1. Slow moving week? I can relate.
2. Tired of waking up in the dark? Check.
3. Does the idea of a market, especially a Parisian market, cheer me up? Most definitely.

Enjoy!

Reminiscing about our high school French teacher is a relatively popular hobby for myself and some of my dearest friends. Yet while we can remember seemingly endless tales about Madame, we can remember only the most rudimentary French expressions. That being said, somewhere between reading A Year in Provence and watching Greencard, I remember Madame mentioning the Carte Orange. A stranger to mass transportation myself, it wasn’t until I became a Parisian visitor that I understood the reverance in her voice when she mentioned this handy little card that can get you around the City of Lights.

I hope she’s working on a new lesson.

Here’s the scoop from David Lebovitz:

So what’s happening with the Carte Orange?

…They’re on their way outta here.The Carte Orange is a transit pass that allows you unlimited rides on transit within Paris (bus, métro, tram, and RER) for one week or one month. The only stipulation is that since they’re meant primarily for commuters, the weekly pass must begin on Monday morning and ends Sunday evening. And the weekly pass can only be purchased on Sunday, Monday, or Tuesday. (Long-term passes can be purchased, but you must have an address on the Ile-de-France.)

They’ve been sketchy about an exact date when the Carte Orange will be phased out completely, but now it’s part of the Navigo system so there’s no more ticket to pass through the machine; Navigo is an electronic ‘swipe’ card which uses a microchip.

Recently they’ve announced that yes, visitors will be able to buy weekly Navigo Découverte passes, which presently cost 16.30€ (plus 5€ for the cost of the reusable pass), and you must bring a photo. There’s photo machines in some of the métro stations, but I strongly urge guests to bring a stamp-sized photo from home where you’re presumably more sane (ie; not traveling) since the machines require correct change, may be confusing, and sometimes don’t work. (If you press the wrong button, you might get a 10-inch close up of your nostrils.) It doesn’t need to be passport-quality, so any snapshot will do.

Carnets of 10 tickets, as always, are also available at métro stations for 11.10€ and in Tabacs, and the new Ticket t+ allows you 1½ hours to transfer between buses, trams, or métros…although not between the bus and métro systems for some reason. Tickets sold onboard buses can’t be used for transfers, which are marked sans correspondance.

There’s a list of 1500 commerces agréés on their site where to buy a Navigo Découverte in Paris, but I can’t hyperlink to it so you’ll have to visit the RATP site and poke around. (The site is in French, although some information is available in English by clicking on the British flag.) The cards are also available at SNCF train stations and major métro stations manned by cashiers.

(Most of the métro stations have gone to electronic machines which take cash and some credit cards if they have a puce, or microchip, which replaced human cashiers. Larger métro stations, for the most part, still have cashiers to buy tickets and Navigo Découverte cards.)

You can also buy a Paris Visite card which costs substantially more but can start or begin on any day. They’re available in 1 (8.5€), 2 (14€), 3 (19€), and 5 (27.5€) denominations. The Paris Visite card offers discounts on various monuments, museums, and other attractions, plus 25% off the Bateaux Parisiens boat, so they’re not necessarily a bad deal. You can buy them online, in advance, from a third-party or during your stay.

“Tres bien fait, President Sarkozy! Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s) are no longer welcome in France. The U.S. may file a suit with the World Trade Organization or heavily tax French imports as a retaliative measure.”

Read more about this development here.

Meanwhile, Sarkozy’s 10-year-old son has been receiving death threats. Really? (AP)

Did I mention that Paris, Je T’aime is now available on DVD? It is. Go buy it. And afterwards you can ponder the upcoming sequel New York, I Love You, in which Scarlett Johansson will make her directorial debut. (MovieWeb)

Seeking a challenge? Over the whole high-speed Chunnel business? Sign up to cycle from London to Paris for a good cause. (The Citizen)

Find more exquisite shots here.

Some of the more interesting bits of “In Paris, Selling a Duplex”:

“Foreigners bought 7.9 percent of all the apartments sold in the city in 2006, according to the latest statistics available from the Paris Chamber of Notaries. Italians were the most frequent buyers, followed by Americans and the British, but in some arrondissements — including the touristy Fifth, Sixth and Seventh and the more serenely residential 16th, … Americans were the top buyers.”

“Mr. Hilton and Ms. Delgado [the couple selling the Paris duplex] have decided to move to Miami, where they have already bought an apartment. In the end, the couple said, they were disappointed by what they consider poor levels of service and an education system that they felt stifled creativity and did not provide positive reinforcement for their children, who are now 9 and 13.”  

Stifled creativity? An interesting complaint out of the city that has been home to a seemingly endless number of creative minds in history.

I don’t really know. But when the opportunity presents itself to pick up a copy, I usually turn instead to the novels or lighter non-fiction stacks. Philosophy and feminism without a professor holding my hand and tugging me along through the rough patches seems a wee bit intimidating.

Which brings me back to the reason I am a-twitter: An upcoming lectureat the Embassy of France titled “Simone de Beauvoir’s Existential Feminism” by Hazel Rowley. The title not enough to entice you? Well, there’s more.

About Hazel Rowley: “Born in London and educated in Europe and Australia, Hazel Rowleyhad the opportunity to interview Simone de Beauvoir in 1976. “Tête-à-Tête: Simone de Beauvoir and Jean-Paul Sartre” (Harper Collins, 2005), a Washington Post “Best Book,” has been translated into thirteen languages.” That’s right. She sat and chatted with la femme herself.

Description of the Lecture: “What is de Beauvoir’s philosophy about? How did it influence her life and her writing? Why does her thinking remain so profoundly relevant today?” This might be just the primer I need to convince me that 2008 really is The Year.

Cost: Absolutely free.

Strikes me as the perfect excuse for swinging by the French Embassy after work this month. The lecture will be held on January 23 at 6:30. The Embassy is located at 4101 Reservoir Road, NW. Please RSVP by sending your name, surname and the number of people in your party to culturel.washington-amba@diplomatie.gouv.fr only.

Need an escape from your cubicle existence or bland lunch from the local “deli”? Journey with npr.org to Paris’s oldest brasserie and transport yourself from a sneezing/coughing, entry level member of the working force to a diner at the elegant and unpretentious Bofinger.

Bofinger — 7, rue de la Bastille in Paris’ 11th arrondissement. Metro Bastille. Telephone: 33 (0) 1 42 72 87 82. Web site: http://www.bofingerparis.com/.