Blog Masonry

Opinion: What's Wrong with Europe?

Mayor Claude Dilain sits on the edge of his chair in his community’s wedding banquet hall. His hands are folded on the table in front of him, and his face is a tortured reflection of the doubts and fears inside him.

For the past 10 years, Claude Dilain, 57, has been the mayor of Clichy-sous-Bois, a suburb in northeastern Paris with 28,100 inhabitants, mostly immigrants. Dilain calls it “a powder keg.” He slightly resembles the French author Michel Houellebecq, but today he is paler than even the author normally is. The strain of the last few nights is no doubt part of it. But so too is a growing suspicion — that the modern welfare state may be fully incapable of addressing some of his community’s most pressing problems.

French Government Tourist Office: Everything is being done to ensure that tourists coming to discover our country have a safe an

Tuesday, November 8, 2005

Everything is being done to ensure that tourists coming to discover our country have a safe and enjoyable stay.
The French Government Tourist Office would like to point out that no tourist areas were affected by the incidents and that tourists can visit France without concern.

French Government measures to re-establish order and calm in affected suburbs.

Several immediate measures have been announced on November 7, 2005 by the Prime Minister of France in response to recent events:

Riots: What travelers to France should do

Type quick news here!

Chirac calls emergency meeting of top ministers

Late last night rioters shot and injured 10 police officers, two seriously, when security forces confronted 200 stone-throwers. One officer was treated in hospital for shotgun wounds to the throat, and another for leg wounds. The gunmen were among crowds attacking police in Grigny, south of Paris.

 Rioting was once again widespread. Youths seized a bus in Saint-Etienne, in southern France, ordered passengers off, and torched the vehicle; its driver and one passenger were hurt, officials said. In Rouen, in the north, rioters pushed a burning car against a police building; nobody was hurt, police said. Cars were also burned in Nantes, Rennes and Orleans.

A tale of two cities

It takes only six stops on a sub urban train to travel from the
romantic heart of Paris and emerge in something more akin to the fall
of ancient Rome. By daylight Aulnay-sous-Bois, a northeastern suburb of
the great city, presents an orderly face to the world. The Hotel de
Ville, the town hall, is aglow with yellow dandelion displays and
trimmed borders of wild cabbage.

Provence tour builds appetite for fine French food

No one else in our little gaggle seems worried as we trudge up toward the Cafe de Sade. My mind spins with menu possibilities in a bistro named for the marquis and tucked in the shade of his ruined chateau.

But lunch is nothing more sinister than the Provencal specialty le soupe au pistou, vegetable soup made spicier and more garlicky with each spoonful of pesto we add.The is ringed by stuffed skunks and wild boar, with nary a torture device on view.

We’re in Lacoste, France, pausing at the midway mark in a Wayfarers walking tour of Provence. We’ve already tromped up the hillside to see the marquis’s castle, his 1770s base for kidnapping locals.

The Complete Guide To: Tahiti

SOUNDS EXOTIC

Yes – and the reality does not disappoint. Tahiti is synonymous with
images straight out of the brochures: glistening blue seas,
palm-fringed beaches and tropical tiare, or gardenia. You will
be met from the plane by groups of smiling Polynesians, wearing
garlands of flowers and singing songs of welcome – a far cry from the
usual European experience. And yet, despite being nearly 11,000 miles
away, Tahiti is an autonomous region of France, which explains the
Parisian-style cafés and supplies of French newspapers.