Faber and Faber Creative Writing Course Paris

Paris has always attracted a large number of expatriate writers. Gertrude Stein Ernest Hemmingway, Paul Auster Richard Wright, James Baldwin, Samuel Beckett to name but a few have headed for the French capital in search of cultural enrichment and literary inspiration .

In my time here in Paris I have met so many aspiring writers eager to ply their trade that it seems that you can’t swing a baguette without knocking off a pair wire rimmed spectacles.

If you do have literary pretensions then there are many opportunities to read your work and share you experiences with other writers here in Paris. You could, for example, attend the open mic poetry and writing evenings at Spoken Word.

Even if you don’t live in Paris but you are serious about your writing you might like to make a special trip for the Inaugural Faber Academy Creative Writing Course (Thursday 9 October to Sunday 12 October 2008). An intensive 4 day course with tuition from Tobias Hill and Jeanette Winterson and taking place at Shakespeare’s bookshop.

Find out more details on Faber’s splendid new-look website www.faber.co.uk

Autolib Paris

Warning Idiot
Originally uploaded by malias.

Hot on the heels of the velib bike rental scheme in Paris. The mayor of Paris Bertrand Delanoë. has produced a new scheme to provide electric cars that can be picked up and deposited anywhere in the city and the outskirts..

The Autolib system as it is to be called will begin its operation at the end of 2009 and will involve 4000 carbon neutral electric cars when you pick up the car a computer will let you know of an available parking space at your destination. Some of the the details of the scheme are yet to be decided such as how much it will cost. One report says that the price will be around €200-€250 per month for around 60 miles of driving.

The reaction to the Autolib proposal has been mixed. On the one hand, the system is aimed to reduce still further the need for an individual or a family to own its own car in Paris. However, some, including the Green party, are more sceptical arguing that a car is still a car no matter how green it seems and people should be encouraged to use the Metro, buses and bicycles without clogging up the streets of Paris with yet more vehicles.

La Tour Saint-Jacques Paris

One of Paris' outstanding monuments has finally become visible after many years hidden from public view. The Tour Saint-Jacques (96, Rue Rivoli 75004 Paris Metro Chatelet) has been shrouded in scaffolding for the last 7 years for restoration before finally being revealed in all its former splendour on the 10th July. The tower is in the neo gothic style and is all that remains of the Saint-Jacques-la-Boucherie church that was built between 1509 to 1523. The church was paid for by the wealthy butcher wholesalers from the nearby Chatelet market.

The total cost of the restoration is around 8.3 million Euros. Once the work is complete there will be access the possibility of climbing to the top of the tower to enjoy a spectacular view.

Happy Birthday Velib

On the 15th July it will be one year since the Velib , the public bicycle renting system, was introduced in Paris. On the whole it's been a fantastic success and with oil prices soaring I can only see its popularity increasing.

Inevitably there have been a few teething problems but I think these will soon be overcome. Long may it continue.

Toilets in Paris

I stepped off the train at Gare St Lazare on my first trip to Paris back in the spring of 1988. Armed with a few clothes, a pocket full of curiosity but little money, I trudged glary-eyed around the city taking in its splendour.

I wandered aimlessly for hours, when it started to get dark I sought out a hotel that wouldn't break my meagre budget. I found one near Jaures which would settle for my first night in town. The matchbox sized room contained little more than a small bed a rickety table and sink. After dumping my stuff there the landlady led me through the hotel, to show me the bathroom facilities.

She opened a door, I peaked in and saw an enamel plate on the floor with a fist sized hole in the centre of it. It was of course a squat toilet but I'd never seen one before in fact I didn't even know they existed. I was baffled and at a loss what too make of it. I knew virtually no French, I fished out the dictionary from my jacket and, hastily seeking an explanation I constructed the phrase. mais.........il est vide! (it's empty!) Now it was the landlady's turn to look confused.

20 years ago squat toilets were a common sight. These days in Paris there are very few, the throne version being the norm. However, you can still sometimes find them in old cafes that haven't undergone renovation. So you can seek them out if that's your thing.

The Ramblas of Paris

This is a picture of Boulevard de Ménilmontant in the 11th and 20th arrondissement of Paris. Some people call this street (with just a hint of hyperbole) the Ramblas of Paris. It's one of the few streets in Paris which has 3 wide pavements, (one on each side of the road and one in the middle) is lined with trees and has cafes spilling out onto the street for the whole length of the road (in the summer at least). Take the Metro to Pere Lachaise and walk to metro Menilmontant and you'll see what I mean.

It's true it lacks some of the qualities of the original Ramblas in Barcelona, it's not as elegant or fashionable, it doesn't have all round good weather and it's nowhere near the ocean. Nevertheless, it's definitely an area of Paris worth exploring it has a lot of good cafes and restaurants and while you're in the neighbourhood you can also take a stroll around Pere Lachaise cemetry.

