Dear readers,

It is my sad duty to announce that Parisist.com will be going on hiatus. We're uncertain how long the break will last, and perhaps a re-imagined version will return some time in the future. But for now, our trusty contributors will be left on their own to survive in the harsh Paris springtime, perhaps even forced to venture outdoors. We think they will manage somehow.

So on behalf of the entire Parisist staff, I would like to thank you, our loyal readers, for making Parisist one of the most successful Paris-based blogs on the web.

Merci et à bientôt,

Michael Cosentino
Editor-in-Chief

Comme l'a dit le grand sachem pas plus tard que tout à l'heure, Parisist va éteindre la lumière pas plus tard que tout de suite. Pour la première et dernière fois, je vais me permettre de latter la ligne éditoriale et de dire je.

Alors je dis que c'était plutôt pas mal tout ça, et qu'on est tous un peu tristes de ne pas aller à Baltard de devoir fermer les portes comme ça. Rien ne dit qu'elles ne se ré-ouvriront pas un de ces quatre matin... En fait, je vais te faire un aveu : on en sait rien. C'est donc une pause, à durée indéterminée voire définitive.

Merci d'être venu, d'avoir lu, râlé, complimenté, corrigé, encouragé, insulté, participé, commenté, recommandé, photographié avec nous. Je te fais des bises, et je te dis à bientôt, quelque part dans la blogosphère ou dans Paris. Snirf.

Photo fort à-propos : Jean Ruaud sur Flickr

In which Parisist muses about regrets... we've had a few. But we stood tall and did it our way.

• A train at Gare de l'Est yesterday morning failed to stop at the end of the line, injuring 71 passengers, 58 of them seriously.
• Is there no end in sight to French cultural institutions making deals with foreign institutions? This time it's the Bibliothèque Nationale [fr], with China.
• Hell hasn't frozen over, but inexplicably, as the end of the presidential campaign approaches, Jean-Marie LePen has made a surprise campaign stop in Argenteuil, where Sarkozy made his famous "racaille" remark. Only about a dozen onlookers turned up.
• It's the end of any doubt about the alleged remains of Joan of Arc that turned up in a Paris pharmacy in 1867: They're mummified human and cat remains. Parisist loves how the scientist had professional "noses" sniff the remains. ("Here, smell this, it smells awful!")
• A high school student in the 15th was recently brought up on charges for assault with... an egg [fr]. Much to the student's relief, the charges were dropped. "It's the end of a very bad joke," sighed his father.

Photo by Photogrin... on flickr.

Jack le super-nageur!
Il a gagné les 10km de Paris ce matin, arrivée au pied de la statue de la liberté (aux pieds de la Tour Eiffel).
Malgré le soleil, l'eau était un peu glacée, mais les quelques courageux qui se sont pris au jeu ont tous le mérite d'avoir nagé jusqu'au bout.

Bravo à tous les sportifs du dimanche!

Et le poisson, vous l'avez vu, le poisson?
Le poisson d'avril!

Inspiré par Sampaist
Photos: Lasagna Boy

Les Jumeaux was named after the pair of twins who started the restaurant, almost a decade ago. If you're thinking that the two lovely people pictured at left don't look anything alike, you're right: They're the couple that bought the place from the original owners. But, as it happens, they have twin boys themselves. And so the natural order in the universe is maintained.

Alex, the chef, has been in the restaurant business for eleven years. It wasn't a stretch for him, since he comes from a family of Parisian restaurateurs. Helena takes care of waiting on customers, and is from Poland.

We did the interview bilingually: Alex's answers are in French and Helena's answers are in English.

What do you like about the neighborhood?

A: C'est un quartier qui a su rester populaire, et qui est proche du Marais. Du coup, l'endroit garde un peu cet esprit village, ouvert,
les gens se parlent.

What's the funniest thing that's happened to you in the restaurant?

H: Oh, when I first was learning French I wanted to tell some some customers that their coats would be frippés (crumpled) if they didn't hang them up, but instead I said their coats would be frappés (beaten)!

Photo by Dynax5D on flickr.

Contribute your photo to Parisist by tagging it with "parisist" on flickr, or submitting them to the Parisist Pool.

Mardi 27 Mars, des émeutes ont éclaté à la gare du Nord après l'interpellation vers 16:30 par la police d'un passageur sans billet ayant résisté violemment à 2 contrôleurs de la RATP. Emmené dans un local de la gare, l'homme de 33 ans d'origine congolaise s'est avéré connu des services de police. Mais la foule ayant assisté à l'interpellation apparemment "musclée", ignorant ces faits et souvent, l'origine de l'incident lui-même, s'est peu à peu rassemblé devant ce local pour protester. Assez rapidement, la situation a dégénéré (jets de bouteilles, fruits, etc.), et des renforts de police ont été appelés, utilisant des gaz lacrymogènes et chargeant pour disperser la foule d'une centaine de personnes.

