Paris1972-Versailles2003

In my new life as retiree my blog is my biggest entertainement and before anything else, I like to thank everyone of my readers and followers to stay with me over the years since November 26 2010 !!! Thank you !!! I decided to trim some of my older posts in my series Some news from France and condense them as not to lose the most important parts, me think, of them, Therefore, this is my new work, the condense news of my belle France, Hope you enjoy it as I

Some news from France XLI May 1, 2011

BHV just open a new men’s store behind the emblematic department store, competing head to head to even its own group which includes Galerie Lafayette, and Monoprix. The store is located at  36 rue de la Verrerie, 75004 . And a wonderful expo at the Musée des lettres et manuscrits  (museum of letters and manuscripts) located at 222 boulevard Saint-Germain is doing the expo covering two hundred letters of arts thru the writings and notes of almost 50 of the greatest painters of our times such as Manet, Gauguin, Matisse, Delacroix, Dalí ,etc. unitl August 28th 2011 , At the Maison des Etats Unis or the house of the United States, until May 27 you will see  beautiful portraits in black and white signed by  Samuel Nja Kwa showing the great ones of Jazz from Randy Weston to Ahmad Jamal. Located at 3, rue Cassette (6émé).

Some news from France XLII May 3, 2011

I am in a hotel chain ACCOR, Mercure close to the port of Vannes, company pays of course ::) And so far I have try in addition to the wonderful breakfast at the hotel, lunch is at work cantine!, and dinner and drinks outside , such as Villa Valencia , its a pizzeria but the name stuck so try this one first ::), and had some late night drinks at La Bodega for the same reasons as the pizzeria but this time its real Spanish ambiance with tapas and great wines 

The second box of the down on a flight Paris-Rio No AF447 has been found!!! Now the two boxes are up and they can more easily found out what went wrong, also, give final resting peace to the families. Pierre Cardin is willing to sell its empire for 1B euros !!! He is 88 years old without succession or heritage to give!!! interested?

Some news from France XLIII May 6, 2011

From May 6 to September 4, 2011 at Musée Rodin, an expo putting the work of Monsieur Rodin alongside his disciples and followers ! First time done at his place. Some of the invited artists’s work are Jean Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Joan Miro, Jean Fautrier, Lucio Fontana, Jean Dubuffet, Alberto Giacometti, Willem de Kooning, Joseph Beuys, Marcel Broodthaers, Eduardo Paolozzi, Anthony Caro, Cy Twombly, Eric Cameron, Richard Serra, Bruce Nauman, Haim Steinbach, Sophie Ristelhueber, Ugo Rondinone, Douglas Gordon, and Urs Fischer. 

Next May 14 is the La Nuit des Musées in all over Paris as well as places in France, and Europe. Many events for free with wonderful museums open to the public on special hours, A nice place to be and needs more notice by visitors is the Bois de Vincennes, Fauna, Flora, at will all around you. Around the lake or lac Daumesnil  is nice at any hour, the morning for the running ,the afternoon along or with friends to relax on the grassy parts, and a bit later to enjoy the tranquility of the place. If you want to go to a different library then try  L’escale littéraire 120, bd du Montparnasse (75014).It is near the FNAC and the librairie Tschann, where Diane and Olivier do many things to be original and different. The personal advices, the new finds, lecture club, Literary evening with a nice  gâteau basque delivered by nearby restaurant  

Just came in and saw an article on Le Figaro, they have chosen the best ” palaces” hotels in France, they are 8 and some of the heavy hitters are not there, creating lots of buzz words around Paris; the 8 at the highest category are the Bristol, Meurice, Plaza Athénée, Park Hyatt Vendome,hotel de Palais at Biarritz, hotel Les Airelles at Courchevel, Cheval Blanc at Courchevel, Grand Hotel du Cap Ferrat at Saint Jean Cap Ferrat, the others like the Crillon ,Ritz,and George V were left out lol!!!

Some news from France XLIIII May 10, 2011 

Something about French consumers , a study done by INSEE, the French govt statistical arm, says, the French are in 7th place in the ranking of big spenders in Europe. Leading the way are the UK and Luxembourg. The French spending habits are 13% above the average for the UE The French, eat more fish than the Germans with 18% higher consumption then the EU average.  They drink more alcohol than the British with 20% above the UE average! ,and smoke less then the Spaniards with 28% less than the UE average.

