Sightseeing Paris by Vélib

In 2010 I finally got my subscription to the Paris Vélib and renewed it this year increasing my free ride from 30 to 45 minutes. This has been a very welcome change as I frequently was caught out by cycling for 25 minutes then trying to find a "station". Now I can be more organized. I have the 45 minutes and at 30 minutes I begin to think of looking to park the bicycle.

Another big advantage is that I can go for longer distances instead of the short hops in central Paris. I have started to go to different parts of Paris away from the center. Montmartre is only 32 minutes from BHV!!

Another good tip is to have a Paris map with all the Vélib stations indicated. This saves an enormous amount of time and indeed stress in trying to find one particularly when a station can be full and you have look around an unfamiliar quartier for another.

Returning after a gap

It certainly has been a long time since I created a new posting on my blog. It is time to re-familiarize myself with my blog and see about writing new posts.

800 Page Views Milestone

Introduction
Another milestone has been passed during the month of February as I reached more than 800 page views. This was an increase from 500 in December. This has come about despite the fact that I have done absolutely no advertising or even told my friends.

Adding new posts has been, frankly, haphazard and non-existent. I must get back into the habit of posting new content. In my defense I started a new job in January and I have been more focused on that. But that is no real excuse. However, it hasn’t stopped me thinking of topics to post so, at least, I have loads of ideas germinating in my head.

Visitors Since the creation of SimonsParis Blog there have been 824 page views coming from France (397), United States (243), United Arab Emirates (24), Germany (24), Russia (22), Singapore (18), Slovenia (12), Croatia (11), Canada (9), ran (8), and other (57).

Top page views
These are the most popular postings that are visited. Not a lot has changed since my last statistics report at the end of October. I have not added that many new postings but I’ll be doing so in the near future.

• 2010 Films Seen at the Cinema
• Celebrities Annoying the French
• Restaurants in Paris
• List of interesting people
• Les Marronniers
• Seen Films in these Cinemas

Technology used by visitors
I have been interested in the technology that is being used to view my SimonsParis Blog. Visitors are overwhelming using the Internet Explorer browser (73%) followed by Firefox (16%), Safari (5%), Opera (2%), Chrome (1%), Jakarta Common – Http Client (1%), Java (<1%),>

Leave a message
If you are visiting my SimonsParis Blog for the first time, I thank you for arriving here.
Do leave a message if you would like to make a comment or suggestion.

With best regards,
Simon Paris

SimonsParis Calendar

Paris is such a rich place in many ways in terms of interesting locations and streets, museums, pubs, music, dance, exhibitions…….The list is endless. And they don't have to cost an arm and a leg. You can get great enjoyment that is not very expensive or even free!

It can be easy to forget about fully experiencing them when living here. I certainly feel that I am not going to enough of them. So, one of my resolutions for 2011 is to do better future planning. I’ll start to add my list of activities that I’ll do in the coming weeks and months.

Sunday, January 16

Mass at 11.30 am welcoming the new Irish Chaplain Fr Sean Maher attended by members of the Irish community in Paris, and the Irish Ambassador HE Paul Kavanagh and is wife Rosemary.

Irish Cultural Centre
5, rue des Irlandais
75005 Paris

Website: http://parisgaels.celeonet.fr/chaplaincy
Website : http://www.centreculturelirlandais.com
Facebook: Les Amis de la Chapelle St Patrick

Métro: Cardinal Lemoine (line 10)
RER: Luxembourg

Saturday, January 15

Birthday party for a friend held in Café de la Plage, a café / bar / concert venue on two levels. There is a DJ or live music most evenings and a dancing area downstairs in the cave. On this evening the DJ is Funky Size and the music funk / soul.

Le Café de la Plage
59, rue de Charonne
75011 Paris
01 43 38 48 19

Website: http://www.laplage-lecafe.com/blog/

Métro: Ledru Rollin, Charonne

Tuesday, January 11

Andromaque is a tragedy in five acts written in 1667 by the French playwright Jean Racine. It was first performed before the court of Louis XIV in the Louvre attended by Queen Marie Thérèse. It was the third play by Racine and this performance established his career.

Comédie-Française
Place Colette
75001 Paris
E-mail : informations@comedie-francaise.org
Website: http://www.comedie-francaise.fr/

Métro: Palais Royal-Musée du Louvre

More details about the play:

Andromaque on Wikipedia in French
Andromaque on Wikipedia in English

Sunday, January 2

The first Sunday of each month is free entry to public museums in Paris so I might take advantage of this and go to the Musée du Quai Branly. Compared to most large museums in Paris the Musée du Quai Branly is more recent. It opened in 2006 and features art, cultures, and civilizations from Africa, Asia, Oceania, and the Americas.

It is open on Sundays from 11h00 to 19h00.