Cependant, la tension est restée vive, alimentée par des rumeurs contradictoires, et avec l'arrivée des journalistes et de certains jeunes pressés d'en découdre avec les forces de l'ordre. Vers 19h, les violences reprennent et tournent à l'affrontement, tandis que certains s'en prennent aux vitrines des boutiques, au mobilier de la gare, et autres distributeurs de boissons.

Un casseur s'attaque à un distributeur

Pendant plusieurs heures, des petits groupes de policier et de gendarmes tentent de rétablir l'ordre et jouent au chat et à la souris avec quelques dizaines de casseurs.

Un groupe de policiers tient en respect la foule

Tout celà sous les yeux (et les téléphones portables !) de centaines de passagers et de curieux qui les narguent souvent aux cris de "Police partout, justice nulle part !", "Sarkozy enculé !", etc..

Parfois aggressive, le plus souvent bon enfant, la foule observe les policiers

Et partout, des gens filment avec leurs portables...

Le calme ne reviendra finalement que vers 1h du matin, 13 personnes ont été interpellés (9 seront traduites en justice) et plusieurs policiers et agents de la RATP légèrement blessés. Dès le lendemain, les émeutes font la une des journaux et tous les candidats à la présidentielle s'emparent des évènements, créant une polémique et replaçant le thème de l'insécurité au coeur de ca campagne.

Photos - Hughes Leglise-Bataille. Pour plus de photos, voir le reportage complet sur Flickr.

Photo by jon|k on flickr.

Contribute your photo to Parisist by tagging it with "parisist" on flickr, or submitting them to the Parisist Pool.

Paris: The Secret History, by Andrew Hussey. Panguin UK, 2007

Etienne Marcel, Jacques Bonsergent, Louise Michel, Colonel Fabien— ever stared at the names on a metro map and casually wondered who all these people could be who have lent their names, but sadly, not the memory of their deeds, to metro stops all over Paris?

If you're anything like Parisist, you have, and, if you're anything like Parisist, you will delight in having these and other obscure details of our fair city brought to light. In Paris: the Secret History, Andrew Hussey, head of the French department at the British Institute (the University of London's Paris campus), leads a carnivalesque march through history that stops here and there to chuckle, ogle, and speculate.

Photo of last night's Act Up Paris/Sarkozy 2002-2007 manif by PE Weck on flickr.

Contribute your photo to Parisist by tagging it with "parisist" on flickr, or submitting them to the Parisist Pool.

Les Bricoleuses ont lancé leur fanzine mercredi dernier dans leur atelier-boutique, cela a donné l'occasion d'une gentille fête esthète pleine d'amitié et de gens joyeux.
Les Bricoleuses sont des femmes épatantes, ingénieuses et poétiques qui créent des sacs, des bijoux, des créatures féeriques, de la déco, des guêtres, bref de l'indispensable Beau et maintenant un petit fanzine trimestriel rigolard.

Si vous voulez :
- savoir d'où viennent les expressions "découvrir le pot aux roses" et "mariage pluvieux, mariage heureux"
- découvrir l'homme des Buttes Chaumont qu'un couple de corneilles a adopté
- choper une bonne astuce pour ne pas avoir de boutons (astuce qui marche!)
- comprendre le tango
- voir une fourchette éconduire un couteau
C'est la lecture qu'il vous faut.
Pourquoi ne pas aller leur rendre visite?

Vous verrez, c'est un peu comme aller voir une amie: l'atelier-boutique est en fait un appartement familial, on est accueilli avec affection et intimité, parfois on ne trouve qu'une bricoleuse, parfois les copines sont là, comédiennes, costumières... elles auront tellement envie de vous montrer leurs dernières créations.

Atelier-Boutique Les Bricoleuses
381, rue des Pyrénées. 20e.
Métro Jourdain.

http://www.lesbricoleuses.com/

I’m from Barcelona is the happy accident of Swedish frontman Emmanuel Lundgren, who recorded some gleeful pop songs in his living room with a gaggle of friends in 2005. Lundgren organized a one-time performance with all twenty-eight of them, but this ‘finale’ sparked enough internet and blog buzz that within the year, I’m from Barcelona had released an EP, Don’t Give Up on Your Dreams, Buddy, and an album, Let Me Introduce My Friends. If you thought Let Me Introduce My Friends was feel good, wait until to you see them in concert, as Parisist did last night.

After an opening set by Thedo, a less riotous YeahYeahYeahs with Karen O vocal stylings, I’m from Barcelona spilled onto the stage, eighteen members strong. Most of the band plays an instrument at some point, but though the sound remained surprisingly clear, one’s never sure who plays what where. The overall effect is an ecstatic jumble of dancers, singers, and kidders, like a pep rally for pop music.

Lundgren was crowd surfing by the first song with trust-fall ethos. Mission accomplished when he tumbled back on stage and declared, 'I think we all know each other better now.'

