|
This
column is intended to advise you about cultural events, news and
happenings
or
France-related events taking place in the United States &
elsewhere
between
now and the publication of our next issue.
o Because many
festivals, museum visits and other group gatherings may not be possible
now . . . here are some stay-at-home substitutes that you might
enjoy.
French films that are FREE for
Amazon Prime members in the United States. This information comes
to you from the web site French Flicks where you can
find French movies streaming on Netflix, Apple TV. Disney and
more. Here's what French Flicks has to say ~ "It's not easy to
watch French films in America. Many are released in only a
handful
of cities and platforms. . . Amazon Prime actually has over 150 French
films (more than any other streaming service), some good, some
bad. To help you out a bit, we've listed our choices for the
best 10. You can also rent or buy French films via Amazon."
Back
to Burgundy (ce qui nous lie)
Catch the Wind (Prendre le large)
Once in a Lifetime (Les
héritiers)
Return of the Hero (Le retour
du
héros)
Frantz
Little White Lies
(Les petits mouchoirs)
Priceless (Hors de prix)
What’s in a Name (Le
prénom)
He loves me he loves me not (À la
folie…pas du tout)
Made in
France
o Courtesy of Atout
France - The France
Tourism Development Agency - please enjoy some music
from
the comfort of your own home.
An abridged version (4m45s) of Ravel's Boléro,
51 musicians from the National Orchestra of France
played from their homes, then were collected and edited
by Radio France. Enjoy!
Update as France loosens restrictions:
There were a number of
announcements the weekend of June 13/14:
- the
green light for Paris & the Paris Region to join the rest of
France
in the complete lifting of domestic travel restrictions and more
- Stage
3 of France’s reopening to begin June 22
- the recent opening of the
internal European borders to their residents
- the
gradual reopening of European Borders to international travelers from
low-risk countries (and vice versa) will start on July 1.
- the
government's sanitary protocols for the hospitality industry as
implemented by Accor hotels include:
- Frequent disinfection of all high-touch areas like
elevators and public restrooms
- An enhanced in-room cleaning program using hospital grade
cleaning materials
- Regular deep cleaning on upholstery and carpets and all
bedding will be washed and treated at high temperatures
- comprehensive safety and hygiene training program to
ensure all employees have the skills and education necessary to protect
themselves and guests
- Online and classroom trainings have been mandated prior
to any Accor hotel reopening
- Distancing measures in all restaurants, bars and public
areas
- Guests will be provided with individual sanitizer, wipes
and masks and signage will be utilized throughout guest touchpoints to
advise of the necessary restrictions
- Implementation of guest temperature measurement
practices, desinfectant mats at the hotel entrance and partitions at
front desks
- Contactless payment solution and desk-free check in
wherever possible
July 1 is the date that
the EU has chosen to ban travelers entering from several
countries due to their COVID-19 cases rapidly rising. Those
countries as of this writing are the United States, Russia, Brazil and
India. A key threshold is the EU average infection rate of around 16
per 100,000 inhabitants, with only those countries with comparable or
better rates permitted entry. Travelers from the UK can enter
France as of July 10th.
Many bed and breakfast
accommodations are again accepting guests. If you are interested,
or want to rent a château for a week in France, visit the web
site au Château.
The château owners are dedicated to ensure their properties
comply with all protocols to keep their guests safe.
o Full military honors paid tribute to former French President
Jacques Chirac on September 29, 2019, three days after his passing at
the age of 86. Considered one of the kindest and most admired of
politicians, Chirac was mayor of Paris from 1977 to 1995, and France's
last two-term President from 1995 to 2007. Following the
ceremony, President Macron attended a memorial service at the Church of
St-Sulpice in Paris along with dozens of French politicians and foreign
officials including Russia's President Putin, former President Clinton,
former German Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder and Jordan's King Abdullah
II.
o The Statue of Liberty, France's
impressive gift to the United States following the Civil War, has now
been the welcoming lady in New York harbor for 134 years. A film, Liberty: Mother of
Exiles, was released in
2019 beginning with the groundbreaking ceremony for a museum at the
base of the statue. The documentary follows Diane von
Furstenberg, herself a Holocaust survivor, immigrant from Belgium, and
considered the "godmother" of the statue, as she led the fundraising
for the museum in her quest to discover how sculptor
Frédéric Auguste Bartholdi's dream became a
reality. The film is available for viewing on HBO and Hulu and
can be purchased from Amazon Prime, YouTube and Google Play.
o On July 2, Edouard Philippe,
France's Prime Minister, resigned hours before the Court of Justice of
the Republic announced that it would investigate three current or
former ministers over their handling of the coronavirus crisis.
