In Britanny, they worship the mother of Maria
Those who disagree with worshipping Maria, should not continue here. Tis post is about a tiny village in Brittanny,where the mother of Maria, Anne, is honoured. Today is her nameday.
According to the story, in the 17th century Anne appaered several times to a poor labourer by the name of Yves Nicolazic. She told him to find an old statue dedicated to her in the woods and build a church over there.
The statue was found and with permission of the bisshop, a church was build. This one got to small and was replaced by the still existing, beautiful basilica of Sainte Anne d'Auray.
Posted by Peter at 07:35 AM [What do you think?]
No dance, but singing ont the bridge of Avignon
It's almost sure there never were round dances held on the Bridge of Avignon, whatever the old song 'Sur le pont' says. The bridge is to narrow for round dances.
This simple fact didn't keep generations all over the world from singing 'Sur le pont d'Avignon, on y danse'.
Now, the french heve made something to make some profit from this fact. At the bridge, they founded a small museum about french songs, the 'chansons'. Top attraction, mix your own video-clip. Of course, you are the star while singing 'Sur le pont d'Avignon' on the bridge of Avignon.
No doubt this will be a success. Patroness is nobody less then Mireille Mathieu, the singer who got famous way back in 1965 after she was introduced as 'the girl from Avignon.
Posted by Peter at 07:08 AM [What do you think?]
Google Earth, the French way: Geoportail
After some technical problems, due to unbelievable amounts of visitors, the French now have their own version of Google Earth: Geoportail. For the time being it only has flat pictures. 3D-images will be inserted next autumn. The site only shows France, including overseas colonies.
Having said this, we must conclude it's possible to view your favourite holiday resort in advance.
Though a contest isn't really fair while 3D is not available on Geoportail, I compared to random places.
- At the Tour Eiffel in Paris, Google wins easily. You may zoom in further and discover real people like little dots on top of the tower
- In Marseille, both Google and Geoportail give a lousy image of the Notre Dame de la Garde. Again, Google Earth allows more zooming, but in this case zooming only makes the quality worse.
In both cases, Nasa World Wind does a very bad job.
Posted by Peter at 07:01 AM [1 reaction]
Free internet in Paris
Internet addicts have a new reason to go to Paris. Before the end of 2007, the city of Paris wants to install no less then 400 free wifi internet access points. The idea is part of a larger plan to give the city broadband internet in order to compete better. The free access points meanwhile have a second goal to serve, as the Nouvel Observateur reports. According to mair Bernard Delanoë, te sight of people with laptops will make squares and gardens more lively.
Posted by Peter at 07:14 AM [What do you think?]
American liberty bells ...from France
On this 4th of july we are happy to remember the Constitution of the United States was very much influenced by the French Declaration of Human Rights. Also, the Statue of Liberty was a gift of France (constructed by Gustave Eiffel).
A less known fact: the famous liberty bells (every state has one) are made in France by an old company called at the Annecy Lake Paccard.
Seven generations already have melted their bells, from tiny cow bells to huge church bells. Nowadays, Paccard has a museum and you may also visit the factory.
Just one problem for those who do not speak French: click on the English flag on the museum site and get plain French...
Update 2007-01-05: This message used to link to official sites by Paccard. However, these sites have vanished and their domain names seem to have been taken by pirates.
Posted by Peter at 07:47 AM [2 reactions]
Giverny: Monet and the Americans
When in Giverny, you do visit the house and gardens of the painter Claude Monet. Here are the ponds where he found his now famous waterlilies to paint.
Until Monet arrived, Giverny was nothing but a tiny village at the Seine. That changed, when a bunch of American artists followed Monet. Giverny, still in Normandy but close to Paris, became a colony of artists. They explored all of Normandy to paint the landscape.
Maybe, we would have forgotten them, if there hadn’t been a very rich art collector by the name of Daniel J. Terra. Just next to the gardens of Monet, he founded the Museum American Art Giverny.
Nor the Monet Gardens, nor the American Museum is hard to find. Both are based on Claude Monet Street.
Posted by Peter at 07:14 AM [What do you think?]
