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Why Travel To France

added: Fri, 20th October 2006 | 208 views | 0x in favourites
feed url: http://www.whytraveltofrance.com/?feed=rss2

Get the inside perspective on France from an American expat living in the land of unrivaled cuisine and find out about all things French from A to Z. More than just a site, you'll find a blog, travel guides, tips, deals, events and secret places unknown to the general public. Read about all things French: the good, the bad and the quirky.

Latest feed entries:

Orange Admits to Lowering 3G Network Speed

From electronista: “French cellphone carrier Orange has admitted to imposing artificial limits on its 3G broadband network, reports say. The confession comes after complaints from a number of iPhone 3G owners, who in testing their download capacity discovered that they were limited to a maximum of 400Kbps, as compared to the 1.8Mbps possible on T-Mobile’s German [...]

Les Caisses d’Allocations Familiales (CAF) / Child Support for the Jolie-Pitt Brood

Here’s some kooky celeb trivia in France from bittenandbound: “Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie are eligible to receive $2592.81 in parenting subsidies [for 6 kids] each month as residents of France. The Jolie-Pitts moved their family into Chateau Miraval in the south of France just before the births of twins Knox and Vivienne. Pitt registered the family [...]

Dialogue entre HH The Dalai Lama et Carla Bruni

Previous dialogues: Michael Phelps and Alain Bernard, Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos tags: france, dalai lama, carla bruni, sarkozy no show, china’s slave

Air Cars Hit the Streets

From autobloggreen and ecolotrader: “We heard that MDI, the creators of the AirCar - excuse us, the “Compressed Air Vehicle” - broke off all commercial relations with Miguel Celades, who had been carrying its commercial operations for a while. We tried multiple times to contact Mr. Celades for further explanations, but couldn’t. So, we turned to [...]

Another Radioactive Leak but it’s in the Same Place, Really

This time the uranium leak is in Pierrelatte, which actually shares the same nuclear power facilities as Tricastin, where the last two leaks were found, but the media has been suspiciously removing “Tricastin” from this news and are making people think that Pierrelatte is not in the same place. Well, it IS in the same [...]

Friday France Photo: Cancale, Bretagne

tags: france, travel, bretagne, cancale, brittany

The Village of Cap d’Agde, Where Being Nude is the Law

Before the weather gets too chilly, I thought I’d mention the village of Cap d’Agde, where being butt naked is obligatory. If interested, you’ll still have time to enjoy the sun à poil (in your birthday suit). The village of Cap d’Agde, also called, “The Naked City,” is a seaside port and resort along the Mediterranean [...]

France Bans TV Shows for Babies

From AP: “France’s broadcast authority has banned French channels from marketing TV shows to children under 3 years old, to shield them from developmental risks it says television viewing poses at that age. The ruling also ordered warning messages for parents on foreign baby channels that are broadcast in France _ such as Baby TV, which is [...]

Organic Raw Milk Vending Machines!

I wish they had these organic raw milk vending machines in my area, but these are in L’Arbresle situated in the Rhone region, not far from Lyon. The vending machines operate 24/7 and are found in 3 communities nearest a Champion supermarket. Bring your own container to be filled or use one that is available at [...]

Concierge at the Marriott Champs Elysees: FAIL

From hotelchatter: “Picture this: A hotel guest, sleepless after a night spent at the posh Marriot Champs Elysees, asks the concierge for help getting an emergency passport. She is without hair product or makeup, sports a blotchy face swollen from tears, and is wearing the clothes she went out in last night. Long story short: her purse–ok, [...]

Dialogue entre Michael Phelps et Alain Bernard

Previous dialogues: Sarkozy and Qaddafi, Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos tags: france, michael phelps, olympics 2008, alain bernard, world record

La vie des animaux selon les hommes

The life of animals according to man. Funny French vignettes here. (You don’t need to know how to speak French to understand these.) [via] tags: france, La vie des animaux selon les hommes, comedy, skits, french

Nacho, An Ice Cream Sandwich

While I’m doing my best to eliminate junk food from my diet, my sweetie, on the other hand, remains true to some “non-foods” that nobody should be consuming. He was eating this so-called ice cream sandwich thing at my parents-in-laws and we joked about the kooky name, “Nacho.” I dunno, but that alone would make [...]

