60secondparis Oct 12
The Queen Reigns in France, Bring Sweaters to Paris!, World's 1st Parachutists & 1st to fly! Bike Bottlenecks, Co-Working Havens, Language Pains-My Bridge Too Far...& Paris in Pictures!
Overview:
France’s Soft Spot for the Queen
Climate-Energy-Water Woes & Cycling bottle-necks (see the pain!)
Covid Scams
Learning French..!
The First to Fly, Really (Why not?) & the World's 1st Parachutists!
Paris Co-working Spots Series: Cité internationale universitaire de Paris & Where the young Co-Work for free
News/Trends/Updates
The Reign In France's-A Soft Spot for that Queen - Feelings for Monarchy run deep
England is a monarchy – with a new, old’ish king (who probably owns the record for longest internship). While France is a Republic it may surprise some to learn that in a land known for lopping off royal heads, some 10% of French folks watched coverage of the queen's passing*...(as surveys can't detect fibbers, …say at least 20%! (*FYI: A 2016 poll found 17% of French people would support a king or queen with a similar role to that of England).
Why? The Queen was the last living link to World War II and her passing signals the final chapter of a historic post-war era. We're talking Churchill, Charles de Gaulle (le général), the historic Le Débarquement (The D-Day Invasion) ...a whole enchilada of emotions, events, nostalgia and sentiments for an era many here are rather proud of. The Queen also loved France, visiting it more than any other Euro country, and spoke impressive French ...She gave her first speech en Français during president Albert LeBrun's 1939 London visit. She was 13.
Reign Check? Should France ever revert to a monarch, there just happens to be a kinda' (potential) sovereign on deck. The last claimant to the throne was Henri d’Orléans, Count of Paris, Duke of France, but as he died in 2019 the title of would-be crown prince (and this is way outta my wheel-house..) now (debatably) goes to son Prince Jean de France, the Duke of Vendome. Phew! Click for more...
As Bogey Never Asked: “Will We Always Have Paris?” The Lights in Europe are Being Dimmed...THINK SWEATERS!
France just announced its energy plan de sobriété, — needed austerity measures to pare energy use by 10% (by '24) and avoid threats of power rationing this winter (we’re already primed for water & electricity cuts while just getting gas is now a thing). As a way to trim its energy appetite across the board, say adios to hot water in all municipal/public bathrooms. Expect airport temps of 17C/63’ish F (bring a sweater!) and pool water left a tad nippier (ditto, sweater). Offices & supermarket lighting will be reduced with store neon & interior lights off at closing, plus reduced lighting at sports venues. (Bring a headlamp….and a sweater!).
So, if visiting Paris maybe pack an extra bag of cash, and ….sweaters. Prices are on the vertical, up 12% (+/- ), and seem set to maintain that heading. Mindless example: My favorite Illy coffee was hovering at €6,50 - €7/can. It's now squatting at €8. As this is too rich for me, its time for Plan B (…think black masks, axes & small acetylene torche...). Energy rates are also up. Every fall we used to play a game: How long could we could last before turning on the heat. This year, no game and each cat has been issued its own wool sweater. (Below)
Haute Humour: Many French officials are resorting to fashion as way of hammering home the need to save energy. A flurry of sweaters (‘les pulls’, gilet) seems to be the rage. SEE THE LOOK Proving his new energy-awareness, the Econ head* has just said “You will no longer see me with a tie, but with a turtleneck sweater”. (*Economics Minister Bruno Le Maire).
EAU NO! (Pass the wine, please!)
Hundreds of towns are sans water, and what's available is contaminated (bottled & tap) ...in Castellet (S.E. France) there’s been no drinkable water since June! ….(“pesticide levels at 7 times above the limit”). A recent TV Doc says tap water in “at least one quarter of French urban areas is below the health standards. (Again, pesticides). 12 million people, a fifth of our population, drank contaminated water last year – it was 6% in 2020.
