Category: Culture

Summer in the city, when the city is Paris – The Washington Post

In August, the capital slows way down as Parisians claim their right to a long vacation.

August here is a phenomenon as French as they come. Employees in France are entitled to five weeks of paid vacation every year, more than in other European nations. Sometimes the French get even longer if they opt to work more than the standard 35 hours a week. This is why — and how — certain French restaurants, shops and small businesses can close for essentially one month of the fiscal year, a reality that never fails to mystify Americans.

But France is not the United States, and here, vacation is not a privilege. It is a right [ . . . ]

Read Full Story: Summer in the city, when the city is Paris – The Washington Post

Arrogant Frog: making fun of France pays off for vigneron

Jean-Claude Mas might just be the last playboy to fly the flag of the long lost world of the 1960s jetset crowd, a crew of cosmopolitan travellers who flew from party to party across Europe and the US indulging in the best wine, food and parties the world had to offer.There was a stint as a cultural attache to the French embassy in Miami in the 1980s where Mas was in charge of promoting French cuisine and consumer brands to the locals — yes, that is a real job — and then of course a few years as a professional racing driver in [. . .  ]

More at: Arrogant Frog: making fun of France pays off for vigneron

A good exhibition is a lesson for the look – Saint-Merry

The Center Georges Pompidou offers a great retrospective of a major photographer Walker Evans (1903-1975) who spent most of his life as a photographer interested in the vernacular, in everyday life, in urban banality. He examined the American soul through its roads, advertisements, ordinary buildings, cars, pedestrians, and so on. It has marked generations of photographers.And at the end of the exhibition, a splendid text that questions less our look than the pleasure to look and evokes the spring of the artist.In this malicious parallel between church and museum, a question and then an affirmation come to mind: “What did you go to see in the desert? ”

Matthew 11: 7-9. As they were going away, Jesus began to say to the crowd about John, “What have you gone to see in the wilderness?” A reed stirred by the wind? But what did you go to see? A man dressed in precious clothes? Behold, those who wear precious garments are in the houses of kings. What have you gone to see? A prophet? Yes, I tell you, and more than a prophet”

Can we establish a parallel between the prophet and the artist?

Troubled question around the see.

John Deuzemes.

 

[ . . . ] Original French Translation: A good exhibition is a lesson for the look – Saint-Merry

Daniel Boulud’s Guide to Paris | Tasting Table

Here are Boulud’s favorite Paris go-tos.

① Epicure by Chef Eric Frechon
Boulud describes head chef Eric Frechon, who was awarded the honorary Meilleur Ouvrier de France title, as “a very creative chef who presents a cuisine rooted in French tradition.” From langoustines to veal sweetbreads, you won’t be disappointed when it comes to the [ . . . ] More: Daniel Boulud’s Guide to Paris | Tasting Table