There is money to be made in France for those who want it.
I found myself alone on place de la Nation holding a glass door that I had ordered over two months ago for my bathroom. I had been abandoned by the taxi driver I'd booked to take us both back to my apartment. Luckily Donato was nearby.
After 20 minutes on the phone to the taxi company, we were told that the four drivers capable of transporting my door were not interested in making money. We decided to return to the shop. They agreed to deliver the door, but it would take another week. Which would mean Donato wouldn’t be there to install it.
Against the advice of mio amore, I decided to chance my luck.
We returned to place de la Nation and I left him with the door. I approached the first white van I spotted and proposed to pay him 50 euros to take me, Donato, and my glass door up the hill.
‘No problem,’ he said.
‘You idiot,’ said Donato when we got home. ‘You offered him way too much money.’
Thursday 30 November 2006
The World Through French Eyes
At first glance, the studios of France 24, the new news network designed to be Chirac’s flagship for France, and you’d think that the French worldview wasn’t that different from say, the Anglo-Saxon world. Lots of open spaces, glass walls, electronic equipment and smiling faces. The news agenda for both the English and French services seems pretty similar too: the only difference being the French presenters get the added benefit of an autocue. [Why this service is denied English speaking presenters was not made clear}.
A week before the channel went live, France 24 bosses were doing a hard-sell on the benefits of the ‘fresh perspective’ brought by a non Anglo-Saxon news service.
‘France is a rebel country,’ Chief Executive Alain de Pouzilhac a group of Anglo-American journalists in a freshly painted conference room at their studios in the dull suburb of their Issy-les-Molineaux. France 24 provides ‘the possibility to see some contradictory opinions.'
He claimed France 24 will add diversity and cultural focus to the global airwaves through regular daily debates and talk shows. Grand ambitions but sadly France 24’s financial backer – who else but Chirac – has proved unwilling to put his money where his mouth is. The channel is hoping to compete with the big boys on an annual budget of 85 million euro, a fraction of CNN’s $550 million budget. Let's hope this does not mean lots of cheap and lengthy discussions about multi-culturalism. Oh so worthy, but incredibly dull to watch.
A week before the channel went live, France 24 bosses were doing a hard-sell on the benefits of the ‘fresh perspective’ brought by a non Anglo-Saxon news service.
‘France is a rebel country,’ Chief Executive Alain de Pouzilhac a group of Anglo-American journalists in a freshly painted conference room at their studios in the dull suburb of their Issy-les-Molineaux. France 24 provides ‘the possibility to see some contradictory opinions.'
He claimed France 24 will add diversity and cultural focus to the global airwaves through regular daily debates and talk shows. Grand ambitions but sadly France 24’s financial backer – who else but Chirac – has proved unwilling to put his money where his mouth is. The channel is hoping to compete with the big boys on an annual budget of 85 million euro, a fraction of CNN’s $550 million budget. Let's hope this does not mean lots of cheap and lengthy discussions about multi-culturalism. Oh so worthy, but incredibly dull to watch.
Wednesday 29 November 2006
Happy Birthday Mr. President
Chirac, who turns 73 tomorrow, has wild plans for his birthday party, according to the IHT. Ditching friends and family in Paris, Chirac plans to celebrate tomorrow night in the pretty but cold Latvian city of Riga with that renowned party animal, Vladimir Putin and his Latvian counterpart Vaira Vike-Freiberga.
‘Is it true?’ I enquire of Hugues Moret, Chirac’s spokesman, as we wait to board the Republique Francaise plane to the Latvian capital for a 2-day NATO summit. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said, and the group of journalists around us had a good laugh at the shoddy standards of American journalism. ‘Normally the Elysee staff give him a cake, but you know Chirac, he’s not one to make a fuss about his birthday.’
When we get off the plane it’s a different story. The Baltic birthday party is on. Under pressure from constant phonecalls following the IHT article, the Elysee is admitting that Putin wants to join the party. Excluded as a non-NATO member from the first summit held in the former Soviet Union, Putin has decided to gate-crash. Glowing from the recent decoration bestowed upon him by Chirac – the Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur – he’s developed an affection for his benefactor and requested a seat at his birthday dinner. According to the Elysee, Chirac was ‘touched.’ All that remained to be settled was the party venue.
