It's not so frequent, my town is on teh frontpages for a positive reason :

the opening of the first modern art of the parisian suburbs, built by the local administration in which I work.

here some photos of the place :

http://dandylan.tooblog.fr/?2005/08/17/273-le-futur-mac-de-vitry



The Val-de-Marne Museum of Contemporary Art has just finished being built. The inauguration of a new contemporary art museum in the Parisian suburbs, is the stuff of a major, international event. The museum, designed by architect, Jacques Ripault, has been labelled the 'Museum of France'. It is the fruit of 20 years of hard work, hard work carried out in order to promote contemporary art and make it more accessible to the general public. The museum houses a collection of more than one thousand works of art from the French art scene from the 50s up to the most recent work of today. Located in the city centre of Vitry-sur-Seine, close to Paris and flanked by public gardens of 10,000 m², this 13,000 m² museum has 4000 m² dedicated to permanant and temporary exhibitions. It also has a cinema which seats up to 150 people, a 380 m² reference library, a bookshop, a restaurant and ateliers/accomodation for international artists in residence. This project was financed by the Val-de-Marne county council, the Ministry of the Arts and the Paris region. The inaugural exhibition will present a part of the Mueum's collections, as well as a temporary expo called 'Episode 1: Jacques Monory (November 17, 2005-February 2006) and Episode 2: Claude Lévêque (March-June 2006). Private viewing on Thursday November 17 at 6pm. A festive weekend on November 18, 19, and 20. Private viewing on Thursday November 17 2005 at 6pm For further information, check out the website: www.cg94.fr

http://english.pidf.com/page/p-292/art_id-1029/idf-FmaIDFSRV0018648/

Canada is on the same slipery slope as France and most of Europe...

... to reitereate an earlier post:

France toghether with most of the first world has behaved irresponsibly in confronting an economic problem. The demographic shifts of an aging population are making it impossible to maintain the standard of living we have become acusomed to. A short-term solution would be to encourage higher birth-rates (unsuccesful) or to invite immigrants to make up the demographic short-falls.

These measures are foolhardy for two reasons.

1 The environmental consequences are catastrophic to the extreme - for example - the ecological footprints of most European countries are 10 to 15 times their surface area! http://www.wwf.fr/empreinte_ecologique/index.htm & http://www.footprintnetwork.org/gfn_sub.php?content=links

2 The social consequences are catastrophic to the extreme, as we are currently witnessing in France and Holland...

France is paying the price for this short-sightedness - and others are sure to follow.

Denmark and Sweden have in consultation with their electorates decided to go a different course. They have sold their constituencies on the idea that both taxation must increase AND standards of living must decrease if they are to avoid the mistakes of France and elsewhere.

Most prescient IMHO!

Journalist Amir Taheri http://www.benadorassociates.com/taheri.php says that the Muslims in France are not actually interested in assimilation at all; rather, they want autonomy: “Some are even calling for the areas where Muslims form a majority of the population to be reorganized on the basis of the ‘millet’ system of the Ottoman Empire: Each religious community (millet) would enjoy the right to organize its social, cultural and educational life in accordance with its religious beliefs.”

He reports that “in parts of France, a de facto millet system is already in place.” That means that Muslim leaders control the area and French officials, including police officers, simply do not enter.

I myself agree with this assesment! I was in Marseilles and made the mistake of heading directly for Le Vieux-Havre from la Gare St. Charles.

Instantly, I realized I was no longer in Europe. Emulating the anthropologist Margaret Mead, I would visit this quartier as often as possible. Some of the locals befriended me, recognizing me immediately for a foreign tourist. I never realized until pointed out to me, that I was the only white face there - not even the police dared ever show their faces...

God protects children and fools - apparently, I am covered on two counts!

Why does this anlysis not correspond to Fabrice's Pollyanna account?

whence réalité française au Fabrice?