Eat up: No more glamorizing the uber-thin in France

by Anna Brones on

France has long been revered as a country full of svelte women. But because of a new bill adopted by the French Parliament on Tuesday, over glamorizing the thinnest of the thin may soon be criminal.

The bill proposes a crack down on websites that advise anorexics how to starve by recommending fines of up to $71,000 and three year prison terms. Websites that encourage “extreme skinniness” will have to wait and see what the Senate decides in the next few weeks; according to the fashion industry, if passed, the law would be the strongest of its kind.

So now that advocating “extreme skinniness” might be against the law, you don’t have to feel guilty about gorging on those croissants and other delicacies anymore. Better get an extra layer of nutella on that crepe.

Touring Paris in the back of a “duck”

by Iva Skoch on

I am not the type to take a gondola ride in Venice. Yet, touring Paris in the back of the Citroën 2CV actually sounds kind of cool. It is a convertible car, so it offers a nice view. Being able to see the sky and “smell the city” is key.

A tour company called 4 roues sous 1 parapluie offers several different tours in the legendary “duck.” There is the Essential Ride, where you get a chance to check out the most famous landmarks, such as the Eiffel Tower, or the Champs-Elysées. The Magic tour adds places like the Moulin Rouge and Montmartre, among others. There is Secret Paris, Thematic Paris, Paris a la carte, etc. You get the idea.

I still think the best way to get to know a city is to walk it. If you can’t walk much, this could be the next best thing.

Thanks autobloggreen.com for the tip.

Bubbly for 50,000 euros: The world’s most expensive champagne

by Anna Brones on

It seems like trendy drinks are getting more and more expensive. First it was bottled water, then it was coffee made from animal dung. But if you thought water at $42 a bottle was expensive then you haven’t seen the latest bottles of Perrier-Jouet. The French champagne company is selling a limited edition 12-bottle box set for a mere 50,000 euros. That comes out to about 4,166 euros per bottle, or $6,485!

Who can afford such things? The “community of super rich consumers” of course. Marketing to this kind of consumer in the United States, Britain, Japan, China, Russia, Switzerland and France, Pierre-Jouet is pretty much offering the champagne chance of a lifetime. “We are going to sell these box-sets to 100 people around the world who will have a chance to customise their own champagne, the ultimate luxury,” said Perrier Olivier Cavil, head of communications at Perrier-Jouet. The boxed set wins the prize for the world’s most expensive champagne; the previous record was set by a limited edition Dom Perignon which went on sale in 2005 for 12,000 euros per three liter bottle.

Customers purchasing one of the 100 boxed sets will come to Epernay to meet one-on-one with the cellar master who will add in a liqueur to “personalize” the champagne. Sounds pretty luxurious. Better invite only the classiest of your friends to drink it with.

French Eurovision song causes trouble for using English lyrics

by Anna Brones on

The French language is incredibly important to those who speak it; so important that it even has its own academy established to do everything possible to protect it. So the fact that this year’s French entry for the Eurovision song contest uses English lyrics has caused a slight national upset.

Jacques Mynard, of the UMP party — the same party as President Nicolas Sarkozy — has urged France’s major TV networks to reconsider the choice of Sebastien Tellier’s song which combines both French and English lyrics. Mynard feels that a bilingual song does a bad job of representing the nation. “The French language is the tool of a huge industry in terms of cultural influence and if we French give up our language, what do you think the others will say?” said Mynar. This isn’t so surprising considering that earlier this year, Sarkozy himself asked for 100% French television broadcasts; when it comes to the French language, there is no kidding around.

Tellier however feels that he needs to use a combination of French and English to achieve his own artistic goals. “To explain the vision of French people of sexuality and of life and so, to be understood, I need to sing in English,” Tellier said. This will be the first time that France uses a non-French song as a Eurovision entry.

Countries that compete at Eurovision are free to sing in whatever language they choose. Sweden has a great way of getting around the language issue: for the contests leading up to the final decision of what song goes to Eurovision, the songs are sung in Swedish, but when the national winner goes on and competes at Eurovision, it is usually with with an English version. According to Eurovision, songs sung in English statistically have a better chance of winning. France will just have to decide whether it prefers to protect the language or have a better chance at coming home with the Eurovision title.

Knitting public art

by Jamie Rhein on

I don’t knit. I’ve tried, but even when I’ve attempted a scarf, it ends up weird shaped. Anna knits. She’s waxed poetic about it in a post about the pleasures of knitting and travel. Here’s another reason to grab some knitting needles and yarn.

While leafing through a back copy of Reader’s Digest at my in-laws this weekend, I saw a snippet on women in Houston, Texas who are turning their scraps of unfinished scarves and other knitted items into public art. They are wrapping park benches, fire hydrants, bike racks–anything that can use a bit of color and dressing up. The group is called Knitta and has been doing their thing since 2005.

They aren’t the only ones. Knitters in the Midwest are also prettying up the world with their craft. There’s a woman in Yellow Springs, Ohio, one of those incredibly artsy, literary towns that I adore, who has dressed a tree with help from others. With as gloomy as Ohio can look in the winter, what a great idea for making folks smile.

If you happen to pass by some knitted art, and you might–the women in Houston have knitted art in El Salvador, Paris and at the Great Wall of China– maybe you’ll get some inspiration to knit some art yourself.