Annoying Ad (Part deux)

The European Championships start this week so no doubt your man will be spending a lot of time in front of the television watching football and getting wasted on cheap supermarket larger (dah! those men) but fret not ladies you can still play your part by keeping the house spic and span cleaning up with one of our new range of vacuum cleaners or making him a delicious ice cream with an ice cream maker from our store.

Does that sound strange? Well that's more or less what the new advertising campaign for Rue du commerce is saying with their "pendant qu'il regarde le foot" (while he's watching the match) currently on posters throughout the Paris Metro. It's 2008 isn't it about time we knocked these annoying ads full of dumb stereotypes from a bygone era into touch?

Fetes des Voisins Paris

Headless Accordion Man
Originally uploaded by malias.

Do you live in an apartment block? Do you recognize the people in building but, apart from an amicable bonjour or a perfunctory nod, you have no contact with them. The old lady with the annoying little dogs, the man in the suit with the goatee beard, the young couple upstairs who play their music too loud. Would you like to meet these people and get to know who they really are? Have a drink together and share a glass of vin rouge? No? Not particularly? Well that's too bad because today you have that chance.

It's the Fetes des Voisins your chance to meet your neighbours (and perhaps get a few things off your chest). They claim that 5 million people will take part in France this year and another 2 million in 700 other European cities including Paris, Berlin, Dublin, Rome, Luxembourg, Birmingham, Porto and Ljubljana.

Could be great, could be terrible I guess it depends what your neighbours are like.

Mahatma Gandhi in Adecco Ad

Here, spotted on a Paris street, is Mahatma Gandhi, Indian spiritual leader and revered pioneer of the non violence resistance movement being used in an advertisement by Adecco, the employment agency (or "human resource solutions" company as they prefer to call themselves these days).

This is an outrageous abuse of the great man's image. It seems incredible that his image has been used to further the profits of a multi-national corporation. What next "The Dalai Lama wears Kalvin Klein underwear", "Martin Luther King drinks, Nespresso"? I don't know how these companies get hold of the image rights but I wish they would stop. It's extremely annoying and disrespectful.

Horse Meat in Paris

If a man eats a cow a pig or a sheep then why not a horse? But when Gordon Ramsay offered samples of horse meat to passers by on his TV programme there were gasps of horror throughout the kingdom culminating in demonstrators dumping piles of equine manure outside his London Claridges Restaurant.

This taboo against horse meat exists in the UK and the US but not in France.

In France horse meat was until recently sold exclusively in boucheries chevalines, it was forbidden for ordinary butchers to sell it but the government relaxed regulations in the 1990s and now you can even find it in supermarkets.

Nevertheless, the boucheries chevalines are still a common sight in the quartier. I can think of a least 5 within 20 minutes walk of my apartment in the 11^th arrondissement of Paris. They’re easy to spot; many will have will have figures of horses heads (what else?) hanging above the premises (photo is of Au cheval du Marais, Paris 75004). In fact, sales of horse meat are actually increasing in France.

The meat is tasty and it’s high in protein and low in fat (50 per cent leaner than beef). It is even prescribed by French doctors as treatment for anaemia. So it’s not surprising that super chefs such as Gordon Ramsay are urging us to overcome our sentimentality and give it a go.

Although horse meat has become chic amongst trendy Parisians I can’t see it talking off in a culture like the Britain’s, so steeped in equestrian nostalgia. We grew up with Black Beauty and Cheltenham races and we drink beer in the Nag’s Head but if you’re paying a visit to Paris then you’ll have ample opportunity to have a give it a try.

The Picture of Durian Gray

The Picture of Durian Gray
Originally uploaded by malias.

The Durian season is here, if you're around the Asian districts of Belleville or the 13th arrodissement in Paris then you can find this smelly yet delicous fruit (In Asia it's referred to as "The king of fruit") at a Chinese superrmarket. They're kind of expensive but sometimes you've got to push the boat out.

It's a good time to eat the fruit and a good time for terrible puns too.

La Nuit de Musees

Saturday 17th May 2008 is la nuit de musees (night of Museums). This is a 24 hour event mainly in France but several other European countries are taking part where the museums are open late into the night. Entry is free and many museums are putting on guided tours and special events just for the occasion. One such event is a video projection in the gardens of the Rodin museum but there are many to choose from.

In Paris and the Ile de France area 133 museums and galleries are taking part. Full details found on the website nuitdesmusees.culture.fr/

So if the bars are noisy and smell on Saturday night make your excuses and go feast your eyes on a Renoir or a Da Vinci. It's never too late for a bit of culture.