Paris Journal 2002

A chicken roasts in the oven.  Tom works at the computer.   I finished reading yesterday's issue of Le Parisien and the e-mailed news headlines from the New York Times, the Environmental News Network, and the Ft. Myers News-Press.  In a few  hours, it will be time to go out to buy today's papers.  Yesterday evening, I read the International Herald Tribune.  During these months spent in Paris, we are probably better informed than we are during the rest of the year.

The weather is now warm.  From yesterday's weather report in Le Parisien:

The sky is doing better.  The morning stays gray and the numerous clouds fill the sky with an opaque veil.  The situation will ameliorate itself and this end of the week you can lift your morale.  Toward the lunch hour, the sky begins little by little to open up.  The bright intervals quietly gain the terrain.  You can then concoct yourself one agreeable evening on a terrace [a sidewalk café].  You won't be bothered by the threat of rainshowers -- they are not on the program.  A weak wind from the southwest will rise.  As for the temperatures, they will be high.

Tom says he likes this kind of weather report much better than the kind that we generally receive in the states -- he doesn't understand all that talk about warm fronts, cold fronts, etc.  The weather, Le Parisien-style, is much more understandable, and poetic, he says.

Counterfeiters have been arrested for making thousands of fake 50 euro notes.  They are counting on the relative unfamiliarity of the new currency, and are trying especially to get it into the hands of tourists.  Here's another good reason to use one's credit card as much as possible.

Radar is just now beginning to be used to catch drivers speeding on French roads.

Egypt's President Mubarek is having a cordial meeting with President Chirac, looking for an accord for the Palestinians.

Prime Minister Raffarin surprised everyone by announcing an increase in the price of electricity.

The European Human Rights Court condemned France for "an inequitable process" in the case of Maurice Papon who, in 1998, was sentenced to 10 years in prison.   Papon is a former official of the Vichy government, the folks who cooperated with the Nazis during the occupation.  At his age, the 10 years is probably a life sentence.

To raise some funds for restoring historic neighborhoods in Paris, there are going to be parties or events called "bistrots patrimoine" during each of the first 20 days of each month.  The first day is for the 1st arrondisement, the second is for the 2nd arrondisement, etc.  The events could be outdoor parties or dances, or photo safaris, walking tours, etc.  These sound like fun.  We must continue to improve our French so we can enjoy such happenings.

The neighbors in the 7th arrondisement are complaining about the guys who play pick-up games of soccer on the sweeping lawn in front of the golden-domed Invalides.  It seems that these games are illegal, but they go on every day because the gendarmes are not willing to restrict them.  The gendarmes are probably playing in these games on their days off.  The guys say that even if the stadiums were made available to them for free, they'd rather play on the lawns because there they have a better chance of being seen by pretty girls.