Friday France Photo: Dinan

Dinan, in Bretagne (Brittany) tags: france, dinan, bretagne, photos, brittany

A French Baking School that Cares about the Untouchables of India

Tucked away in Chennai, India (southeast coast of India in the northeast of Tamil Nadu), you’ll find an usual and unexpected establishment: a French baking school. The school was created by 25-year-old Alexis de Duclas, a graduate of Essec, one of France’s top business schools, and 24-year-old certified French baker, Antoine Soive, who had previously [...]

Beaujolais Nouveau Wines to be in Plastic Bottles Because it’s Good for the Environment???

From the Boisset Family Estates press release: “…….”This year, Boisset Family Estates is the first winery ever to announce that all Beaujolais Nouveau wines imported to North America will be packaged exclusively in lightweight PET plastic bottles,” states Jean-Charles Boisset, President, Boisset Family Estates. “In addition, we will simultaneously debut Fog Mountain, featuring the first organically-farmed [...]

Hog Pop

I haven’t given up on my attempts to support indie game and software developers, particularly those in France, so I’m featuring a small, time waster of the day called, “Hog Pop,” just released by Jean-Philippe Sarda, the same guy who brought you that fun yet infuriating Parallel Parking game. With Hog Pop, your mission is [...]

One of a Kind Leather Handbags Made in France

In our world that has unfortunately embraced the notion of “planned obsolescence,” when I encounter quality-made, let alone hand-made items, AND made in France, they stand out like stars amidst the dark universe. In a small village not too far from where we live, we walked by an unassuming, “blend-in-the-background” studio and I’m happy we actually [...]

Ironic News: National Front Selling its Headquarters to China

From the nyt: “The National Front, the French anti-immigration party, is selling its historic headquarters to a Chinese university to raise cash, the party’s leader, Jean-Marie Le Pen, left, was quoted on Monday as saying. Mr. Le Pen, whose slogan in several presidential campaigns was “Keep France for the French,” confounded predictions by reaching the runoff [...]

Dialogue Entre Nicolas Sarkozy et Muammar Qaddafi

Previous Dialogues: Laurent Voulzy and Alain Souchon, Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos tags: france, dalai lama, gaddafi, sarkozy snubs the dalai lama, china’s french poodle

One “I am Rich” iPhone App was Bought by Someone in France

A couple of days ago Apple yanked one of the listed iPhone apps from the iTunes store. The app with a $1000 price tag (actually $999.99), brilliant in my opinion and funny to boot, displays an image of a glowing red ruby that would always remind you (and others when you show it to them) [...]

The Mystery of Mushrooms in France

“Paris Mushrooms, it’s when they’re in your mouth that they’re the happiest.” Aside from this ad promoting Champignons de Paris (button mushrooms) in France being very, very cute, I’m wondering why the mushroom industry (if there’s a mushroom industry) needs to advertise in the first place. Is there an overproduction of mushrooms? I rarely see ads [...]

The Dalai Lama in France

From AFP: “The Dalai Lama kicks off Tuesday an 11-day visit to France that threatened to spark a crisis between Paris and Beijing, until President Nicolas Sarkozy quashed speculation he would meet the Tibetan spiritual leader. Planned more than two years ago, the Nobel peace laureate’s French visit turned suddenly political after a Chinese crackdown on unrest [...]

Can We Stop with the Ooh La La’s and the French Maids, Already?

I’ve more than had enough of the clichéd sexist depiction of French maids, and the misuse of “ooh la la.” First, French maids don’t look like this. Ever. Secondly, if there were any French maids like this, which there aren’t, they would never say “ooh la la” in a light-hearted, provocative way, drinking wine and [...]

Franco-American Conversations: Another Leak at the Tricastin Nuclear Power Plant

Two nights ago on the evening news Francoise Laborde lightly mentioned that there was yet ANOTHER uranium leak at the Tricastin nuclear power plant near Avignon. This makes a reported 3 radioactive leaks in the last couple of months, and 2 leaks at the same plant. Only partially paying attention, I wasn’t sure I heard [...]

French Wine Terrorists Are At it Again

From time: “Too much wine, it is known, can cause violent behavior. But few have gone as far as the grape growers of France’s Languedoc-Roussillon region, the world’s biggest wine-growing area by volume. Hurting from overproduction and cheap imports and punished lately by the rising cost of gas, a small group of local winegrowers has resorted [...]

