How about a free museum? In order to promote French culture (like it needs promotion…), the French Ministry of Culture and Communication has decided to make a few of its museums free of charge for six months.

From January 1 - June 30, 2008, these Paris museums will be free of charge (for permanent collections only):
The musée Guimet
The musée de Cluny
The musée des Arts et métiers
The musée des Antiquités nationales de Saint-Germain-en-Laye
The musée national de la Renaissance d’Ecouen
le musée de l’Air et de l’Espace du Bourget

During the same time period, anyone 18 -26 will have free access to some larger museums in Paris, on certain days of the week and only from 6 p.m. - 9 p.m.:

Wednesday: The musée national d’Art moderne, centre Georges Pompidou
Thursday: The musée d’Orsay
Friday: The Louvre
Saturday: The musée du quai Branly

Since the early 20th century, there has been a law in France that all non-food shops must close on Sundays, leaving time for family, leisure and prayer. Sarkozy, wanting to jump-start his lagging economy, would like to do away with that law and make it so people can shop on one of their two days off each week. There are pros (it lets people earn money, lets people get errands done on Sunday) and cons (the mom n pop shops might suffer, the consumerism society might take over) to the issue.
Here’s the article.
I recall life in France, I didn’t really mind that shops were closed on Sundays. I thought it was kind of a nice thing. But I can also see why people would want a convenient day to do their shopping. As long as he doesn’t institue strip malls in every village, I think that would be the end of the French culture!

When deciding whether to try a new restaurant in Paris, one of the sites I always consult is mmmm.free.fr. What I like about it is that the reviews are done by actual clientele. No money exchanges hands, no businesses are involved. And they are French reviewers, too, which lends a certain air of expertise to the whole thing. If you don’t speak French, don’t worry, you can see how much a restaurant is liked by how many happy coffee pots it has! Just click on the arrondissement the restaurant is in, and look for it in the list. (You can also do a search on specific restaurants). It’s a great tool for a trip to Paris.

So often, I am asked by women: “I know what I should wear while in Paris, but my husband (insert boyfriend/son/friend) wears nothing but ratty jeans and baseball caps all the time. What should HE wear?”

Of course, I usually advise to get this man a good pair of leather shoes, a nice pair of jeans (read: no holes), a few button down shirts, sweaters and a leather jacket. But that’s just me.

If you want to REALLY go all out, pay attention to Paris’s fashion week this week as they focus on men’s fashions for 2008-2009. But I think some of these looks might get your guy looked at as much as his baseball cap!

Of the top ten worst airports in Europe, London’s Heathrow came in as the utmost worst. Second place? Paris’s Charles de Gaulle airport.

This comes as little surprise to anyone who has used this airport in any capacity. I chuckle when my compatriots think that CDG, being in Paris, will be just as efficient and speedy as your average American airport. Not exactly the case. My advice to anyone arriving to CDG: if you have a connection, you must give yourself over one hour. The one hour rule just doesn’t cut it at CDG. Usually you arrive but sit on the tarmack for a while waiting for a fleet of buses to bring you to the actual airport. The buses arrive, they take about 15 minutes to fill up. Another 15 minutes (last time it took one hour for my flight) to get to the terminal. Then baggage claim, etc. etc. etc.
If you are flying out of CDG going overseas, be sure to give yourself 3 hours. Yes, 3 hours. It’s long, but so are the lines. Lines for check-in, lines for security, it’s all long.

Here’s a quote from today’s New York Times article about the worst airports in the world:

As for de Gaulle, one fellow traveler called it “like being in an Escher print.” The terminals look identical and are widely spread out. The signs are poor. If you ask an airport employee where your gate is, you often get bad advice.

“If you don’t know the airport, it’s really hard to find things,” said Nada Kranjc of Ptuj, Slovenia. “And no one is very pleasant.” Yes. The worst thing is that when you have missed your plane or can’t figure out which line leads to your connecting flight, you’re often at the mercy of indifferent, aloof Parisian airline or airport employees.

Well, one week into the public smoking ban in France, one café owner is rebelling…Watch this video to see his “café fumeur”…

For five fabulous weeks, if you happen to be lucky enough to be in Paris, you can take advantage of some of the best deals you can imagine. There are two official sales periods in France, one in January/February and the other in June/July. The sales start more or less modestly, but by the end of the 5 weeks you could be saving up to 75% on everything from clothing to housewares. Bring an empty suitcase!
For the second year in a row, the Paris Chamber of Commerce is hosting a “Soldes by Paris” event, with specific routes to take if you are chic, romantic, trendy, etc. Packets of information are being distributed to 500 hotels in Paris to help you find your way…

I don’t know how the French do it. They can eat…boy can they eat…and they stay so slim. (Well, I do know how they do it, it’s all about not snacking and eating fresh foods, but that’s another post).
Anyway, after all the fabulous chocolates, foie gras, oysters and “buches de noel” of December comes the Day of the 3 Kings: January 6. On this day, the French partake in another wonderful custom devoted to food. The “Galette des Rois”, or King’s Cake, is a cake made of puff pastry and filled with a wonderful almond cream. Inside the cake hides a “feve” or a bean or porcelaine figure. Whoever finds the feve becomes “king” and gets to wear the cute paper crown that comes with the cake.
Boulangerie windows are full of these cakes right now. But if you are in Paris and shopping for your own Galette, how do you know a good one when you see one? According to “Le Figaro”, here’s what you should look for in choosing your galette:

1. A rounded and golden crust, like a suntan. If it’s too pale, it usually means it is not cooked enough inside and might be heavy.

2. Fine edges, no built up dough around the edge.

3. Only two fillings are possible: almond cream or frangipane.

You should enjoy your galette warm, not room temperature or cold.

And if you’d rather just go get one piece of galette, you are in luck. Today only, some Parisian bakers are participating in a Galette sale on the Place Saint-Germain-Des-Pres, with proceeds going to the Federation of Sick Orphans. Included in this event are fabulous bakers such as Pierre Hermé, William Ledeuil, Guy Martin, Potel et Chabot and Jean-Luc Poujauran, from 9 a.m. - 2 p.m.

HOLY COW. Ok, this has nothing to do with tourism, but it has a lot to do with France. The President of France, Nicolas Sarkozy, is said to be ready to marry ex-model and sometime “chanteuse” Carla Bruni at the beginning of February. Sarkozy and his ex-wife Cecilia only divorced in October, so you could say this is both whirlwind and surprising….I love what French politicians can get away with that could never occur in the U.S.A. without a huge scandal and witch hunt ensuing…fabulous!

France has turned a page in café culture history…as of January 1, 2008 (I know, I’m a few days late on this, blame vacation), smoking is no longer permitted in any public place in Paris. This includes nightclubs, bars, cafés, you name it. The French knew this was coming, and many of them are pleased, but some feel that another freedom has been taken from them.

As for me, I really hate cigarette smoke, but I tolerate it in Paris. A Parisian café with a light aroma of cigarette smoke just seems to go together for me. But I don’t think it’s something I will miss!

To read more, here is an article from ABC News.