Musée du Quai Branly
37, quai Branly Portail Debilly
75007 Paris
01 56 61 70 00
E-mail : contact@quaibranly.fr
Web site : http://www.quaibranly.fr/

Métro : Alma Marceau (Line 9), Iéna (Line 9), Bir Hakeim (Line 6)
RER : Pont de l'Alma
Bus : 42, 63, 80, 92

Friday, December 31

Hogmanay Party in the Scottish Auld Alliance Pub from 15h00 to 02h00 on Friday, December 31, 2010. This could be a fun evening. I might pop in to see what is happening. I must remember the words of Auld Lang Syne!!

I typically go to The Auld Alliance when I want to see rugby and football matches, bring visiting friends and to have a fry up breakfast at the weekend!

80, rue François Miron
75004 Paris
01 48 04 30 40
E-mail: davidhamilton99@hotmail.com
Web site: http://www.theauldalliance.com/

Métro: St Paul (Line 1) or Pont Marie (Line 7)

2011 Films Seen at the Cinema

These are the films (with original titles) that I have seen at the cinema in 2011. The summaries are from Wikipedia in both English and French or another original language if appropriate.

I have seen 2 movies in January.

January 2, 2011
Libre Echange

January 2, 2011
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Wikipedia English
Harry Potter et les Reliques de la Mort Wikipedia Français

See the list of films that I saw in 2010 (58) and 2009 (42).

Celebrating New Year in France

The New Year of 2011 has begun relatively peacefully here in France. At these moments of national celebrations and huge gatherings of people there are potentially huge risks. These can range from people being drunk on the streets and creating a disturbance to more serious offences such as theft, violence, burning of cars, and riots to even terrorist attacks.

The authorities took no chances. There were 53,820 police, gendarmes and the military mobilized for the Réveillon de la Saint-Sylvestre (or New Year’s Eve) with 8,060 in Paris alone. This was a significant increase from the normal 45,000. In addition, there were 2,200 pompiers (firefighters) on hand in case there was a need to extinguish fires.

According to the Ministry of the Interior it was a night without major incident. There was a slight increase in the number of incidents to 501 during the night compared to 405 in 2010. And Europe 1 reported that 117 cars had been set alight in the four departments that comprise the Paris area.

The Minister of the Interior Brice Hortefeux kept a very close eye on the situation by spending the early part of Friday evening on the Champs-Elysées before going to the Préfecture de Police to monitor the screens in the operational room. He also went to Lyon and Nantes stating that security was a national issue and had to be maintained throughout France.

People celebrated in different ways. They gathered in the evening with family or friends for a feast that included special dishes like foie gras and oysters with drinks like bottles of champagne. There were also parties held in pubs and clubs plus gatherings in popular national locations such as the Champs-Elysées and Champs de Mars under Tour Eiffel. At midnight everyone traditionally says Bonne Année and proceeds to hug and kiss those nearby!!

Saint-Sylvestre is also the time when the President of the French Republic broadcasts his presidential wishes from the Elysée Palace (see YouTube in French for 2011) on the major TV channels at 8pm in the evening.

On the Jour de l’An friends and family exchanged New Year’s resolutions, kisses and wishes. A new record was set this year with 370 million text messages exchanged during the night. Usually people say Bonne Année, Bonne Santé, Bon Amour, Bon Argent. During the month of January people will continue to exchange best wishes. Kissing on the cheeks will be very popular during the month when seeing a family member, friend, colleague or acquaintance. People will also be sending cards, presents, and e-cards.

The Galette des Rois - a cake which is made of a flat and flaky puff pastry - celebrates the Epiphany (The Twelfth Night) and the visit of the Wise Men. It is traditionally sold and consumed in the days after this date. The cake can contain a feve or small china character. Whoever finds it becomes the king or queen and gets to wear a gold paper crown, then chooses a partner.

The Galette des Rois can also be consumed during the month of January at family events, office gatherings and official occasions served suitably with a glass of champagne.

So, the New Year here in France can be a month long celebration and everyone full of hopeful joy!!

Celebrities Annoying the French

Which personality annoys the French people the most? Or to put it more crudely which of these “faces need a slapping” or “les têtes à claques de l’année” in French. This was the question posed by an online survey carried out by Harris Interactive for VSD – the weekly French magazine.

The results of the survey were published on Thursday, December 30 in the last edition of the VSD magazine for the year. The survey had been carried out between December 18 and 20, 2010 covering a number of different categories: sport, show business, politics, television and couples. There were 1,713 respondents, aged over 18-years-old and who apparently represented a cross section of the French population.

