Americanexpatinfrance's Blog

Think you had enough shopping done during the Christmas holiday?

The French are getting ready for the national sales around France.

They kick off tomorrow January 11 throughout the country, and you can see a full list of dates here for each département (Paris being the 75th on the list).

You’ll see many départements have sales until February 14, just in time for Valentine’s Day.

Background
The French government authorizes stores to use the word “les soldes” as an official sales period twice a year (January and July) to foster economic growth and consumption.

Stores are free to have discounts, special offers and promotions throughout the rest of the year, but they cannot use “les soldes” as an expression outside of these two time periods.
Tomorrow Economic Minister François Baroin will be the MC of the traditional kick-off of the sales period at Galeries Lafayette.

Economic uncertainty?
Despite all the pomp and festivitives, a new poll done by l’Institut BVA and published by Les Echos newspaper reveals that 36% of French consumers think that the national sales do not have a real purpose any more, and this is even more pronounced among younger consumers.

While the sales might be less trendy than last year, and this drop in enthusiasm may be explained by economic uncertainty, 60% of the French still believe that these periods present special opportunities for good deals.

If you do choose to shop, make sure to remember that prices will generally decrease as the time period goes on (up to 80% off in some cases by the end), but that the best items will likely be gone.

You may also want to check out this page for more links and information on fashion and shopping.

Happy Shopping!

This week the French Consulate in New Orleans is organizing a “Semaine Française” to celebrate Franco-American friendship and ties. Excerpts from Embassy website below. See the sites for more information. Vive la France! Vive l’Amérique!

The Consulate General of France in New Orleans, Louisiana, in partnership with local institutions and sponsors, offers the first edition of the Semaine Française. More than 20 multidisciplinary events will be held in New Orleans during 4 days to celebrate the French-American relationship and strengthen the ties between France and Louisiana.

From Thursday the 17th of November to Sunday the 20th, business, educational and cultural thematic will be highlighted by these events, a large majority of which are free and open to all. Semaine Française is presented under the high auspices of his Excellency the Ambassador of France to the United States Mr. Francois Delattre.

Semaine Française will propose:

-Regional cooperation will be underlined by the signing of a memorandum of agreement between port of new orleans and Port of Guadeloupe, followed by a trade summit on the impact of the Panama Canal expansion with French and American perspectives. Officials from both New Orleans and Guadeloupe will attend this event, as well as his Excellency the Ambassador of France to the United States François Delattre.

-A business symposium will be held on the 18th of November at Tulane University. Three seminars will adress the issues of energy, coastal sustainability and transportation. Professionals in these fields such as the CEO of Areva Jacques Besnainou and nuclear cousellor to the French Embassy in Washington D.C Cyril Pinel will participate to these seminars.

-A French education fair will gather all the Louisiana institutions offering French studies and classes on the 19th of November. A roundtable discusssion with Louisiana State Representatives and a panel of university professors will deal with the state of the French language in Louisiana, followed by a networking cocktail with the alumni of the Teaching Assistant Program in France and professionals.

-Several cultural events will be held during Semaine Française in New Orleans. The Beaujolais Nouveau will be celebrated through a festival and French DJ after-party; culinary cooking demonstrations will be offered by Guadeloupean chef Joel Kichenin at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum; a concert by the Gypsy swing trio and a screening of French film « Le Herisson »by Mona Achache in cooperation with the New Orleans Museum of Art and the New Orleans Film Society. Painting and sculpture exhibitions of French artists living in New Orleans will be organized in several galleries. A photo exhibit on the theme « What makes Louisiana French »will take place at the historic New Orleans Collection. And more…

Semaine Française is presented by the Consulate General of France in New Orleans, the French-American chamber of Commerce-Gulf Coast Chapter, the Alliance francaise of New Orleans and the forum francophone des affaires. Semaine Française benefits from the support of all the French and French-American organizations in New Orleans and has partnered with most of the city’s institutions including the city of New Orleans, the Council for the Development Of French language In Louisiana (CODOFIL) the Port of New Orleans and Tulane University.

If you’re in France today, you’ll see signs in many bars and restaurants windows touting the message “Le Beaujolais Nouveau est arrivé!” in some variation (“The New Beaujolais region vintage has arrived!”).

For those of you who are not familiar with Beaujolais Nouveau, here is a little background on the wine and the event. This site also provides some insight (as well as the picture above, merci).

There are soirées all over the world to celebrate this annual event. One of my favorite places in Washington D.C. is Bistrot du Coin. I believe the French Embassy in D.C. and its Consulates have events as well.

My friend Miss Vicky Wine is hosting a wine bar hop tonight in Paris with Le Petit Ballon to celebrate the arrival of the 2011 vintage. You can find more information and RSVP on this Facebook event. Here is the itinerary, and more information on this site (in French). Have a good time tonight!

It must be innovation week…

In another poll on innovation (Thomson Reuters Top 100 Global Innovators), France has 11 companies on the list (the 3rd most behind Japan with 27 and America with 40). The brilliant chaps over at The Economist have a nice article on this, below here for easy reading (France boldfaced for emphasis on my part).

