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E-Carte Vitale On the Way

According to Le Parisien your Carte Vitale will soon be available on your phone. French Social Security health Insurance has just rolled out an application, which allows social security beneficiaries in eight pilot departments to create and e-Carte Vitale on their smartphone. In the rest of France, this is expected to become available in 2024. But do'nt worry the physical Carte Vitale is not being phased out yet. The eight departments involved in the test phase are: Alpes-Maritimes, Loire-Atlantique, Puy-de-Dôme, Bas-Rhin, Rhône, Saône -et-Loire, Sarthe and Seine-Maritime. Applicants must be over 16 years old, not under guardianship, and of course, have a phone with Android version 12 or iOS 7 at least. Once installed on your smartphone, the application requires verification of your identity. This involves entering your social security number, and attaching an identity document to the application. After a security check carried out by l’Assurance maladie, you will have acces…

JR at the Opera again

JR at the Opera again RETOUR À LA CAVERNE A work by the artist JR, evoking Plato's cave, a place of knowledge and transmission, graces the façade of the Opera Garnier, another place of knowledge and transmission. As part of the restoration of the Palais Garnier, the Opera national de Paris invited the artist JR to decorate the scaffolding covering the monument with two successive installations. (Lucky for us because we missed the first one!) This project is a continuation of the artist's work of enormous pieces that have taken over various iconic sites around the world such as the Louvre Museum, the Trocadero esplanade, the Farnese Palace in Rome, the banks of the Seine, the favelas of Rio and bunkers of the WWII Atlantic Wall, just to name a few, each time as an invitation for viewers to change their perspective. Like an opera libretto, the artist metamorphoses the façade in two acts, the first in September and the second in November. Act I, which…

Turning 90, the Air France anniversary

On 7th October 2023, Air France celebrated its 90th anniversary. To mark the event, the company has asked Xavier Ronze, head of the costume design workshops at the Paris Opera ballet, to create a collection of five iconic dresses embodying the company’s legendary history. Created from the merger of Air Orient, Air Union, Société Générale de Transports Aériens, the Compagnie Internationale de Navigation Aérienne and Aéropostale, Air France was officially inaugurated on 7th October 1933. Ever since, the company has continued to create its legend by promoting the French art of travel around the world. Air France today offers its customers close to 1,000 daily flights to 200 destinations with a fleet of more than 240 aircraft. In 2023, the Air France anniversary is celebrating 90 years of elegance. 90 years of technology, innovation and comfort on board. 90 years of travel, fine dining, design, haute couture, art and architecture. That's a lot to celebrate. Since its crea…

Book Room Events

Upcoming Book Room Events: 20 April 16:00 Have you ever wondered how chocolate is made, or where it comes from? Wondered if that "really good" chocolate you've been eating is actually all that great? Join Lisa Allen, Pastry Chef, Chocolatier and Level 2 Certified Chocolate Taster, for an in-depth introduction to the world of fine flavor, single origin chocolate, how it's made and what it can taste like. She will have some visual aids and of course some amazing chocolate for you to try, and a few spare bars for sale. This is a unique opportunity, as these chocolates are world chocolate gold award winners not available for sale anywhere else in Paris. She will also be gathering interest for upcoming longer events on Fine Chocolate Tasting by itself, as well as masterclasses to taste and pair them with fine wines. Free, please sign up at brbookroom@gmail.com 27 April 16:00 Story time in English for children ages 4 to 8. Free, please sign up at brbookroom@gmail.com 25 Ma…

Who makes Book donations to Bill & Rosa’s Book Room?

Book donations to Bill & Rosa's Book Room. So who are the people who donate their books to Bill & Rosa's Book Room? Each donation is different and brings a new profile and trip to some very interesting apartments and towns. Many people give us their entire libraries at once, some bring in a few books at a time. For example Barney's estate donated more than 2000 books on Paris, art and novels. Barney was an American who lived in Europe most of his life. His wife was German and they lived in Germany and then Paris. From browsing his library we can see that Barney kept busy attending readings and lectures in Paris. Many of the novels that had been presented at Shakespeare & Co and the American Library over the years are signed by the authors and include flyers about the event or newspaper clippings about the author. Barney was also a friend and fan of the Fluxus art movement which provided some incredibly rich hand crafted one-of-a-kind books. There was a portrait of …