We’re Wawking Here! Health pluses aside, many folks are walking to simply avoid the Metro. French NGO Respire says metro pollution levels were up to 10 times the recommended limit at Alexandre Dumas station, and six times the limit at Trocadero & Place d'Italie stations. Oddly pollution inside Metro tunnels and cars isn't measured where, say critics, airborne metal brake particles are present. BG here and or Here
Paris / French Life…more
I'm Not your Doctor, but play one on Zoom.... Health officials are seething over folks abusing Covid inspired tele-medical appointments to get their paws on 'arrêts de travail' – 'sick leave' certificates’ – a note from a doctor authorizing you to stop working (and stay home).
The gov’t says folks are abusing on-line video appointments to get 'arrêts de travail' – 'sick leave' certificates, from (shall we say) flexible MD's. FYI: 'Arrêts de travail' can only be issued by one's attending physician (médecin traitant). But folks are proving very resourceful trawling on-line video-appointments for docs willing to issue 'sick-leave' certificates. The Gov't is now dis-embursing all costs of arrêts de travail to the tune of more than €100million this year alone and counting...
Bike Fright! Record Bike use causes back-ups, bottlenecks & urban angst!
This fall saw record numbers of Parisians taking to bikes, causing urban traffic mayhem and bike bottlenecks on city roads and bike paths. In one case more than 20,000 riders flooded a key intersection (boul de Sebastopol) a figure Le Parisien says doesn't account for the 15,000+ on side-walks, the road, ... where-ever! Other urban areas are also feeling the flood of cyclists.
WATCH THE LE PARISIEN REPORT...No French needed-Pix tell the tale! Great Parisien video report (And see what Romeo and Ruth and others have to say)!
I ran this story past savvy Parisian cyclist and founder of Paris Cycling B-Group, (2,300+ members) Jeff Ballinger. He annually rides his bike an average of 6,000 kms, mostly on Paris streets. Ballinger's Advice If YOU Plan on Pedaling in Paris
Plan your route before pedaling
Get a bell! (It's required)
Never rush & keep your head on a swivel
Riding in Paris is a movable feast, but a slow one!
Anticipate hazards...(know folks ARE going to step in front of you at green lights (or anywhere, your kitchen, in the shower…!)
Hands on brakes --and stop at red lights even if others don't
...helmets!
Ballinger says more people biking is a good for Paris, which reacted quickly to the pandemic, creating more temp bike lanes (thus helping folks avoid trains & buses and infection risks). But now, bike infrastructure needs improving, and temp lanes that were made permanent need more & better planning, as in taking into account the existence of scooters (trottinette), folks on foot, cars, Uber-and related delivery services, as well as jay-walking, gonzo riders slaloming down streets ….and you get the idea.
Remember: It's not 'who's right’ after an accident. It's 'who's left'.
What Makes Paris….Paris!
THE CO-WORKING SERIES: Cité internationale universitaire de Paris
Cité internationale universitaire de Paris: When visiting Paris (and you will…you will!) one must-see urban charm is Cité internationale universitaire! In the 14th on what looks like a Downton Abbey set, it is undoubtedly one of Paris's more fascinating venues to explore, and enjoyable in virtually any weather!
Co-Working Kinda'/Sorta': Of many Cité attractions is its main library (photo below). Here is working in spacious, crypt-quiet splendor. A chunk of this was penned there where, despite roughly 80 souls, the noise hovered between 'pin drop' and the surreptitious sipping of contraband coffee two desks away. Costs? The entire day will set you back €3 (*trois ‘balles’ —slang for money, like ‘bucks’) for students (last I checked) a touch higher for teachers & outsiders for the entire day! (See photo for suspect sipper).
Cité is an academic library ergo, no sidling up to baristas for frothy macchiatos or OD'ing on gratis muffins. Ditto Zoom calls, photocopies, conference rooms and such. Zip! If the munchies hit, you're a 45 sec stroll/dash/hop to the 'snack-ateria' (what I’m calling it): the busy, buzzing, snack-laden Nirvana where one can ‘work’ till the cows come home (in French: quand les poules auront des dents – 'when the chickens have teeth”). Either way, a while.
Inside is a mixed ambiance of canoodling, working, studying, Zooming, napping, amid cascading streams of light...the main cafeteria opens at noon. A lunch of fresh oven pizza, diet Coke and fruit set me back €7,50.
What Cité offers is Buckets of Blessed quiet! (Need even more quiet? There's a funky retro bubble-gum like devise selling ear-plugs...we kiddith you not!)
