So cannot be too far from my belle France and so much to tell always something in the Hexagone! Today is Fall well already in it, and it shows. Cloudy , rainy a bit windy temps in 16C or about 60F, in Paris a bit warmer at 70F. Let me get in right into the matter at hands; some news from France!
It is all over the news here so a perennial travel site is now gone. I remember when used them in America many neons ago. Thomas Cook, the oldest tour operator in the world, created in 1841, had no choice but to enter “liquidation with immediate effect” in total, some 600,000 tourists would be concerned. In the immediate future, the authorities will have to organize massive repatriations of their nationals on holiday with Thomas Cook: 150 000 British, 10 000 French … the British Aviation Authority (CAA), stating that special telephone lines had opened to help travelers (0300 303 2800 in Great Britain and Ireland, + 44 1753 330 330 from abroad). For the 9,842 French travelers currently on holiday, an emergency number has been set up on +33 (0)1 45 05 40 81. More info in France: https://www.thomascook.fr/groupe/info-groupetc
After the RATP, the SNCF, and the beat goes on, don’t you love it in France lol! Train traffic will be disrupted tomorrow Tuesday 24 September across the country due to a day of strike. For Intercités, two out of five trains will run on day trips, and one train on four at night. There will also be three TER out of five. On the TGV side, traffic should be almost normal, with the exception of the Atlantic and North routes (four trains out of five). It will be perfectly normal for international journeys (Eurostar, Thalys, Lyria, France-Spain, France-Germany and France-Italy routes). In Ile-de-France, RER traffic will also be disrupted. Two out of five trains on the RER E and the northern part of the RER B (with an interconnection break at the Gare du Nord), two trains out of five also on the RER D, no traffic between Châtelet and the Gare de Lyon. There will be one train on two on the RER C but normal traffic on the RER A. For the Transilien, one train out of two will be in circulation on average, but the R line (to Montereau and Montargis) will be more affected by the strike, with only one in four trains in circulation. More here in French to follow the strike news: https://www.cestlagreve.fr/secteur-d-activite/transport/sncf-train/
If the day of last Friday, September 13 was called a black Friday for all Parisians embarrassed by the strike of the RATP, the month of December may be worse. Five unions are calling for an indefinite strike from 5 December 2019. It is the pension reforms that are pushing the RATP unions to reiterate the social movement. Unsa-RATP, CFE CCG RATP, South RATP, Solidaires RATP and FO RATP all will be on strike. Take alternative routes if visiting or working in Paris especially on these days, and welcome to France! Same for the RATP on strikes: https://www.ratp.fr/en/node/11542
Day without a car, or without the metro and without the sun sums up a sullen note. Not to mention if they get their way the day without a horse! This past Sunday Sept 22nd, the fifth edition of this operation organized by the City of Paris between 11h and 18h has turned short in the center and west of Paris. Of course, it will backfire in time. The announce event which turn out very limited on the city page here: https://www.paris.fr/pages/la-journee-sans-voiture-revient-pour-la-cinquieme-edition-6727
And for better news: Next Saturday, October 5 will be held the 18th edition of the Nuit Blanche (or white night) organized by the City of Paris. Nuit Blanche in Paris will be a metropolitan event this time. Starting at 19h time is already at the party, with the departure from the Place de la Concorde from twelve monumental works accompanied by musicians and DJs to the Place de la Bastille. Tin-Tin’s big-tattooed tank, the Zerep company, “muchos kilometros” and his crazy squad populated by camels and Cadillacs or Daniel Buren’s, composed of authentic mirrors of buildings . In the perspective of the Olympic games of 2024, the portion of the periphery of the Porte des Lilas at the Porte de la Villette is transformed into a velodrome, accessible by bike and vélib ‘. Do not miss Copacabana Machine Sex in Aubervilliers, a mobile nightclub in which robots wank sensually on electro. The most athletic ones will join the Grande Traversée, two races crossing some forty institutions, from the Invalides to the Grand Palais, passing by Beaubourg, the Louvre, etc it will be a blast so if available be there or be square! More info here:https://quefaire.paris.fr/nuitblanche
And at last, this is nice for Paris, I love them! The old “1900” style kiosks will come alive again in the streets of Paris. Four Haussmann style kiosks dedicated to the sale of flowers. They will be located on Square d’Estienne d’Orves 9éme, 21 Avenue General Sarrail 16éme, 30 Avenue Corentin Cariou 19éme, and 6, Boulevard de Charonne 20éme.. Eventually, other old kiosks will reopen to offer further sales activities: 25 in total. Newsstands there are about 220 kiosks in Paris installed. At the end of December, 300 will be established. And will have about thirty to install during the first quarter of 2020! A bit more from the city of Paris on the press kiosks here: https://www.paris.fr/pages/des-nouveaux-kiosques-de-presse-a-paris-5650
Something its becoming rampant and we are annoyed a bit. By the end of 2019, the management of the Louvre Museum will impose the reservation for the purchase of tickets. , the Louvre requires to book in advance its ticket! . It would now be impossible for Parisian to forage his heritage at the lunch break! Or to improvise a trip, like one goes out to the fields! All this so that boisterous magmas, who follow a flag hour, could grin their uncultured by immortalizing themselves before the Mona Lisa! Especially since these herrings come only for that, not even knowing that the museum has something else!! More seriously, why not adopt the system of India, which have an entry for tourists and another for locals? Or circumscribe the Mona Lisa to a single room, charging double? The calves would only see fire and the Parisians would find the Louvre of Belphégor. Exactly too crowded and too many flashes indeed lol! Even online they recommend you to buy online! More here: https://www.ticketlouvre.fr/louvre/b2c/index.cfm/home