Sport

Two sports personalities topped the list. Franck Ribéry (68%) is a French footballer playing in Germany but during 2010 he had been in the news for other reasons as he was implicated in the “Zahia Affair” that involved underage sex with prostitutes. Raymond Domench also came top at 68%. He was coach of the French football team which had a humiliating time at the World Cup in South Africa. The team went in revolt and they were kicked out early. Other footballers also featured including Karim Benzema (39%), Thierry Henry (36%) and surprisingly Zinédine Zidane (31%). Another surprise for me was Tony Parker (25%) but this could be explained by allegations of extra marital sex and divorce proceedings. Tennis players Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Richard Gasquet feature as well as swimmer Alain Bernard.

1. Franck Ribéry 68 %
2. Raymond Domenech 68 %
3. Nicolas Anelka 64 %
4. Karim Benzema 39 %
5. Thierry Henry 36 %
6. Zinédine Zidane 31 %
7. Tony Parker 25 %
8. Jo-Wilfried Tsonga 16 %
9. Richard Gasquet 14 %
10. Alain Bernard 9 %

Politics

In the politics domain former and future presidential candidate Ségolène Royal tops the list at 73%. Immediately the results were strongly questioned by her camp. The Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux (70%) and a close friend of President Sarkozy has been having some difficulties during 2010 particularly around the expulsion of the Roma. Marine Le Pen (64%) is likely to win the election to take over from her father as leader of the National Front party. Surprisingly Nicolas Sarkozy came fourth at 63%. Other personalities from both left and right of the political spectrum also featured.

1. Ségolène Royal 73%
2. Brice Hortefeux 70%
3. Marine Le Pen 64%
4. Nicolas Sarkozy 63%
5. Martine Aubry 54%
6. François Bayrou 52%
7. Jean-François Copé 47%
8. Jean-Luc Mélenchon 46%
9. François Fillon 39%
10. Cécile Duflot 34%
11. Dominique Strauss-Kahn 30%

Show Business

The wife of the president, Carla Bruni-Sarkozy, annoys the respondents the most in the show business category. Not only is she the First Lady but she continues her music career and humanitarian activities. I was surprised to see actors Alain Delon and Gérard Depardieu in the top ten as they are usually considered living legends. Former footballer Eric Cantona, who now considers himself as an actor, annoyed the government, banks and the general population by urging people to take their money out of their accounts. Authors Frédéric Beigbeder (39%) and Michel Houellebecq (31%) are also featuring. Stéphane Guillon is a comedian; Christophe Maé and Grégoire are singers; and Sophie Marceau is an actress.

1. Carla Bruni-Sarkozy 52%
2. Alain Delon 47%
3. Gérard Depardieu 46%
4. Eric Cantona 40%
5. Frédéric Beigbeder 39%
6. Michel Houellebecq 31%
7. Stéphane Guillon 28%
8. Christophe Maé 29%
9. Grégoire 18%
10. Sophie Marceau 14%

Television

Benjamin Castaldi, presenter of Secret Story, seems to annoy respondents the most followed by his fellow presenters Arthur (60%), Nikos Aliagas (55%), Jean-Luc Delarue (52%), Laurence Ferrari (38%) and Daniela Lumbroso (38%). Each of these presenters are seen by millions of viewers each week.

1. Benjamin Castaldi 61%
2. Arthur 60%
3. Nikos Aliagas 55%
4. Jean-Luc Delarue 52%
5. Thierry Ardisson 47%
6. Laurence Ferrari 38%
7. Daniela Lumbroso 38%
8. David Pujadas 20%
9. Michel Denisot 14%
10. Christophe Hondelatte 14%
11. Frédéric Lopez 9%
12. Alessandra Sublet 9%

Celebrity Couples

Bernard Henri-Lévy (commentator, journalist and philosopher) and Arielle (his glamorous showbiz wife) seem to annoy the respondents the most at 54% followed by the ageing rocker Johnny Hallyday and his wife Laeticia at 50%. Both of these couples seem to be everywhere in the celebrity people magazines and websites. Bernard Kouchner is the former Foreign Minister and his partner is Christine Ockrent who is former TV news presenter and is now the Director General of Audiovisuel Extérieur de la France.

1. Bernard Henri-Lévy and Arielle Dombasle 54%
2. Johnny Hallyday and Laetitia Hallyday 50%
3. Bernard Kouchner and Christine Ockrent 35%
4. Eric Naulleau and Eric Zemmour 32%
5. Jamel Debbouze and Mélissa Theuriau 29%
6. Pierre Sied and Sophie Davant 12%
7. Jean Dujardin and Alexandra Lamy 10%
8. Guillaume Canet and Marion Cotillard 10%
9. Vincent Cassel and Monica Bellucci 10%
10. Johnny Depp and Vanessa Paradis 9%
11. Yvan Attal and Charlotte Gainsbourg 8%

The full details (in French) are published on the Harris Interactive website.