Tax on Snacks

Get ready to pay more for snacks, anything considered fattening and food and beverage items deemed generally unhealthful. The French government needs money! Forget about them caring about the health and well-being of the people, they’ve blatantly come out and stated they will tax these foods because it will be another tool to help the country’s [...]

Herpes Killing Young French Oysters

From reuters: “A herpes virus is killing young oysters in France because they have spent too much energy developing their sexual organs rather than their natural defenses, an oyster crisis team has found. Scientists have spent weeks investigating a mysterious surge in mortality among the mollusks that the French love to devour with lemon and white wine. France’s [...]

Dialogue Entre Laurent Voulzy et Alain Souchon

This new music video by Laurent Voulzy has been playing way too much on TV lately… Previous Dialogues: Barack Obama and Nicolas Sarkozy, Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos france, music, laurent voulzy, alain souchon, jellybean

Friday France Photo: Sage

Sage in my garden. france, sage, garden, herbs

The Art of Street Food: Crêpes

There’s one region where you will never be disappointed by the street side-made crêpes: Bretagne. I don’t know how or why or what exactly is the reason for this. The butter? Perhaps crêpes are the regional specialty because they are so good here. No. They aren’t just good here; they’re the BEST. It doesn’t [...]

The French Are Eating In More and Dining Out Less

From the timesonline: “The world economic crisis has hit borrowers in the US, banks in Britain and homeowners in Spain. Now it has claimed perhaps its most startling victim to date: the Gallic gastronome. Lunches are being skipped, dinners shortened and apéritifs overlooked as the French cut back on their most cherished pleasure in an attempt to [...]

August Events in France

All kinds of fun events take place in France during August. Here’s a small selection: August 1 - 3 20è Festival International de la Marionnette / 20th Marionnette Festival - Mirepoix - Every year the lovely arcaded medieval village of Mirepoix becomes a stage for puppets and puppeteers! More info August 2 Fête du lac / Lake Festival - [...]

Is Exporting Nuclear Power to the U.S. Such a Good Idea?

Excerpts from Motherjones: “….events this month show that life as a nuclear-powered nation is far from la vie en rose. In mid July, the French Nuclear Safety Authority (ASN) announced a leak from a cracked pipe at a nuclear fuel plant in the southeastern Drôme region. It said the leak was small and had not contaminated [...]

Paul Bocuse is Reinventing French Fast Food

Excerpt from the latimes: “…On the menu - There’s not a burger or Happy Meal in sight. Instead, rigatoni with boletus mushroom sauce, a fresh chèvre sandwich on sun-dried-tomato ciabatta with olive-tomato tapenade, and a nicely balanced strawberry tart. Other sandwich offerings, all about $6.75, included sweet and prosciutto-style cured ham on pain de campagne (country [...]

Spectacular Deadly-Looking Spider But Harmless

Last night’s untimely tempest left the garden marvelously wet and alive this morning so I stepped outside early to take photos before work. Just above my blueberries was this spider, which caught me by surprise and created a blood curdling scream (from me), the kind of scream that shatters anything shatterable. If anyone in the [...]

Dialogue Entre Barack Obama et Nicolas Sarkozy

Previous Dialogues: Johnny Hallyday and Sylvie Vartan, Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos tags: france, barack obama nicolas sarkozy

Ways to Save Money on Food in France

Visitors from other countries who’ve come to France know that it’s expensive here. But guess what? It’s expensive even for the people living in France! Prices have skyrocketed nonstop since 2002 and even the prices for the items that were usually very affordable, like vegetables, have increased exponentially. Over the last six years, it’s been [...]

You, Your Cell Phone, Dangers and What to Do

By now, you’ve probably heard about a correlation between cell phone use and cancer. But geez, you can’t listen to those things because you absolutely love your cell phone. Who doesn’t? You were so freakin’ relieved to find out that those popcorn popping celphones were a hoax. Don’t lie. This love you have for your [...]

Friday France Photo: Black Cat in Window

Photo taken in Autun, France. tags: france travel autun black cat friday ark

The Mona Lisa is in South London

Tired of climbing over the hoards of neck stretched tourists pushing their way to see the teeny tiny Mona Lisa encased in a glass prison in the Louvre? Then, check out Tania Ledger’s lawn in Croydon. She hired the 3D art expert who reconstructed the famous painting for the The Da Vinci Code film. See more [...]