The 64th edition of the Festival de Cannes is approaching tomorrow opening. Over 50 films will be shown to decide the winners by May 22nd with Robert de Niro as chairman of this year edition. From May 27-29, the Festival de l’Histoire des Arts will take place at the Chateau de Fontainebleau ,a gorgeous theme of the folies or looney periods of  Erasmus In the theme of the European Museum Night, the Chateau de Versailles will open the Petit Parc by 20H30 to create an event entitled “Nuit et bosquets, un bestiaire à Versailles” or nights and forests, a dresserroom at versailles. The activities will start by 21h30, by the cour d’honneur, the castle will remain closed.

Walking along the Paris 15éme arrondissement the other day ,went to see a friend  from Australia visiting Paris, and took some extra time before arriving to past by the Parc  André Citroen, near the Seine river, metro Javel ,Balard or RER blvd Victor, done on the old automobile factories of Citroên. Here you have two small gardens call  “jardin blanc” ,and  “jardin noir” (these are between rue Saint-Charles and rue Leblanc), and are link to the main garden. There is a huge lawn square in the middle, bordering this square there are 6  serial gardens separated by a cascade and id with a metal color each such as gold/Or, Silver/Argent, and Green/Vert or Red/rouge. At the end  there is a garden in movement or “jardin en mouvement” ; it is like a prairie in a natural state with flowers. to the south, there is the canal with more cascades and statues or nymphées,a cave where water spout with force

Expo at the Petit Palais ,the work of Charlotte Perriand , one of the great creators of furniture in the 20C,now turning into photography to re discover her . More than 380 photos and 70 furniture pieces are on display; from her entrance into the shop of Le Corbusier and  Pierre Jeanneret in 1928 Musée de Quai de Branly is showing the Mayas exhibition on Guatemala, 160 pieces of exceptional value will be on display. from 6 june to october, Anish Kapoor opens at the Grand Palais, under the lights of the Parisien skies, the interior of this creation like a Leviathan, high of 35 meters (115.5 ft)  will be the more or less scary. It is a spectacular plonge into a pre historic cave. A experience of the sensors and métaphysical like that of Stanley Kubrick in 2001, the Space Oddysea

The Ministry of Culture and Tourism of France, Fréderic Lefebvre is going after Expedia, Hotels.com,and TripAdvisor for attack their false recommendations.  Such as saying the hotel is full when in reality it is not!!!  Announcing promotional tarifs when in reality they are the normal prices!!! or downgrade a 4 stars to a 3 stars/ This is part of the division of fraud of its ministry that is after informations that are tricks of the game!.

Some news from France XLV May 12, 2011

Come and enjoy a nice meal in the beautiful gardens of the Maison de l’Amérique latine in Paris, nothing latin american in the meals ,all is French ::) Plus see over 10 sculptures in bronze by the Mexican artist Juan Soriano (1920-2006) in the  Cour Ovale  until July 13 

The new movie by Woody Allen is out,  Midnght at  Paris, (Minuit à Paris) is a rave, all is looking forward to see it , another American dream for Paris, and this one is just as good as the other ones, Paris Je t’aime !!!  This is what Mr Allen said at the Le Figaro newspaper which I am translating here,  “I felled in love with Paris in 1964, I was writing one day for the play of the movie what’s New Pussycat. I was staying at the Hôtel George V. This adventure lasted 8 months! At the end I was thinking of staying permanently.  I would have been able to purchase a small apartment on the attic types, and lived at the heart of Paris city of Lights. I was young, single,and love this city. I spent my times on the Champs-Élysées, to read wholly the books at  library Shakespeare & Company,or just walked in the streets of the  Quartier latin. However, all my friends were at  New York. Alors, and I stop thinking about this dream. I regret a bit today having done that decision”.

