years and $7 billion

Jerome Kerviel, the former trader who cost Societe Generale billions of euros has been sentenced to 3 years in jail. He is also supposed to repay the 4.9 billion euros ($6.7 billion) that Societe Generale claims it lost as a result of his trades. Read about it here or here.