At Cité you may toil away in an enveloping atmosphere with thick red carpeting, brass desk-lamps, and half-inch beveled glass-topped desks to help catalyze flagging efforts at ideating that billion euro app or film-script. The sprawling open campus is its own reward.
Read the history of Cité internationale universitaire de Paris
Read a 60secondparis Trip Advisor review of Cité internationale universitaire de Paris
Need air? There's a soul-restoring, undulating 34 hectare /85 acre campus ...plus stunning international architecture on display in the dozens of foreign student residences.
2 Co-Working for the Young & Broke: The QJ - Quartier Jeunes
Easily accessible in the heart of Paris, this Co-working spot (thanks to a multi-pronged initiative, City of Paris et. al.) offers job & career guidance, as in interview skills, CV creation, resources...to those aged 16 to 30 (at least that's the, ahem, rule,...). There's counselors and support staff many and rooms to work. Here’s a look at the main, museum quality, consultation area. Did we mention it was free?
One of the free co-working rooms ...
Need inspiration? There's always working sur la balcone....
Learning French: My Bridge Too Far
My first go at learning French Quebec ( often called joual) was more like a hit-and-run. Newly arrived in Montreal and I found a dish-washing job in a restaurant at Montreal’s old Worlds Fair ('Expo 67) site. Called St. Hubert Rotisserie, it served chicken (deep fried, baked, welded, roasted) with a front-loader of Frites and tsunamis of gravy). Teen heaven: Low pay, and I ate twice my weight in fried chicken crusts everyday (the chicken was inedible).
Located on an island in the St. Lawrence, some 8'ish miles from home, I biked every day. Over Mt. Royal, then downtown, the ports, over the Jacques Cartier bridge, ...then a tiny bridge connecting to the restaurant. As nearly everyone was French, it was an ideal way to start learning street French. It was almost always fun. Almost.
Scene 1: One day my furiously French sink-buddy Pierre asks what bridge I take to get to the restaurant, so I visualize the bridge sign I pass everyday and respond, "Oh, I take the Pont bridge:
Pierre: "I know dat, but which one". He asks again in French.
Me: "The Pont bridge. Off the high-way.”
Pierre: "Mais oui! (of course!) tabernaque (Quebecoise for 'fuck'!)...but which one?"
Me: "P-O-N-T bridge, Pierre, I take the Pont bridge..."
Pierre: "faaaack...look it is a simple ques—-…”
Scene 2 Arrival of Pierre's older, wiser and calmer brother, Daniel.
Daniel: "Ecoute toi (listen)! 'câline de bine!'* ...we know yous take da bridge but which, eh?! Faaaack, cuz maybe dares a shorter way to get here for you.....tabarnouche!”**
Me: (Crimson faced as, yet again I've crash-landed in that foggy world of not knowing where the exit is to this linguistic labyrinth). "Daniel...Daniel! ... I get off the Jacques Cartier bridge, take the number 10 exit about a mile and go under the big gray sign that says "Pont Bridge"...the….Pont, the Pont.”
Scene 3 -Kitchen Area: Cackles of subdued yet mocking laughter, some snorting...then a sprinkling of 'faaacks' &'tabarnouches' ...a wave of shaking heads...
Daniel: "Ooooh Mer-DAH! (ooooh Shit) "You know that all Quebec road signs are bilingual, eh? Pont, Bridge, Pont, Bridge...yes”?
Me: "Oh, ...really?"
Epilogue: joual haunted me later in NYC when dating my future wife, she from an ridiculously multilingual old French clan. Often asking to hear my French, I usually refused. One night, falsely confident from a bit of St. Emilion, I un-holstered my French, loaded it up and spoke. She froze as I began. I was on a roll! Her huge brown eyes widened. I was encouraged! She leaned in…absorbing every word. (Me: “Montreal you are sooo ancient history!”) As I blithely continued, encouraged and oblivious, a linguistic Gold Star shone in the offing). I paused.
Her: Slowly taking in an oddly deep breath.....“If you ever speak that French to me again, I will stab you.”
Me (Mentally): “tabernaque!” (Gold star fading to dust...)
