Eco initiatives sparking a green revolution in Paris

Eco initiatives sparking a green revolution in Paris [Image source:  Jose Llamas on Unsplash] Paris has been a beacon of sustainability for many years now, championing eco-friendly initiatives in our global fight against climate change. The goal is for the city to become Europe’s greenest by 2030 and, as the home of the Paris Agreement from the 2015 UN Climate Change Conference, it stands to reason that this city should lead the way and inspire others around the world to make ambitious changes. So, just how is Paris continuing its eco revolution and what can other countries learn from France when it comes to creating a sustainable future? Examples of eco initiatives for green revolution in Paris Incentivised electric vehicles Paris has made significant investments in reshaping its transportation landscape to prioritize sustainability. Electric vehicles are heavily incentivized here, with a growing network of charging stations dotting the cityscape for those driving i…
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  • 7 novembre 2024
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Do you know this rabbit? Serge the RATP Mascot

Do you know this rabbit? You've probably seen him hundreds of times, but can you recognize him out of context? This is Serge, the RATP Mascot Rabbit for safety in the Paris Metro. You mostly see him down low - at kid's height - on the insides of the doors not far from the "loqueteau"* reminding kiddos to keep their hands away so as to not be pinched. The RATP Mascot Rabbit has been around since 1977 and was first drawn by Anne LeLagadec. She chose a rabbit dressed like a child because rabbits express fragility, softness and run around without paying attention to their surroundings (so she said). In 1986 the safety rabbit was redrawn in a yellow  jumpsuit to make him more visible and he became the unofficial mascot of the Paris metro. He even got a name: Serge, after Serge Maury who drew this second incarnation. In 2014 a new version of Serge was unveiled. Fresh stickers of Serge, who is now wearing a t-shirt, jeans and sneakers, were progressively affixed to th…
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  • 8 septembre 2024
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French Nationality

Reflections on becoming French on the anniversary of being granted French Nationality. In 2005 I decided to obtain French nationality. ‘Why?’ friends asked, bemused. After all this before Brexit was even heard of and I had a perfectly good British European passport which allowed me to live and work anywhere in Europe. Why bother with a tedious bureaucratic process? Well, one reason lay in the great American tradition of no taxation without representation. I wanted to be able to vote. I live here, pay taxes here, my daughters are French (even though one was born in Hong Kong), but politically I didn’t exist. Unlike the U.S., Britain, does not grant citizens life-long voting rights (though this is in the process of changing as I write), so I could no longer vote in the UK. And I believe that the right to vote is an inalienable democratic one. Given that the UK recognizes dual nationality, it was win- win for me. I must confess there were moments when I considered giving…
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  • 4 juillet 2024
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La Seine, La Seine at Quai de la Photo

QUAI DE LA PHOTO LA SEINE, LA SEINE  What could be a better venue for a photo exhibition tracing the history of Paris’ iconic river than a custom designed, permanently docked barge hosting a gallery, photo bookstore, bar, plus indoor and outdoor restaurant spaces on the banks of the Seine? Two current exhibits: RIVE DROITE, RIVE GAUCHE - Agence Roger-Viollet Running through September 8 and open daily, the exhibit La Seine, La Seine examines two distinct lives of the river. The first segment, Rive Droite, Rive Gauche, displayed in the interior gallery, is comprised of 80 archival photographs from the mid-19th century through the 1960’s, documenting the commercial, working, and social lives of the laborers whose livelihoods depended upon the river. The Seine was a major artery that enabled French wines and other merchandise to be warehoused and shipped worldwide, while its banks provided outdoor workspaces for the messy organic trades: wigmakers and animal groomers, sheep…
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  • 28 juin 2024
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Are You Becoming French?

