In case any of you noticed a short time ago at the G8 summit meeting that the French President looked a little tipsy,….he was! But! Not like you think! According to the press, it was from inhaling the fumes of the glass of vodka that Russian President Putin (Poutine) had put next to him that intoxicated him! (Is he really a French president???!!!!)

All right, enough about Sarkozy, and back to the Beaujolais Nouveau! Is it any wonder why people everywhere love the festivities surrounding this very popular celebration?! The Beaujolais Nouveau is a light wine (in taste, not color) that one should drink within a relatively short period of time; usually between a few weeks to a few months.

More than one third of the Beaujolais grown, produced and sold is for the Beaujolais Nouveau consumption! What use to be a regional celebration after harvesting the grapes, has become a wine festival celebrated throughout the world where the Beaujolais Nouveau makes its way to Paris and then to all parts of the globe! With millions of bottles arriving at bars, restaurants, and stores around the world almost simultaneously, is it any wonder that starting at midnight on the 3rd Thursday of November, (the 15th of November this year), people have taken to heart this Autumn ritual and immediately begin consuming the wine right on through the weekend!

The only problem with such a young wine is it goes straight to your head, and boy do I have stories I can tell you! (Lol) Nowadays, however, I prefer just having one glass and then moving on to a more robust wine like a Haut-Médoc (Bordeaux). So, forget about Sarko and his anti-drinking campaign! (Is that possible in France!?) Get ready for the fun and let the drinking begin! Cin Cin!

Photo Credits: Flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler

                                                                                                  First of all, I don’t think it would ever happen! What First Lady would decide to throw in the towel even if she was in the midst of some sort of Presidential scandal?! (Hmm, does Hillary ring a bell? As a matter of fact, the French never could understand what all the fuss was about with Bill and Monica!) Still there are countless First Ladies who have suffered silently while their husbands not only carried on affairs of state, but also affairs of the heart; John and Jackie Kennedy come to mind, as well as Danielle and François Mitterrand.

Recent polls show that 92% of the French still have the same opinion of Sarkozy (and why not!) and 79% said that the divorce is not an important event in French politics. It just goes to show that here in France, the French just want Sarkozy to run the country as he has promised and let his personal affairs take care of themselves in private.

Still I can’t help but think what a field day the news media in the U.S. would have had if it had happened with an American president! Especially with all the baggage Cécilia Sarkozy carries! I recently wrote a post about the death of Jacques Martin who was married to Cécilia before she became Mrs. Sarkozy. In case you didn’t read that post, according to legend, (Lol, yes I like to be dramatic!) when Sarkozy, who was mayor of Neuilly at the time, presided over the marriage of a very pregnant Cécilia to Jacques Martin; it was love at first sight for the future president! Twelve days after the marriage Cécilia gave birth to her first daughter and three years later to her second. While her second daughter was only six months old, Cécilia left Jacques Martin to be with Sarkozy.

Now is it only me, or does Cécilia seem to thrive on gossip? As she herself said when she commented on her seperation from her husband (Sarko) in 2005 and moved to New York to be with her lover, “In 2005, I met someone, I fell in love, I left.” Or how many wives would not vote for their husband while they’re running for some political election? In the run off elections for the presidency, Cécilia, for whatever reason, decided not to cast her vote! Or what about Cécilia’s excuse not to attend a picnic with President and Laura Bush because she wasn’t feeling well, but was spotted by photographers out with friends?

Although she would have been a very unpredictable First Lady, she definitely would have been a damn interesting one to say the least (!); sort of in the genre of Margaret Trudeau or Princess Diana. It’s just too bad that she didn’t stick around awhile longer!

Photo Credits: Google Images

Post from: The Paris Traveler

My favorite, of course, was l’Ecole des Fans, very much in the genre of Art Linkletter’s House Party and Kids Say the Darndest Things, but with one slight difference. Small children would come on the program and sing a song made popular by a famous French singer that happened to be the invited guest that week. Often the melody and the lyrics were quite difficult, but these young kids would surprise us with their renditions. (Vanessa Paradis sang on the show when she was eight years old.) Other children would come and play an instrument, but the best part of the show, however, was when Jacques Martin would ask them simple questions and the responses were more often than not hilarious!

The French world of entertainment are paying homage to this man, but with a silence that is quite noticable from the President of France. The First Lady now married to President Sarkozy was once married to Jacques Martin! Legend has it that when Nicolas Sarkozy, then the mayor of Neuilly s/Seine, married Jacques Martin to Cécilia Ciganer-Albeniz in 1984, it was love at first sight for the president! And supposedly for her as well, because although she ended up having two daughters with Jacques Martin, she left him while her daughters were only six months (!) and two and a half years old to be with Mr. Sarkozy!

After a stroke in 1998 which left him partially paralyzed, Jacques Martin left television and his public life; and although he has left his mark, and his work has carried on, it hasn’t been the same! Still, the wonderful memories I have, and I’m sure for many others as well, he remains in the hearts and minds of all of us who spent a part of our Sundays laughing with him and being entertained by him as we sat in front of our TVs. We are saddened by his passing. Adieu Jacques Martin….adieu.

Meilleurs moments de L’école des fans avec Jacques Martin

Jacques martin – l’école des fans, meilleurs moments
Video sent by animanga

For more great videos of l’Ecole des Fans, click here.

Photo Credits: Flickr

Post from: The Paris Traveler