Star Ac’ 8 is Moving to Le Marais

Depending on your outlook on this reality TV show that mixes Big Brother with a huge chunk of Schoolhouse Karaoke, you may or may not be thrilled that the popular program is moving from Le château de Dammarie-Les-Lys, outside of Paris - to l’hôtel de Brossier, rue Charlot in Le Marais. Oui, en centreville! The neighborhood [...]

Barack’s in France Today

Barack…ok, since we’re on a first name basis, BARRY is making his rounds in Europe and will be in Paris this afternoon to meet Nicolas Sarkozy. Everyone I know in France wants him to win this November. Yesterday in Berlin, he was greeted by over 200,000 people. I just find this overwhelming support amazing and [...]

Wine News: If You Can’t Beat ‘em, Join ‘Em - Cos d’Estournel Acquires Chateau Montelena

Michel Reybier, owner of legendary Bordeaux winery Cos d’Estournel, recently bought the Napa Valley California winery, Chateau Montelena from Jim and Bo Barret. The purchase price was not disclosed. An executive committee comprised of Bo Barrett, managing director Greg Ralston, and the winemaker at Cos d’Estournel Dominique Arangoits, with Jean-Guillaume Prats, general manager at Cos [...]

French Couple Fined for Sex Video at the WWI memorial in Vimy

I think there might be more visitors to Vimy from now on… From afp: “A French couple were given a four-month suspended sentence and made to pay one euro in damages to the Canadian state for making a porn video at a World War I memorial, officials said Wednesday. The verdict came just six months after another couple [...]

An Unsolved Mystery in France: Poisoned Bread

From the iht: “As a kid in Brooklyn Steven L. Kaplan ate pale sliced Wonder Bread like everyone else but had an epiphany in Paris as a Princeton student in 1962 when he happened on a small bakery on the Rue du Cherche-Midi called Poilâne and bought a bâtard which he filled with cheese and ate [...]

Show Your Ass Wine - More Fun With Wine Labels

For non-French speakers, it can be a challenge, if not completely impossible to correctly pronounce some names of French wines. Here’s another one that is not very easy to pronounce but if you could, you might not want to pronounce it. I found this excellent wall paper covered with wine labels in a brasserie in [...]

Dimanche Dialogue Entre Johnny Hallyday et Sylvie Vartan

More Dimanche Dialogues: Tom Hanks and Jean Reno, Daniel Balavoine and Francois Mitterrand, Florent Pagny, Zidane and Xavier Darcos

New iPhones Sold Out and You Didn’t Get One?

The new iPhone 3Gs were sold out within hours of its availability here in France the other day. Oh well. You waited too long, and didn’t get one? Maybe you can get one of these new, plastic disposable Bic cel phones instead. They’re really ugly, they radiate a lot of un-heathy microwaves and they’re very [...]

Glow Takes Inspiration from Paris’ Nuit Blanche

Tonight, the City of Santa Monica in California will launch an interactive light installation / art festival called, “Glow” and the pier and beach will literally glow all night long. Think of it as an all night psychedelic light party with media art, performances, music and sculpture installations. I couldn’t help writing about my old [...]

Crisis in France: Snail Shortage!

According to the independent, there’s an escargot shortage that is threatening French life as we know it. OH NON! Most of the snails people eat in France are from Eastern Europe. Gasp! Oui oui. It’s true. But now the snail harvesting profession there is frowned upon. NOT very glamorous. How will they supply this year’s [...]

Friday France Photo: Ambleteuse

The beach in Ambleteuse near Fort Mahon in the north of France. tags: france travel ambleteuse fort mahon

AGAIN! Nuclear Waste LEAK

A so-called NEW uranium leak near Avignon was reported just a week ago, and now there’s yet another nuclear power plant that is leaking. This time it’s at a plant that is actually not very far from the other leaking plant - in Romans-sur-Isere, both managed by the unscrupulous, Areva. The suits are saying AS [...]

Organic Hair Salon in Paris

Contrary to popular belief, I’m not a guy. I am not sure why people think I am. My name? Do I have a masculine way of writing? Perhaps. No matter. I suppose. Anyway…As a GIRL, I do girly things like going to the hair salon. I love getting a good coiff every month but I actually [...]