Are You Becoming French?The French say that foreigners can never truly “become” French - no matter what legal status is inscribed upon what identity papers they carry around in their France-based wallets (1). Nor might newly minted citizens or official residents wish to swap their own cultural markers, manners and mentalities for those of the local waiter who serves them their morning café au lait et croissant (to say nothing of totally being able to). But if you’re here long enough, your adaptation mirrors those Escher drawings where columns of black geese or fish on the left fly or swim straight across the page, migrating and mutating by imperceptible degrees, melting into and finally becoming their white counterparts on the right. To a greater or lesser degree, whether you expected to or not, one day you realize that you’re crossing to the other side. How do you know that you’ve arrived? When you (a very incomplete list): 1. sound as brilliantly amusing-funny-sarcastic-sn…
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  • 8 avril 2024
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The Paris of Montana

The Paris of Montana - a Department Store It all started with a hat box we found in an antique shop in Montana. The box proudly displayed the slogan « The Paris of Montana » and of course we were intrigued. After quite a few years of researching every now and again we learned of a Dry goods store called Paris – in Montana. ‘Dry goods store’ is the collective noun for textiles and manufactured articles and can also include some non perishable grocery items such as tobacco, sugar, flour, and coffee. (A General Store which is a more common word, though similar, had all sorts of groceries, hardware and dry goods.) Dry goods were big business. Over one million people worked in the dry goods trades in the United States in the late 1800s ; there were hundreds and thousands of dry goods stores in American towns and villages. One such store was called The Paris Dry Goods store. It was in Great Falls Montana and originally established in 1894 as a partnership between two Rom…
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  • 2 avril 2024
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Christmas in Paris – oh the lights!

Each year business associations get together with town halls to illuminate our holiday season evenings. A large portion of the budget comes from the businesses on the illuminated streets. On rue de Sevrès and Saint Placide this is quite clear as the names of the businesses are actually suspended in luminous red letters as part of the decoration. Most of the other displays however are simply for the beauty of the lights and the gaiety that they provide to shopping areas. Nearly all are done with LED technology to keep costs and energy use to a minimum. There are about 100 streets and many monuments which are illuminated in Paris, not to mention the newest displays which are the light trails. The lights will be on through the first week in January. Each year the offering gets better and better.  Here’s a few of our favorite displays. Christmas in Paris Light Trails Jardin des Plantes Every year, the Jardin des Plantes presents a night time light festival in a magical setting…
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  • 14 décembre 2023
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Anglo authors in Paris

Paris is inspiring! Did you notice? This fair city has inspired quite a few writers in the English-speaking Paris community and they have set their ideas into novels and stories. Since community is more important than ever, we are presenting recent fiction by Anglo authors in Paris, some quite well-known and some first books. The books below are not all set in Paris, but they are certainly inspired by the community here. Books are pretty much the easiest thing to choose and send for gifts! Keep an eye on Bill & Rosa's Book Room for 2024 events by these Anglo authors in Paris.

THE PARIS LIBRARY by Janet Skeslien Charles, a now Parisian who grew up in Montana down the street from a French war bride.

Paris, 1939: Young and ambitious Odile Souchet has it all: her handsome police officer beau and a dream job at the American Library in Paris. When the Nazis march into Paris, Odile stands to lose everything she holds dear, including her belov…

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  • 5 décembre 2023
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A Visit to Paris’s Place des Etats-Unis

Visit the Place des Etats-Unis or "United States Square", a public space in the 16th arrondissement of Paris, France, about 500 m south of the Place de l'Étoile and the Arc de Triomphe. It is a tree-lined, landscaped square, approximately 140 meters long and 30 meters wide which forms a pleasant and shady pocket park. The park in the center is officially named Square Thomas Jefferson, but buildings on three sides have Place-des-États-Unis addresses. Place des Etats-Unis contains several monuments to American participation in WWI and the American Revolution. The Place des États-Unis was originally called Place de Bitche to honor a town in the Moselle department in northeastern France that valiantly resisted Prussian invasion in 1870. Levi P. Morton, the American ambassador to France, established at number 3 Place de Bitche, his residence and the United States embassy in 1881. The square's name was changed after the similarity between the name of the Moselle city and the En…
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  • 11 novembre 2023
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