The other two ministers were Olivier Veran, the Health Minister, and
Agnes Buzyn, the former Health Minister. The three ministers now
being investigated are "accused of failing to fight a disaster". Ninety complaints had been
brought to the Court, and 37 are still being considered for
investigation. This Court is the only French court where government
ministers can be tried for their actions while still in office.
If convicted, they could face up to two years in prison.
o The
announcement of the 2020 Winners
of France's best cheeses came to us from our
friends at
Fromages.com in
Tours, France:
Every year by the end of February, at
the Salon de l'Agriculture in Paris (our largest farm fair)
a jury selects and rewards cheese from all French regions.
The 2020 winners are:
The vigorous Bleu des Causses
The
delicate Camembert
The
powerful
Epoisses
de Bourgogne
The
nutty
Pont
l'Eveque
The creamy Rocamadour
The elegant Valençay
A
champions cheeseboard to savor!
Visit fromages.com
to
explore their amazing web site and, perhaps, order some cheeses to
be shipped to you overnight!
You won't regret it; we never have!
o A few silver linings during
the pandemic: The confinement of humans to their homes for
several months
produced
- a decrease in
the 'shaking' of the Earth's upper crust so scientists have a rare
opportunity to monitor small earthquakes, volcanic activity and other
subtle tremors usually drowned out by daily movement of humans.
This was discovered by Thomas Lecocq, a seismologist at the Royal
Observatory of Brussels, Belgium. He said this quiet is usually
only noticed briefly at Christmas time
 a clearly
visible decline in air pollution (the largest global decline ever!)
with smoggy Los Angeles having the best air quality of any city on
Earth in late April
- a large
percentage of better air quality around the world is due to the
reduction in air travel
- wild animals are
again being seen in their once-familiar territories because of fewer
human
visitors, and they are taking over empty city streets around the world
- people are
finding more singular modes of transportation such
as riding bicycles to avoid crowded buses, trains and subways.
- a personal
favorite, that perhaps many of you have seen, is the
sparkling planet Venus in the western sky at night [see photo].
Although
always the brightest, it is more amazing now thanks to a cleaner
atmosphere. In early June it began to appear in the morning
sky.
- more songbirds,
hummingbirds and many others we haven't seen much of in recent years
are back at the feeders and fountains in our yards, another sign of an
improving environment.
- a drop in ocean
shipping has curtailed underwater noise pollution making life better
for ocean mammals. Michelle Fournet from Cornell University in
New York said "We have a generation of humpbacks that have never known
a quiet ocean," noting that the whales alter their calling behavior in
response to a noisy ocean. She studies humpback whales off the
coast of Alaska and says "We have an opportunity to listen . . . that
will not appear again in our lifetime."
THE
BOOKSHELF. . . Two
books for your enjoyment
  Tag along with
authors Lynne Martin and Deborah Scarborough as they shop, cook and eat
as the French do with your copy of Cook Like A Local in
France. From the chapters French
Culinary Basics to Dessert
and Chocolate and the eight chapters in between, you will find
this light and easy read one of the most informative and helpful
introductions to French food. Deborah shares her wonderful
recipes with the reader, and with each one is a little tip such as oven
roasting your vegetables for crisper and more tasty results or Lynne's
revelation that French eggs are not washed and can stay on the counter
for up to a month. Washed eggs must be refrigerated after one
day! And, the authors always include wine pairings, an important
detail that the
French seem to automatically know.
Learn all about French bread ~ the
heart of France ~ from the baguette to the fougasse and more. You
will read about wine festivals throughout France, regional foods of
France, and so much more. To make this book even better are the
mouth-watering photos throughout and the well-written text.
We
won't forget the tragic fire of Notre Dame de Paris in 2019;
this beautiful book is the most timely chronicle of the cathedral's
history and future that
you will find. Written by Kathy Borrus, author of several
books on Paris, Note Dame de Paris ~ A
Celebration of the Cathedral takes you from the cathedral's
beginnings. In 53 BC, Julius Caesar directed the Romans to build
a temple to
Jupiter on the site of today's cathedral. It
was Louis VII, a fan of French Gothic architecture, who was primarily
responsible for financing the construction of the cathedral beginning
in
1163.
This book takes us
through its history, its survival through wars, its treasures, its
legacy, the fire and what the future holds for this monumental building
that is much-loved around the world. We highly recommend Note Dame de Paris ~ A
Celebration of the Cathedral as something to add to and keep in
your library. To quote Kathy Borrus, "The story of the cathedral
is still being written."
These books are both
available from Amazon, and you can order now by clicking the box below.
Cook Like A Local in
France is published by The Countryman Press and is ISBN
978-1-68268-327-9 in paperback.
Notre Dame de Paris is
published by Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers, a division of Hachette Book Group,
Inc., ISBN978-0-7624-9711-9
in hardcover.
|
previous
page
next page 