“French Louie” and his Hotel de Paris: a gourmet in the Wild West

“French Louie” and his Hotel de Paris: a gourmet in the Wild West After the wave of French trappers who participated in the first exporations of western North America there were relatively few French people who emmigrated to the USA. But those who went brought a part of France with them. For example Louis Dupuy founder of the Hotel de Paris in Colorado. People in Georgetown, Colorado know very little about Louis du Puy. His obituary starts “Death of Louis Dupuy Man of Mystery”. He simply arrived one day with a donkey named Florette, a tent and camping equipment. He had come, like so many, in search of the quick riches of the silver boom. In March 1873 he was nearly killed in a mining explosion and that ended that career. He said in later years that he chose hospitality as his next reincarnation simply because a good cup of coffee was not to be had in Georgetown. He launched his dream by washing dishes in another establishment. He saved his money and finally in 1874 began to…

Paris New York Heritage Festival

It’s been seven years since the Paris New York Heritage Festival (PNYH) ﬁrst burst onto the summer circuit, spanning three continents and seven cities before the Covid 19 pandemic stopped it in its tracks. Unbowed, PNYH has grown new shoots, re-emerging as a sustainable, family-friendly ﬁxture in the French capital, with a reputation for showcasing a new generation of artists and under-represented talent. Located on banks of the River Seine, the PHNY takes place this year on the 16 & 17 of September at the Parc André-Citroën in the 15 arrondissement. th Under the banner ‘Aux Arts’, the festival is one of just 50 projects selected by the Olympic Committee and the City of Paris for the Cultural Olympiad, celebrating the wealth and variety of culture in France. PNYH embodies these values through its exceptional musical and artistic program which transcends borders, reminding us that music is a universal language that unites people. Each artist on stage represents a con…

90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 3

Eiffel Tower facts collected for you by FUSAC. Part 3 of a 3 part series Part 1 facts 1 through 35 Part 2 facts 36 through 72 Part 3 facts 73 through 102 - we just couldn't stop! "Je vais être jaloux de cette tour. Elle est plus célèbre que moi." – Gustave Eiffel Beginning in 1997, 1000 days before turning of the millennium the Eiffel Tower began the countdown to the year 2000 when a giant fireworks display was put on. The first “coloring” of the tower was for the Chinese new year in 2004 when the lights were a scarlet red. The tower has since been blue, green and many other colors commemorating different anniversaries or events including terrorist attacks. 336 projector bulbs are used to illuminate the Tower. Surprisingly tThe nightly illumination represents only 4% of the monument’s annual energy expenses. The Eiffel Tower is stuck by lightening quite frequently, but it is hard to capture in a photo. Parisian Bertrand Kulik has done it…

90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 2

Eiffel Tower facts collected for you by FUSAC. Part 2 of a 3 part series Part 1 facts 1 through 35 Part 2 facts 36 through 72 Part 3 facts 73 through 102 - we just couldn't stop! "Je vais être jaloux de cette tour. Elle est plus célèbre que moi." – Gustave Eiffel The Eiffel Tower and Margaret Thatcher share the same nickname - La Dame de Fer ("The Iron Lady"). In 1960 Charles de Gaulle proposed temporarily dismantling the tower and sending it to Montreal for Expo 67. The plan was rejected. The names of 72 engineers, scientists and mathematicians are engraved on the side of the tower, each of whom contributed to its construction. In the computer game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, the tower is toppled by an airstrike. There are 20,000 light bulbs, 5000 per face, on the Eiffel Tower to make it sparkle every night. The sparkling bulbs were installed by hand over 5 months by 25 climbers for the year 2000. Souvenir sales began immed…

90+ Eiffel and Eiffel Tower facts – part 1

Eiffel Tower facts collected for you by FUSAC. Part 1 of a 3 part series Part 1 facts 1 through 35 Part 2 facts 36 through 72 Part 3 facts 73 through 102 - we just couldn't stop! "Je vais être jaloux de cette tour. Elle est plus célèbre que moi." – Gustave Eiffel Completed on March 31, 1889, the tower was the world’s tallest man-made structure for 41 years until the completion of the Chrysler Building in New York in 1930. It is 324 meters tall (including antennas) and weighs 10,100 tons. It was the tallest structure in France until the construction of a military transmitter in the town of Saissac in 1973. The Millau Viaduct, completed in 2004, is also taller, at 343 meters. It is possible to climb to the top, but there are 1,665 steps. Most people take the lift. 45 people fit in the elevator at a time allowing the transportation of 1700 people per hour. The lifts travel a combined distance of 103,000 km a year – two and a half times the circumfer…

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