About Those Quebec Words:
* 'câline de bine!' As I recall a non-vulgar way of saying something like 'Holy Sh--!'.., others suggest 'a gentle exclamation used to manifest astonishment, surprise, disappointment or frustration. The meaning of the expression remains opaque'.
**(..”tabarnouche originates from the strange habit Quebecers have of using religious words as swear words. This linguistic peculiarity, which is not found anywhere else in the French-speaking world, makes the French laugh”. Reference here
REMINDER! Okay..remember, 60secondparis Newsletter is and will always be free! If you know others interested in Paris history, lore, ideas, famous places and faces, then please forward and share!
Cool Paris/French Firsts - Planes & Parachutes
Amazing Exploits of Parachutists Monsieur & Madame Garnerin & The first to fly an airplane? Clément Ader?
THE REAL FIRST FLIGHT? Was Clement Ader the first to fly? Paris daily, Le Parisien says 'oui'! Clément flew on Oct 9th 1890, 13 yrs before Wilbur & Orville. His plane, the steam-powered Avion III hangs in Musée des Arts et Métiers. The flight was only centimeters high, and 50 meters in length. But, who knows? (As an aviation enthusiast I'm well aware of who made the world's official first, true controlled flight....but...why not!)
An electrical engineer & life-long aviation enthusiast Ader also improved on Bells' telephone and helped establish Paris's telephone network in 1880 & invented 'telephonic transmission' – basically giving users 'stereo' sound. He also built 2 planes prior to his Avion3, w/backing by Frances' military. They were bat-like & made of linen & wood.
Take a quick tour: Click to see Ader's plane: An old 60sec video but worth it!
Oddly, the French gov't kept Ader's flight results secret till 1910 ...then deemed them 'unsuccessful’. Discouraged, Ader handed his craft to the Obsevatoire in 1903. It was rebuilt and is viewable in all its glory. In '09 Ader had pioneering ideas on aircraft carriers and penned L'Aviation Militaire which laid out a blueprint for aircraft carriers (flat deck, elevators, hangar bay, etc). His ideas were sent to the US Naval Attaché in Paris. The rest, as they say,...
You should visit Musee des Arts et Métiers...(English website) Foucault's Pendulum, early steam engine cars, trains, all manner of techno-mechanical stuff, plus summer workshops for kids, a great resto, and stunning architecture...and more!
Andre Garnerin - World's First parachutist. (And wife, Jeanne Geneviève Garnerin, the world's first woman parachutist).
FIRST MALE & FEMALE PARACHUTIST - THE GARNERINS
da Vinci may have dreamt it but André-Jacques Garnerin was the first to design and test parachutes capable of slowing a fall from up high. Andre had the idea while a war prisoner in Hungary. (He'd been captured and held prisoner for years during some war with England). He wrote (roughly translated) "...The love of liberty repeatedly inspired me to think of escape!' No kidding!
Freed in 1796 by '97 he was in Paris & completed his first parachute, 23 feet in diameter and attached to a basket. On Oct 22nd, the balloon-tethered chute rose some 600 meters and the tether was cut. There was no air-vent so the chute swung wildly (reports of 'air sickness' on the crowd) but Andre landed safely to a rapturous reception and new status a hero! Two years later, wife Jeanne Geneviève was the first woman to make a parachute descent (2 October 1799).
PARIS IN PICTURES, SOME IMAGES FOR YOU…
Paris Quotes: “Paris is an immense ocean, drop in your sounding line, and it'll never reach bottom" - de Balzac
Coming Up Next Issue
When Paris Gave Away Babies.
The Harvardian who leapt into the Seine to save a flower girl. And died.
Free, unique things to do…enjoy..exult in and marvel at in Paris!
Huge thanks to those who've just signed aboard (Noreen, Karl, Erika, Daniela, Kevin...) all I can do is repeat Bogey: “I Think This Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship." Will do my best to keep this fresh and entertaining!
Remember, 60secondparis Newsletter is & will always be free! Gratis, on the house, etc...all I ask is that you share it with anyone in your orbit interested in Paris history, lore, ideas, famous places and faces….!
Ideas and Feedback: Something about Paris that intrigues you & you'd like to learn more about it? Drop me a note. Maybe we can do a bit of sleuthing. I am open to story ideas, so talk to me people!
A bientôt