Blog Fullwidth
France demands strong mandate if it is to lead UN peacekeeping force
The UN was struggling last night to put together its peacekeeping mission for Lebanon, as France haggled over the mandate and rules of engagement of the force it has offered to lead.
Senior officials were meeting last night in New York to try to finalise the remit of the mission and identify military demands.
0 Read MoreA cycle of tragedy
David Witt, 57, was a former cyclist who introduced Landis to road racing – and to his wife Amber. He was found dead with a gunshot wound to the head and alone in his car at a parking garage in San Diego on Tuesday.
The death was yesterday ruled as suicide. What led Witt to taking his life is still unknown.
Witt and Landis, 30, were close friends. They roomed together when Landis moved from his Mennonite family home in Pennsylvania to California in 1998. They were also best men at each other’s wedding. Witt, who was in France with his wife to watch Landis win the Tour in July, had been upset by the American’s positive test for testosterone.
0 Read MoreNot lost in translation
After all, it may be that Jean-Luc Godard is not Korean. Lucky Koreans : if he had been, they would enjoy and understand him less.
This is the doom of French-speaking viewers, as they listen to Godard dialogues : because the words sound familiar, they think they can make sense of the sentences ; they fail and the more they fail, the more frustrated they grow.
In Korea and the whole non-French-speaking world, spectators run no such risk : as they listen to Godard, they hear the foreign language it is.
They do not try to grasp the words ; to their ears, this is music and how Godard should be appreciated.
0 Read MoreUSA was working with France on the Lebanon problem
It is nice to see the USA working with French authorities on a UN Resolution, even though France has backed out of that.
2 Read MoreLooking for a French girl
I am looking for an old girlfriend from France. Her name is Marie ? Claire Furio. She stayed in Limours, 34 Rue Moliere and she must be now 35-36 years old. I met her in Boppard Germany, where we learned German in the Goethe Institut. We used to write to each other for quite a period and now I would like to find her again. If anyone knows anything about her please send me a message. I am Thanos from Greece.
0 Read MoreWhere to go in France . . . but not Paris
Everyone goes to Paris. It’s a great first trip. It’s a beautiful city and I love it, but we love the rest of the country too.
Outside of Paris, where is your favorite place to visit in France?
. . . and why? Any particular time of year your favorite time there?
0 Read MoreWhere do you shop for French things?
Every time we get home from France, I want to buy something I saw there. My two favorite web sites for buying French "stuff" are:
http://www.fragonard.com/ (soaps, perfumes, household gifts)
http://www.frenchselections.com/ (foods, gifts, books, chocolates)
Where do you do your French shopping online?
0 Read MoreFloyd Landis wins the Tour de France
Landis was a key part of Armstrong’s US Postal (now Discovery Channel) team for three years before moving to Phonak.
“I’m proud and happy for Floyd,” said Armstrong, who watched the finish on TV from his hotel near the Champs-Elysées.
“He proved he was the strongest, when everybody wrote him off. I’m very proud that an American has won again.”
Armstrong joined his Discovery Channel team, of which he is a part-owner, at the beginning of last week before the Alpine stages.
Their highest finisher in his absence was Portuguese José Azevedo, 19th in the overall classification, 38 minutes adrift of Landis.
0 Read MoreNew tour of Marie-antoinette's estate at Versailles
Versailles is selling separate tickets to the Marie-Antoinette estate for $11.30 in addition to the general entrance fee of $10.
One highlight of the new Versailles ticket is entrance to a small but luxurious theater that the drama-loving queen had built. It has been open to visitors only sporadically.
Another feature is the English Garden, newly restored after the storms that devastated Versailles and much of Europe in December 1999. The Petit Trianon, a mini-chateau that Louis XVI offered Marie-Antoinette as a wedding present, is also part of the tour for the next few months, before the building closes in November for a renovation expected to last about two years.
0 Read MoreChirac oversees likely last Bastille Day
Jetfighters streaked above the famed Champs-Elysee Avenue on Friday, along with AWACS surveillance and a bevy of helicopters.
On the ground, soldiers in dress garb marched in formation, Leclerc tanks rumbled and horses strutted from the Arc de Triomphe to the Place de la Concorde, under the eye of France’s top civilian and military authorities.
The red trucks of the Paris firefighters also took part, drawing a huge applause from the crowd.
The army “has not lost its link with the nation,” Prime Minister Dominique de Villepin said later. “In these difficult times, it is an indispensable element of vigilance.”
Security was tight with Metro stations in the area closed off and police stationed along the avenue and on side streets.
0 Read MoreTravel Trade
Top Tours
Trip Planning