The French Air Cars Coming to the U.S.?

Ever since writing about the zero pollution, zero emissions French Air Car, I’ve gotten some comments and gobs of emails from people asking if they might be available in the U.S. I don’t live in the U.S., people! I live in France. YOU tell ME. Rant over. Soooooooooo… that being said, I stumbled upon some information that [...]

Pastries at the Hotel Plaza Athenee, Paris

Can we agree here? Meetings suck. So much so, we’ve decided that whenever we have to conduct a meeting, we will combine it with something enjoyable, something so good that we might forget that we’re actually having a meeting. Apparently, most of the people we saw at the Hotel Plaza Athenee in Paris last week, had [...]

Joyeux 14 Juillet - Happy Bastille Day!

tags: france travel happy bastille day 14 juillet

Dimanche Dialogue Entre Florent Pagny, Xavier Darcos et Zidane

Known for his raspy voice and chart topping pop songs, Florent Pagny (left) sung his tax woes in the song, “Ma Liberté de Penser” (My freedom to think), and even though this happened long ago, France is rather merciless and never lets neither him nor anyone else forget about any of their past [...]

Eiffel Tower Hours

This is a quick fyi to alert you to today and tomorrow’s different hours at the Eiffel Tower, just in case you feel like being smushed between thousands upon thousands of sweaty people. Today, July 13th, there will be no show and the last access to the Tower is 9pm. The Tower will close at [...]

BHL’s Take on Obama

Excerpt by Bernard-Henri Lévy from tnr: America has changed. It was the conservative Samuel Huntington who said it in his latest book, “Who Are We?”: America is no longer a Protestant, Anglo-Saxon country, European by tradition and white by vocation, that cannot seriously imagine a black man running for the presidency. George W. Bush’s two terms? [...]

Friday France Photo: Rennes

tags: france travel rennes

Sarkozy Insults The Japanese at G8 Summit

From nowpublic: “French President Nicolas Sarkozy has risked causing a minor diplomatic incident with Japan by not holding a bilateral meeting with the country’s prime minister during the Group of Eight summit, Japanese media reported on Tuesday. Concern was spreading among Japanese diplomats that Sarkozy was showing little interest in the host nation and that he was [...]

Carla Bruni - Comme si de rien n’etait

Will this be some sort of historic World Record for “First Lady’s CD Sales”? I think so. Carla Bruni, France’s 1st Lady, will officially launch Comme si de rien n’etait / As if Nothing Happened, her third CD tomorrow here in France. I think you’ll find it to be pretty good if you like hearing about [...]

Nuclear Leak in France

From AP: “Tests show that uranium levels are diminishing but have not vanished from rivers in southern France after a leak from a nuclear site, regional authorities said Wednesday. Anti-nuclear groups, meanwhile, questioned the handling of the incident at the Tricastin nuclear site near Avignon, noting inconsistent official statements about when it occurred and about how much [...]

Vending Machine for French Bread…in France!

When I see stuff like this, a vending machine for bread…in France, seen in Arles by the blogger at pasta and vinegar (Thanks, Nicolas!), it nevers ceases to amaze me that the world can make no sense sometimes. That seems backwardly strange. A bread vending machine in France? Please. Are there NOT enough bakeries around??! [...]

Eye Catching Book Titles

Nature et Decouverte, a French equivalent of The Nature Company, sure knows how to get your attention. While we were waiting at the cash register, we laughed at this book, displayed right at the entrance of the store. The book is called, Comment chier dans les bois, which means, “How to Shit in the Woods.” [...]

French Cuisine as UNESCO Heritage: FAIL

I guess it’s too fattening. From breitbart: “France’s bid, backed by famous chefs, to have its cuisine added to UNESCO’s list of world cultural treasures is likely to flop, a representative from the UN body said Saturday. “There is no category at UNESCO for gastronomy,” said Cherif Khaznadar, president of the UNESCO assembly of states that have signed [...]

Who are the Most Obnoxious Tourists?

The French, according to an international survey. From time: “Remember the tightwad tourist whose baggy shorts, frequent complaining and shouted questions about why none of the locals spoke any English made the ugly American the world’s Visitor From Hell? Well, it’s time for Archie Bunker to move over and make way for Petulant Pierre. According to a [...]

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