Some news from France XLVI May 15 2011

We love the Chez Clement restos and the one in Bougival in my department Yvelines no 78 is historical. You have four rooms with exquisite decorations such as véranda Saint Michel, color glass mirrors of Champs-Elysées, Rotonde de Petit Clamart, or flower garden of Bougival. This restaurant was founder by Clement Blanc , the same who started in the butchery business founded in Paris the popular Au Pied de Cochon near Les Halles.  The restaurant at Bougival is enclosed by 2 hectares of gardens (5 acres), and the original here was the local famouse Coq Hardi. The location is at  15 bis, quai Rennequin Sualem, 78380 Bougival,

I was honored to have a visit by one of my favorites persons from my previous travel forum ,he came all the way from Australia with a group of about 19 Aussies. We had a blast at Cafe du Commerce,51 rue du commerce,75015. The service,the food and the wine was good. But must important the company we share and the love for travel was shown. Its not everyday you finally see someone you have been sharing travel tips and memories over the years and suddently you are seating next to each other chatting like we have known each other for years….Thanks Wal.

Some news from France XLVII May 19, 2011 

If you are closer to Paris this weekend there is a celebration at all gardens in the area, its call the Fete de la nature or nature’s feast.  For example, at bois de Vincennes, you will discover the biodiversity; at Jardin des Plantes, there are guide visits with the gardeners and visit of the tropical agronomy garden, search of treasures by the little ones at the Jardin d’Eole, etc.

The city of Neuilly sur Seine in dept Hauts de Seine no 92.  37 hectares (91 .3 acres) of green spaces with the famous  parc de Bagatelle ,and the well hidden but nice parc de la Folie Saint-James , at  34, avenue de Madrid, and undergoing renovations now. The elegant headquartes of Chanel are based here too at 135 ave Charles de Gaulle. Also the cinemas Gaumont with a nice museum on movie history Musée Gaumont, it is at the basement of the HQ of the company Gaumont at 13 Rue du Midi, 92200 Neuilly sur Seine,

And going back towards the west this time Normandy at Caen the museum of Normandie there will have an exposition as part of the celebration of the 1 100 years of the founding of Normandy by the Viking Rollon with the treaty at Saint Claire-sur-Epte. The program is call the Viking Russia towards another Normandy. 

 the Grandes Eaux Musicales are on throught October 31 2011. Discover the gardens of the sun king Louis XIV at the sound of baroque music and water spouting at great speeds from fountains and canals. Schedule is for the Grandes Eaux Musicales the Saturdays and Sundays from April 2nd to October 30th as well as June 2, and 14 july and the tuesdays of May 24 to June 28th from hours of 9h to 18h30. The Grandes Eaux Nocturnes (night time) are all Saturdays from June 18 to September 3 from 21h to 23h30 hours .

Some news from France XLVIII May 21, 2011

The sad news is that I am leaving the Versailles by June 1st, 2011. The good news is that I am leaving for a better management position with a highly recognise French company in the region of Morbihan, Bretagne. Its a decision that weighted heavily on the fact of not only  the pay, but the conditions, and the area. It is after all a UNESCO World Heritage Site, the Gulf of Morbihan (small sea in Breton language). My family will stay behind some time in order to get all the paperwork of selling the house,finding schools for the sons, and the usual moving madness that we are so used to having moved several times in our life from regions to regions and from countries to countries. The Versailles area is wonderful, will leave many friends but will stay in touch, the area is superb cant have enough words for it. The palace driving by it every day to work is sublime, the food,the people ,and the closeness to the city, Paris, a movable feast was awesome. As all my previous residences, it will be remembered fondly and with great joy of having lived in a wonderful area. I have our family lunch at Bougival near us at chez Clément restaurant. Monday take my father to buy his misc at Mantes la Jolie in the morning and go to Paris by 6éme for dinner with local friends. Tuesday is to close deal on my new apartment, and wednesday take wife for appointments, then thursday pickup my new business suits that should be done in west of Paris quai des Marques an outlet store with brand names very nice and good prices; then next weekend will be my last officially in the area so planning already some outings with the family, probably a walk in the Château de Versailles gardens we enjoy so much over the 9+ years we lived here.

