Comments on: Paris notes

By: orsi farkas

orsi farkas — Thu, 08 Jul 2004 12:51:15 +0000

Trash bins—again. Eszter, someone in the Paris city government must have been listening to you. A few days ago all the covers were removed from the trash bins in the metro.

By: eszter

eszter — Wed, 07 Jul 2004 02:39:45 +0000

What CTD said. John, sorry to hear that the 6 line closed in the meantime.. hopefully you got to experience some of it though. Another cool thing is sitting on one of the pedestrian bridges (e.g. next to Musee d’Orsay) and just looking into the distance at Notre Dame, watching rollerbladers go by and pondering life’s little questions.;)

By: David Brake

David Brake — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 23:29:02 +0000

If it helps think of the $5 soft drinks as $4 seat rental and $1 for the drink. But I do remember marvelling that a glass of coke costs more than a glass of wine at most Paris cafes.

By: Laszlo

Laszlo — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 22:09:21 +0000

Re: support for culture. If I may use an analogy (for the federalists in Europe): it is the national governments and not the Brussels one that are the main supporters of the arts in Europe. An apt comparison in the US are the states and local governments.
Second, there is a tradition (and current reality) of statism in France that, in part, has prevented the emergence of private philantropy at grand scale, at least compared to what exists in the US. Also this means the centralised bureacratic elite decides the priorities for the arts funding.
Third, the US does have the NEA. Funny to have ignored it in this forum.

By: Laszlo

Laszlo — Tue, 06 Jul 2004 22:08:34 +0000

By: CTD

CTD — Sun, 04 Jul 2004 19:02:47 +0000

Jim's comments about government funding of the arts in the United States miss the point. When you consider the size of the federal budget and the economic power of the United States, our arts sponsorship is decidedly anemic. For a full appraisal and how we might create a cabinet level Department of Culture, see the Ionarts proposal. I also have lots of recent posts on Paris-related topics at Ionarts. I'll be taking up where you left off, Eszter, since I arrive in Paris Tuesday morning, to do some research and see some art exhibits.

By: Jim Miller

Jim Miller — Sun, 04 Jul 2004 15:08:12 +0000

“. . . unlike in the U.S., government support for the arts is quite common in Europe” Was that intended as a joke? The US has many governments, and most of them support art in various ways. For instance, in my town, the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, there is public art all over, some donated, some paid for by the city. There was even, last year, a set of public sulptures from Europe in our parks (pretty terrible stuff, by the way). And, of course, for decades, the tax system has provided massive subsidies for the arts.

By: John Quiggin

John Quiggin — Sat, 03 Jul 2004 11:40:36 +0000

Having just checked out Eszter’s Ligne 6 tip, I have to supply a warning. Just between Eszter’s departure and my arrival, the Metro closed the section running from Place d’Italie to Raspail, which includes at least some of the above-ground section. It will reopen at the end of August. I’ll also add my recommendation for the exhibition at the Jardin de Luxemburg. Finally, I can’t think of a better word than “cool” for sitting on a sunny June day in a tabac in La Place de la Sorbonne offering cafe+WiFi for 2.15 euros, which is what I’m doing right now. “Neat” just doesn’t cut it.

By: amusedfrog

amusedfrog — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 19:46:38 +0000

“Photo exhibit on fence of Jardin de Luxembourg… I don’t know if they use this space for photo exhibits at other times, it is certainly a neat idea.” Yes they do. I think it started some years ago with a hugely popular exhibit of photos taken from the air by Yann Arthus-Bertrand.

By: Matthew2

Matthew2 — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 11:28:30 +0000

Oh yes, never order soft drinks from Parisian cafes if you can help it. Have a “cafe” (still expensive but heavenly) or a wine/beer. Otherwise just get a can! And yes I can also recommend La Fete de La Musique, perfect.

By: eszter

eszter — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 06:13:10 +0000

I did mean Euro cents. And it occured to me that it may have been some conversion issue, but seriously, I think everyone would happily pay the extra 9c especially if it meant getting to the toilets quicker. As for the trash, it certainly doesn’t help that instead of using reusable tokens the system is based on little paper tickets.

By: KCinDC

KCinDC — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 03:51:45 +0000

0.41 EUR would be 2.69 FRF, so euro conversion doesn’t explain the odd number. The removal of trashcans from the Metro in Washington, DC, so far hasn’t led to piles of trash. One thing that helps is that people aren’t allowed to eat, drink, or smoke in the Metro system.

By: schwa

schwa — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 01:26:00 +0000

The mysterious 0,41€ (and I assume you did mean euro cents, not dollar cents) sounds to me like the sort of thing that would’ve been caused by taking the moaning about price-hikes during the changeover from francs to euro a little too seriously.

By: Kevin Donoghue

Kevin Donoghue — Fri, 02 Jul 2004 00:04:07 +0000

I think photo exhibits are a regular feature of the Lux gardens. The electronic tags reminds me of something that surprised me about France: the French are very partial to novelties of that sort. I second Jonathan’s comment about the resemblance to NYC in the 80s – but then I haven’t been to NYC since the 80s.

By: q

Thu, 01 Jul 2004 23:49:51 +0000

Non-elitist? cool … agreable / peachy / intoxicating not cool … disagreable / unsavoury / jarring