I’m from Barcelona’s magnitude likens them to Polyphonic Spree, though the latter’s white robes make them the commune choir to Barcelona’s sand lot singers. Lundgren is familiar and charismatic, and there’s only sincerity in his address to the audience as his friends. There was all kinds of commerce between the audience and the stage, from bounce-a-longs to confetti to an audience-member kazoo solo that almost made Parisist go awwww. Afterward, I’m from Barcelona buddy Adventure Kid spun his beats with the bands, while band members boogied like they were in Lundgren’s living room.

Abundant na-nas and plentiful repetition make I’m from Barcelona’s songs stickier than fly paper and prime for sing along. Which seems convincingly their greatest desire of the night – an ever-expanding entourage.

The songs themselves – harmonic celebrations of the everyday, from chicken pox to stamp collections – aren’t likely to challenge the head, but the group itself is all heart-melting heart. No coincidence, then, that two of their hits (the eponymous ‘We’re from Barcelona’ and Brian Adam's song to which they claim muse) are about the band themselves. For the group band phenomenon overturns the star privilege of the rock group, so that everyone feels like they could be from Barcelona. Group belonging whose only chauvinism is to catchy choruses and love? Parisist’ll sing to that!

If you just can't get enough, see the whole gang crowd a Concert à emporter from Blogothèque:

http://www.blogotheque.net/article.php3?id_article=2417

And.....

http://www.myspace.com/imfrombarcelona
http://www.myspace.com/adventurekidmusic
http://www.pitchforkmedia.com/article/record_review/37756-let-me-introduce-my-friends

Photo by christophe alary on flickr.

Contribute your photo to Parisist by tagging it with "parisist" on flickr, or submitting them to the Parisist Pool.

A few thousand people came out to place de la République on Saturday to demonstrate in the rain for women's rights. Organized by the Collectif National pour les Droits des Femmes [fr], the march was expected to "protect the structures which accommodate the women victims of violences, to promote the private bill tallies and to assert a Ministry of State to the equality women/men."

Many other organizations came out in support of the cause, including la Fédération Nationale Solidarité Femmes [fr], le Mouvement Français pour le Planning Familial [fr], le Collectif Féministe Contre le Viol [fr], and Femmes Solidaires [fr]. From L'Express [fr]:

Les associations, qui interpellaient à cette occasion les candidats à la présidence de la République, soulignent qu'en France, une femme décède tous les trois jours sous les coups de son compagnon.

"Et pourtant, il n'existe pas, gravé dans le marbre de la loi, de politique de prévention systématique contre les violences faites aux femmes", déclarent-elles dans un communiqué. "La législation est parcellaire et incomplète."

Translation: The supporting associations used the march to challenge the French presidential candidates, emphasizing that a woman dies every three days from domestic violence in France. “And yet there is not, not engraved in the marble of the law, a systematic prevention policy against violence upon women”, the groups declare in an official statement. “The legislation is compartmental and incomplete.”

Though the rain dampened the womens' rights manif on their path from Republique to Opera, the marchers were lively and passionate. In fact, the march grew along the route: the 9ème Collectif des Sans-Papiers [fr] joined the march after it had started.

Sans-Papiers marchers held signs that criticized Nicolas Sarkozy for current immigration policies -- primarily (and most recently) that of capturing those sans papiers when they are coming to pick their children or grandchildren up at school [fr]. This practice has caused outrage from schools, communities, and political officials and has increased a climate of fear in many Parisian neighborhoods.

A protest in support of Sans Papiers will be held today at the Sorbonne (47 rue des écoles, 5eme) at 18h for those in opposition to express their disapproval and to try and put a stop to any immigration capture methods that involve children or that violate basic human rights of French inhabitants.

Photos by rion.nu.
Additional photos here by Rion Nakaya, or here [fr] by Pierre-Herve Verant.

In which Parisist keeps an open mind, but not so open that our brains fall out.

• The teeny and the tiny alike are on exhibition through September at the Nano Expo, at the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie (where the dome above can be found).
• This past Thursday, French space agency CNES released its UFO files. France was the only country in the 80's and 90's to retain paid UFO investigators, according to Wikipedia. On Thursday, bouncers were needed at the space agency headquarters to keep the freaks out, and the CNES website apparently crashed three hours after the data were posted.
• A mammoth skeleton and other paleontological curiosities are to go under the hammer at Christie's Paris branch next month. Other goodies include a Russian meteorite and a private collection of trilobite fossils.
• A new study finds that sniffles and eczema [fr] are the most common allergy-releated ailments among Parisian infants. The study found that in 22% of cases, at least one parent admitted to smoking at home. Pet dander and chemical pollutants were also found to be significant irritants.
• Archaeological work on the medieval keep at the Château de Vincennes is wrapping up [fr] after nine years of digging and restoration. The keep will open to the public next May.

Photo by Grébert on flickr.