Jacques Brel (April 8, 1929 – October 9, 1978) was a Belgian author-composer with such a strong power of expression in his lyrics that he has been considered a poet as well. He also had some minor activity as an actor and director. He was born in Schaerbeek, Belgium, a small city north of Brussels.
0 Read MoreGeneral Charles-André-Joseph-Marie de Gaulle (November 22, 1890 – November 9, 1970) was a French soldier and politician. He was the leader of the Free French Forces in World War II and head of the provisional government in 1944-46. Called to form a government in 1958, he inspired a new constitution1 and was the Fifth Republic’s first president from 1958 to 1969.
General Charles de Gaulle of France
Table of contents [showhide]Â
1 1912-1940: Military career
2 1940-1945: The Free French Forces
3 1946-1958: The desert crossing
4 1958: The collapse of the Fourth Republic
5 1958-1969 The Fifth Republic
6 1969 The retirement
7 Retrospect
8 Footnote
9 Works
0 Read MoreDoctors, nurses and other health professionals have taken to the streets of Paris to protest against government plans to cut back on a health service which has a projected overspend this year of eight billion pounds. The other day, an American friend, recently returned to live again in Paris, e-mailed from her sick bed.
“This is why I like France,” she wrote. “I have bronchitis and the doctor has just been to see me in my own home.
“He stayed long enough to examine me thoroughly and carefully, prescribe some drugs, drink two vodkas, eat pistachios by the fistful, and then chat about his days as a young doctor on an ashram in India. And all paid for by the state!”
0 Read MorePARIS: Two days before the arrival of President Hu Jintao on a state visit, France is affording China a rare honour when it opens up the Champs Elysees in Paris for a traditional dragon-and-drums new year parade.
0 Read MoreHistory
La Marseillaise is a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle on April 24, 1792. Its original name is Chant de marche de l’Armée du Rhin (Marching song of the Rhine Army). It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and was so-called because it was first sung on the streets by troops from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris.
La Marseillaise was rearranged by Hector Berlioz around 1830.
In 1917, after the collapse of the tsarist regim La Marseillaise became the national anthem of Russia, the Russian lyrics being very different from the French lyrics. It was soon replaced with The International by the Bolsheviks.
1 Read MoreThe duties would grow by 1 percent each month through the end of the year unless the United States complies with World Trade Organization rulings against the measures.
Legislation to eliminate the tax breaks and provide new measures aimed primarily at helping U.S. manufacturers has advanced in the House of Representatives and the Senate.
But it may not be possible for Congress to approve a final bill in the next month.
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The national flag of France, more commonly known as the Tricolore (Tricolour), features three equal vertical bands coloured blue (hoist side), white and red. It first appeared during the French Revolution and was a combination of the colours of the coat of arms of Paris (red and blue) and the royal colour (white), with the combination often being credited to the Marquis de Lafayette.
1 Read MoreI have found a French man who loves me very much and I think I like me also but I’m an Asian girl… I don’t know how be with him… Can somebody advise me, thanks.
Brgds
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Marie-Henri Beyle (January 23, 1783 – March 23, 1842), better known as Stendhal, was a 19th century French writer.
Born in Grenoble, France, he had a miserable childhood in stifling provincial France but blossomed in the military and theatrical worlds of the First French Empire. He travelled extensively in Germany and visited Russia (as part of Napoleon’s army), but formed a particular attachment to Italy, where he spent much of the remainder of his career, serving as French consul and writing.
0 Read MoreCalling the French a proud people with “strong views,” U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell admitted France has annoyed him at times — and he has been just as annoying to them.
“They have been with us through thick and thin. They were with us when we fought for our independence 229 years ago. But we have had disagreements with the French,” he told Philadelphia’s WPHT radio on Wednesday.
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