I will throw in a bit of fashion for the coming season , after all Paris is it. Born at the beginning of the 20C, the harem skirts, a fusion of skirts and panties – the long underpants worn by men under their clothes – allow women to circumvent the ban on trousers. Under the influence of the Ballets Russes and Orient, it is the fashion designer Paul Poiret who launched, in the 1910s, these loose and flowing baggy trousers that he called harem skirts. It will be necessary to wait until the end of the 1960’s so that the trousers are essential in the female locker room. And the culottes is one of the first forms, thanks in particular to Saint Laurent Rive gauche, who presents it in a tailor’s suit with men’s wool jackets or sheepskin coats. This winter, it seems to be part of the conquest of women. One example of many here: https://www.lofficiel.com/fashion/bon-chic-mauvais-genre
In addition to their restaurants, chefs are increasingly likely to source products in their garden but also to engage in breeding or food business. An approach that allows them to rise in quality. The Bouchérie Grégoire is one of them. This new address by chef Antonin Bonnet opened this summer in the 6éme arrondissement of Paris, just two issues of Quinsou, his one-star restaurant. In this pocket shop, which is betting on the “beautiful, good and ethical”, veal, cow, lamb or pork meat are bought by whole carcasses, in short circuit and from small French producers, before being debited on place, to the rhythm of the seasons and arrivals. All wholesome food à la Française!. A bit more here in French: https://www.sortiraparis.com/lieux/67319-la-boucherie-gregoire
How about an old dandy that still rocks ,dinner at Minim’s, the little Maxim’s. A place completely out of time,so linked to Pierre Cardin. Once a month, on Friday, there is the cabaret of Blanca Li, a show that mixes flamenco and humor, in a joyful delirium! La Brasserie Minim at 7, rue Royale , 1éme.. Tel +33 (0) 1 42 65 91 77.More info here: https://maxims-de-paris.com/fr/la-brasserie-minims/2486
The Champagne Ruinart launches the countdown of events that will mark its 300 years. Every year, until September 1st, 2029, which will mark the 300th anniversary of the House, an artistic, technological or architectural project telling how the wines are made, will be revealed in Reims, in parallel with annual white cards given to creators. as different as Piet Hein Eek, Erwin Olaf, Liu Bolin or this year Vik Muniz. The commissioned duo of artists Mouawad Laurier present a work combining innovation, creativity and sustainability. Presented in the chalk houses of the Ruinart, classified as World Heritage by Unesco. Performance open to the public, visits in small groups of 12 people maximum. More in French here: https://www.ruinart.com/fr-e/news/retour-aux-sources
What are the main stages of the new classification of the Crus Bourgeois. It was decided to make a major change to the grading system of the crus bourgeois. Things are changing in Bordeaux stay tune with France!
Very schematically, there are two parts. The first: the blind tasting. For a Bourgeois level application, the castles present five vintages to choose between 2008 and 2016; those who have had the recognition at least five times in the same period are not subject to tasting and those who can prove that they do not have five vintages available only present 2015 and 2016. The castles that compete for the mention additional “exceptionnel” or “supérieur ” must also present five other vintages selected between 2008 and 2016, also tasted blind (only vintages are indicated). From the second ranking in 2025, everyone will present the same vintages for tasting. The second part: it concerns only the candidates to a complementary mention and which constituted a specific file. The three criteria on which they are evaluated are the good cultural and environmental practices, the management of the exploitation, the development of the vintage. Mention will be awarded based on the overall level of performance of the vintage for each of the three criteria and whether the tasting result has reached the required level.
They are evaluated on the management of the vineyard and winemaking operations, on the plot traceability in winemaking, on the winemaking, rearing and packaging conditions in order to optimize the quality and typicity of the wine, according to five themes. Finally, the development of the vintage is appreciated with regard to the general presentation of the exploitation, in particular the quality of the reception of the professional visitors or the tourists, the national and international valuation of the vintage, its individual and collective promotion , of its distribution methods (also according to five themes). In short, everything is sifted, vineyard, terroir, plantation density, castle, development of the vine at the end of the cellar, history, hospitality (wine tourism or not, each his philosophy), distribution, selling price. The file is sent by the Alliance to the Quali-Bordeaux verification body, which conducts tastings and inspection visits. The Alliance does not intervene in the ranking. Everyone needs to be sure that they are treated exactly the same from beginning to end. The ten themes are noted from A to D, and these notes are then converted into points. The Alliance will release the ranking in February 2020. More on the Crus Bourgeois here: http://www.crus-bourgeois.com/#aujourd-hui?lang=fr
The site Wikipedia gives you a better look on the current classification of Crus Bourgeois me think; here is the link: https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alliance_des_crus_bourgeois_du_M%C3%A9doc
And last but not least, how about those wines!!
Mankind has learned to make wine well before inventing writing. The first traces of vines date back to 8000 BC, in Anatolia. As grapes are the most easily fermenting fruit, it is not absurd to think that our ancestors soon understood the value of storing them in pots. Moreover, in Iran and Georgia, wine deposits inside vases have been discovered, between 7,000 and 9,000 years old. In Armenia, excavations have even unveiled a space devoted to winemaking 6,100 years old. Besides, the writing is a young thing, she has only 5 300. Our time will be no exception. When there is nothing left, there remains the wine. Because, after all, it’s quite simple to create, and the vine has adapted to almost every climate: wine is produced in Canada, Ethiopia, Chile, Switzerland, South Africa, Japan, in Morocco, Mexico, Cape Verde, Brazil. And even in Tahiti where it is possible to do two harvests a year if you let the vine run. Of course , wine is in us part of our culture and we need to drink it, in moderation of course , with a meal is better or an apéro in a terrace in Paris or elsewhere! Enjoy it!!!
And remember, happy travels, good health ,and many cheers to all!!!
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