Where innovation lies
Nov 16th 2011, 16:54 by The Economist online

Where are the world’s most innovative companies and what do they do?

Companies that make semiconductors and other electronic components are collectively the most innovative industry, according to an analysis of patents carried out by Thomson Reuters, an information-services provider. Its “Top 100 Global Innovators” report rates companies by the proportion of their patent applications that are granted; the number of “quadrilateral” patents (those granted in China, Europe, Japan and America); how often patents are cited by other companies; and whether patents relate to new techniques or inventions or are refinements of existing ones. This approach is intended to overcome the limitations of using the number of patents filed or granted as a measure of innovation. Of the 100 companies in the list, which is not ranked and relates to patent activity from 2005-2010, 40 are from America, 27 from Japan and 11 from France. No Chinese companies qualified. The report says this “underscores the fact that although China is leading the world in patent volume, quantity does not equate to influence and quality.”

In the latest issue of Bonjour Paris news, I have an article that talks about these subjects. You can read it all here.

Bonjour!

A brief French news update….

The French Socialist Party held the country’s first general political primary in order to choose their party’s candidate for the Spring 2012 Presidential election. François Hollande came out on top, with Martine Aubry coming in at a close second. The second and final round will take place next Sunday Oct. 16. You can read more about the election here and here (in French). For coverage from a left-leaning paper, check out Libération

They had a very heavy turn-out and more politically liberal voters generally seem quite happy with the primary system. Now the question is who losing candidates will support in the run-off next week, and more importantly, who presents the best case and chance to beat President Nicolas Sarkozy in the elections. Sarkozy is very unpopular, and there is a wave of frustration with his administration and its policies and a sense that people are tired of having him in power. This could well be an omen for any chances he may have at a second term. Only time will tell.

Francois Hollande is thought to appeal to a wide cross-section of the electorate (BBC News)

I wrote up a piece for Bonjour Paris covering this diverse topics. You can read the article here.

I hope this somber anniversary we will be safe in remembering those lost. As we move closer to a sense of closure, we can’t forget to move forward positively.

The BBC has a special report on this year’s annivesary, the Economist as well.

French daily Figaro also has a special dossier.

The famous French daily Le Monde printed a moving op-ed the day after the attacks of September 11, 2001 (available in English here, image of newspaper cover here).

Ten years later, the French have not forgotten their old ally in commemorating the 10th anniversary of the attacks. There are several events throughout the country. These are a selection. If you have more, feel free to post in the comments section for all to see.

The American Embassy in Paris also has a very informative page on 9/11 in Paris.

Paris
-Sep 11, 4:30-7:30pm: The American Church in Paris Sep 11 “Becoming a Blessing”

-On Sep. 11 at Paris Trocadero, a French association will be honoring the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks with small replicas of the Twin Towers. Information can be found on Facebook, from FACC Chicago and this website.

Grenoble
-Sep 11, 11am Grenoble region: Association France-Etats Unis with Peachtree Fire Department of Georgia. Event PDF

I have an article in the latest edition of Bonjour Paris about the European fiscal crisis, French-German talks and world market instability which you can read here.

The New York Times has an interesting profile of the Englishman who is head of the grounds at Giverny’s Monet estate gardens, James Priest. Excerpts below.

Keeping Abloom the Inspiration for Masterpieces
By SUZANNE DALEY
Published: July 26, 2011

GIVERNY, France — James Priest stood on a footbridge overlooking the lush Japanese-style lagoon at the bottom of Claude Monet’s garden, pleased with what he saw.
Enlarge This Image

It was here that Monet painted the water lily series that hangs in the Musée de L’Orangerie in Paris.

“Some people go into the museum and they say — ‘wow,’ ” Mr. Priest said. “But I get that feeling standing here. Looking at this makes your head spin. It makes your heart boom — just like his paintings do.”

Mr. Priest, who is British, likes it even better in the evening when the visitors are gone, a solitary view he can relish whenever he wants. He took over last month as head gardener of the grounds that surround Monet’s pink stucco country house here, where the painter lived and worked during the last four decades of his life.

No one has made much ado about handing over an iconic French garden to an Englishman, he said. But he does blanch when asked if parts of the garden — with their wild tangle of flowers — reflect more of an English style than the formal, symmetrical style of French gardens.

“Oh, you must not say that,” he said, looking just a little bit panicked. “It is a unique garden, neither French nor English. It’s an artist’s garden, a dreamer’s garden.”

“This is France,” he added. “They cut off people’s heads for saying less than that.” …

Mr. Priest was raised in England and studied gardening there, but he has lived in France for some 30 years, much of it married to a Frenchwoman and tending the gardens for the Rothschild family estate in Chantilly, on the outskirts of Paris, called Royaumont.

At first, Mr. Priest took his new job at Giverny in stride. But having spent much of the last few weeks giving interviews, he says the weight of the task of caring for one of France’s most famous gardens is sinking in. “I know this sounds silly,” he said. “But it’s only little by little that I’m realizing the aura around this place. I was quite naïve really.”…