Then things began to unravel. When we sat down to dinner, Jerome, Chirac’s main spokesman, insists that nothing has been settled. French journalists drafted in from Russia and the Baltics get shirty about the lack of French feelings for the former Soviet Republic that Putin is hoping to upstage.
‘This is their big moment of pride,’ said one. ‘When they finally get to shake of the Soviet cloak and say look, we can play a part in the international club without you,’
Jerome avoids the full throttle defence of Russian democracy he gave at the EU summit in Finland last month, but defends the Russian leaders motives. The proposal came from Russia and the choice of venue for the hastily arranged party was merely coincidence, he insisted.
Finally a phonecall from Russia put a lid on the affair, Dinner was off for ‘logistical reasons,’ the Elysee announced.
Problem was, in accepting Putin’s invitation, France had forgotten about public opinion in Latvia and its Baltic neighbours. Latvia declared independence from Russia in 1991 after five decades of occupation and Vike-Freiberga, 68, is the daughter of refugees who fled Soviet forces first to Moscow and then to Canada.
‘Imagine an East European coming to Paris and saying to the president, there’s a country France is having trouble with and I want to invite its leader to dinner here in Paris, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves told my colleague. ‘What would the feeling in France be? I can only guess.’
Once again, France, the champion of the underdog, had trampled over the little guys feelings. In 2003, during the debate over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Chirac lashed out at the would-be EU members for siding with the U.S., famously saying they should have kept their mouths shut. The underdog is only important to France if it helps the Hexagon in its fight against the United States. In this battle, Russia is a more useful ally. And for Chirac, it’s the only battle that counts.
‘Is it true?’ I enquire of Hugues Moret, Chirac’s spokesman, as we wait to board the Republique Francaise plane to the Latvian capital for a 2-day NATO summit. ‘I don’t think so,’ he said, and the group of journalists around us had a good laugh at the shoddy standards of American journalism. ‘Normally the Elysee staff give him a cake, but you know Chirac, he’s not one to make a fuss about his birthday.’
When we get off the plane it’s a different story. The Baltic birthday party is on. Under pressure from constant phonecalls following the IHT article, the Elysee is admitting that Putin wants to join the party. Excluded as a non-NATO member from the first summit held in the former Soviet Union, Putin has decided to gate-crash. Glowing from the recent decoration bestowed upon him by Chirac – the Grand Croix de la Légion d’Honneur – he’s developed an affection for his benefactor and requested a seat at his birthday dinner. According to the Elysee, Chirac was ‘touched.’ All that remained to be settled was the party venue.
Then things began to unravel. When we sat down to dinner, Jerome, Chirac’s main spokesman, insists that nothing has been settled. French journalists drafted in from Russia and the Baltics get shirty about the lack of French feelings for the former Soviet Republic that Putin is hoping to upstage.
‘This is their big moment of pride,’ said one. ‘When they finally get to shake of the Soviet cloak and say look, we can play a part in the international club without you,’
Jerome avoids the full throttle defence of Russian democracy he gave at the EU summit in Finland last month, but defends the Russian leaders motives. The proposal came from Russia and the choice of venue for the hastily arranged party was merely coincidence, he insisted.
Finally a phonecall from Russia put a lid on the affair, Dinner was off for ‘logistical reasons,’ the Elysee announced.
Problem was, in accepting Putin’s invitation, France had forgotten about public opinion in Latvia and its Baltic neighbours. Latvia declared independence from Russia in 1991 after five decades of occupation and Vike-Freiberga, 68, is the daughter of refugees who fled Soviet forces first to Moscow and then to Canada.
‘Imagine an East European coming to Paris and saying to the president, there’s a country France is having trouble with and I want to invite its leader to dinner here in Paris, Estonian President Toomas Hendrik Ilves told my colleague. ‘What would the feeling in France be? I can only guess.’
Once again, France, the champion of the underdog, had trampled over the little guys feelings. In 2003, during the debate over the U.S.-led war in Iraq, Chirac lashed out at the would-be EU members for siding with the U.S., famously saying they should have kept their mouths shut. The underdog is only important to France if it helps the Hexagon in its fight against the United States. In this battle, Russia is a more useful ally. And for Chirac, it’s the only battle that counts.
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