Elections
It seemed as though the election of the President of France lasted forever. Nicolas Sarkozy was campaigning unofficially in April 2005 when we arrived. I think he started campaigning the day he was born. He won and has put together a Cabinet of 15 Ministers (8 men and 7 women) from all parties. In France you do not have to be elected to be a Minister. Perhaps this is a good thing, since the choice is not limited. Also, you can be a Minister and hold other jobs. At the moment, Alain Juppé, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of the Environment, Ecology, Sustainable Development (with responsibility for Transportation) is also the Mayor of Bordeaux and he has no intention of relinquishing that post. The elections for members of the Assemblée Nationale are in June. First they elect the President, who appoints a Prime Minister, who names a Cabinet and then they have the general election. Neither the Prime Minister nor the Cabinet Ministers need to run for seats in the Assemblée Nationale but as a demonstration of their belief in Democracy, 12 of them actually are! This is a break from tradition. It is all very different from the Canadian system.
Another shocking break from tradition
It has been the practice for a new President to give amnesty to all outstanding speeding tickets and parking tickets. Our friends in the neighbourhood have been holding on to their “PVs” (or Proces verbale – that's what they call any kind of a ticket here) for months now, expecting that they could just throw them out. Surprise! Sarkozy is a law and order guy and he was elected under a promise of “Rupture” from the past. There will be no amnesty. This has been front-page news for several days and people are still going around shaking their heads in disbelief.
Dieppe
We visited Dieppe on the weekend. It is a small city of about 35,000 people on the Atlantic; a two hour drive from Paris. Once we arrived, it felt like it took two hours to find a parking place. They need to do something about that. Otherwise, we found it charming. We were there in time for the Saturday morning market held in the pedestrian streets. The best part though was the fish market on the wharf. The fish was straight off the boat and when Tim asked if they would fillet a sole, he was told politely that they were fisherman and not “poissonier”. So, we bought sole and bar (a kind of bass I think) at a fraction of the price we'd pay inland. We also bought all kinds of vegetables (the white asparagus is still in season), a huge head of fresh, purple garlic, which we were told to roast with parmesan. We did and it was great. Luckily, we planned for this shopping and had a cooler with us. It had frozen bottles of water in it because it is almost impossible to buy ice in France. It seems funny to me that they sell coolers but not ice.
We walked across a metal swing bridge built by Eiffel in the late 1800’s and had lunch in a fish restaurant (Le Mélie) overlooking the basin. It was amazing how many times the bridge swung open to let boats through. Considering how old the bridge is, it works very well.
We never made it to the beach or the cliffs that are on either side of Dieppe, although we did have a view of them. It really made you wonder why anyone thought that it was a good place for our Canadians to land on August 19, 1942. One thousand young men died that day. There is a small museum that we visited dedicated to that day. It is called, “Le Musée du 19 août 1942”. It is in an Italian style theatre. It has very deep boxes and is very ornate with gold gilding and beautiful carvings. However, this theatre is in dire need of restoration and will either be torn down or renovated. That made it all the more poignant. We sat on metal chairs on the main level (I think the other levels were unsafe) and watched a video on a small ancient television. The video told the story of what happened on that day. Men who survived told their stories. The rest of the museum (all in the same room) contained uniforms and other memorabilia. There was a copy of the Hamilton Spectator. It cost 2 cents. An older gentleman and a distinguished looking older lady, both very French, were on duty at the museum. They obviously have dedicated a good part of their lives to ensuring that the Canadian effort is not forgotten. The man remembered the day of the Canadian landing and took Tim around the room to point out some details. Amazing.
Céline
Céline Dion is coming to town…in May 2008 and there is advertising all over the place already. She has put out her first French album in nine years. I think she has a great voice but I am not a fan. I just mention it because I find it surprising that the advertising starts a year ahead of the event.
Paris events
They do some incredible things in Paris – like dumping tonnes of sand along the banks Seine every year and turning it into a beach (“Paris Plage”). Here is a new one:
For 10 days, beginning June 1, there will be an artificial lagoon at the bottom of the Eiffel Tower. The base of the tower will be in water, according to the report. There will be photos of fish on the bottom of the lagoon and the idea is that you can go scuba-diving and look at fish. The only catch is that you have to be 8 years old or under.
Bicycles
Beginning in June, Paris will have 20,600 rental bicycles at 1,451 bicycle stations. The system is designed to facilitate short trips. The idea is that you can pick up bike at one station and drop it off at another. There will be several stations near us. You pay a modest fee to join the service (5€ a week or 29€ a year) then the first half hour is free, and thereafter it costs 1€ per hour. I was surprised to read that there are 371 kms of bike paths in Paris.