Bretagne is in French but in Breton is Breizh.  Morbihan is in French but in Breton is Mor Bihan. Vannes is French, Breton is Gwened. and then some polite words ,first in French then in Breton ,and finally in English, Bonjour, Demat, good morning, Bon aprés midi, Demat deoc’h, good afternoon, Bonsoir, Nozvezh vat, gooe evening, Au revoir, Kenavo, goodbye, s’il vous plait, mar plij, please, oui, ya, yes, non, ket, no, The wonderful Crêpe is Krampouezh, the Galettes are Galetez, Bon appetit you can say Kalon digor, unique.

Some news from France XLVIIII May 25, 2011 

I made another trip to Bretagne, and this time got my apartment nice property of four bedrooms, two baths, one car garage overlooking the main road of town and only 30 minutes by car from my new place of work. I do it all the time many like it in the past few years, this time hope I can stay a bit longer ::) I will be in a village the whole metropolis has about 6K folks but divided into several comunes, along a country road, link to the main expressway linking Brest to Nantes, N165. The town main webpage is this one, oh its call Brech in French or Brec’h in Breton

Tomorrow  I will pickup my suits that I had purchased, and then do some last minute shopping in the area , Friday evening will be viewing Paris, Champs-Elysées with some old business folks and then later by Châtelet for a round of beer with friends, going away from the big city. Not for long, as I said to many, Paris will always remains in you no matter how far you will be from it, once biten , the love is eternal. I will be baaaack !!! If you are around Paris see me at Au Trappiste,4 rue St Denis by metro Châtelet Friday evening.  I will be leaving for Brech May 31st, and the beginning of a new adventure in my life. Stick around and see it with me as we walk, ride, and cheer the lovely Bretagne region.

Some news from France L May 28, 2011

I am here just getting ready to pack my things for my moved to Brech, near Auray, near Vannes, department of Morbihan in Brittany, France. My next home for me and soon for the rest of the family. The schools transfers have been asked so paperwork heavens we are in. I was just exchanging with some friends in Paris by Châtelet yesterday, and told them it will be my record intact of a new home every 5,5 years since my birth. Amazing isn’t it? Well goes to show you ,I am a globetrotter for real! The Châtelet area of Paris was loud ,noisy and full of folks, there were a congregation playing drums by the Place Victoire, and we had some nice beers in Au Trappiste, 4 rue St Denis, my all time best place in Paris for a happy hour. It will be missed but I am sure with my luggage new ones will be found ,and the rich history of pedmar10 will continue to grow. Had encounters with many friends over the last few days, saying until next time, never goodbye as I only will be 5 hrs by car and 3h52 by train ride away ,but the wisdom of  the internet will keep us close, and we will meet again one day by Paris or in my area. I have only but great reviews of my new area, it seems every French person I spoked to love it.

In other country,area matters ,the Institute Great Place to Work (GPTW) came up with the best companies to work in Europe,and you guess it Microsoft came out on top. The next 2’4 places were by Amgen,Mars,Cisco Systems, 3M,NetApp, MacDonalds, SAS institute, WL Gore, Kelloggs, Diageo, Hilt, Pepsico, Accenture, Fedex,Novo Nordisk,Télefonica, Medtronics,Baxters, SC Johnson, Novartis,Abbott,Quintiles, Mundipharma, and Danone.

Tomorrow Sunday is Mother’s Day in France, this year it falls on May 29th. If not at home like us, as we use the day for packing, you can go to the great Pinacothéque de Paris and see the exposition by Hugo Pratts  where you will see more than 150 aquarelles many not known to the general public and historic plaques including about 164 of the mythic “Ballade de la mer salée”. There until August 21st

And lastly but not least, the Paris Air Show is coming to town!!!  Love Aviation so this is big for me. My US University ERAU will be in town, and in addition to the festivities of June 22nd, we the alumni will be having a dinner at the prestigious and oldest aviation club in France, The Aero Club de France, 6 rue Galilée, Paris 75016. near the Arc de Triomphe. You will see me there ::) 

There you go folks, a big task but a work of love to keep the best, me think of these wonderful older posts over the years, These are what I think worth keeping of my older Some news from France series, and I thank you, Again, hope you enjoy this post as I

And remember, happy travels, good health, and many cheers to all !!!