Paris Quick Takes
Paris Kiosque - February 1997 - Volume 4, Number 2
Copyright (c) 1997 Harriet Welty-Rochefort - Used with permission.
Pollution isn't really all that new, unfortunately, but it hit record levels in
January. Airparif, the organization responsible for surveying the cleanliness of
the air, recommended that people with asthma, young children and old people "avoid all
outdoor exercise necessitating an unusual and sustained physical effort" (in other words,
stay inside!) The French Minister of the Environment is fighting an uphill battle to do
like the Romans do when pollution becomes dangerous, and force Parisians to alternate their
driving days in accordance with their license plate number.
Pollution may be up, but criminality in France is down by a whopping 10 % from two
years ago, according to latest statistics.
The director of Paris-Match was sentenced to a fine of 100,000 FF ($18,000) for publishing
photos of the corpse of former French President Frangois Mitterrand who died at his home a
year ago in January 1996. Meanwhile, the Mitterrand craze continues. One memoir reports that
the late French president feasted on "ortolans", a miniscule bird which is a rare delicacy,
at his last New Year's Eve supper. Might as well go out in style.
Is it terrorist attacks or strikes or both? The French daily Le Monde reports that
after a "high" period for French museums in 1993 with eleven million visitors to the Louvre,
Versailles, Orsay, and the Modern Art Museum alone and 46 million visitors in all for the
1100 museums in France, museum attendance this year has diminished. But not to worry:
The Louvre is going all out to attract the people who generally don't get to museums and the
Association of Friends of the Louvre has seen its membership shoot up from 18,000 to 60,000.
Not to miss: the Cafi Marly right in front of the Pyramid - the coffee is dear but the view
is unparalleled. In the French provinces, the Musie d'Unterlinden in the pretty Alsatian
town of Colmar continues to attract the most visitors, all due to its star attraction:
the 16th century retable of Issenheim. A must.
French President Jacques Chirac has come to the rescue of French bakers - and the uniquely
French institution of the baguette. Under a January 1 decree, a bakery shop can only be called
a boulangerie if the bread is made - not warmed up from a frozen product - on the premises.
As a result, some 5000 shops have had to take down their boulangerie signs.
A recent ad in the Paris-based International Herald Tribune took the German government to
task for its ostracism of Scientologists and compared present-day Germans to Nazis. Signed
by such prominent non-Scientologist actors as Dustin Hoffmann and Goldie Hawn and talk show
host Larry King, the three-quarter page $56,000 ad provoked a bevy of outraged letters to
the editor -- largely in favor of the Germans. One reader wrote: "The arrogance and self-righteousness
of the advertisement's authors were surpassed only by their ignorance."
The Church of Scientology, meanwhile, has just ended an ad campaign in the
International Herald Tribune . The campaign, which started in October, consisted of
twenty-one three-quarter page testimonials. Thanks to these edifying notices, the Trib's
readers can't say they don't know that those who have adopted Scientology have "achieved
lasting happiness, increased intelligence and genuine spiritual freedom." What price happiness?
Speaking of the International Herald Tribune, a veritable Parisian institution,
rumor hath it that it may move its headquarters out of France.
Harriet Welty-Rochefort, a bona fide Midwesterner from
Iowa, visited Paris for the first time while in
college. She became so completely enamored of
France that she stayed - and has been there ever since.
Married to a Frenchman and the mother of two
Franco-American boys, Harriet Welty-Rochefort writes
on business, lifestyle and travel for major U.S.
publications. Her forthcoming book -
French Toast - is a lighthearted look at
French manners and mores.
It is also possible place pre-publication
orders for signed
limited edition copies.
She can be contacted at
101676.467@compuserve.com.
