Black Friday shopping arrives in France as Restos du Cœur charity begins its winter campaign - three cheers!

Something of an obscene paradox occurred here in France at the end of last week.

A good ol' US export in the shape of "Black Friday" crossed the Pond and arrived in France.

Hurrah!

Black Friday shopping arrives in France (screenshot France 3 news)

Nope, there's nothing wrong with that, even if the concept seems a little out of place in a country in which sales (or soldes) - the time when retailers slash prices and shoppers can pick up a bargain or two - are carefully regulated, although there's an extension as of 2015 in the length of time of the traditional winter and summer sales from five to six weeks.



Even if the French don't celebrate Thanksgiving (yet - but who knows) the arrival of Black Friday shopping to these shores is perhaps another reminder of the influence the US has on popular culture and the importance given to consumerism especially in the run-up to Christmas - whatever the cost.

That's neither a bad thing nor a good one - depending on your perspective. And it wasn't the obscene paradox in and of itself.

Because that lay elsewhere - and it hardly raised a Gallic eyebrow and certainly little comment within the media.

Just as chains such as Darty, Auchan, Fnac and Casino decided to join in the "festive fun" of encouraging the public to spend whatever money they might or might not have on Christmas shopping, a more established event was underway.

Outside supermarkets up and down the country, volunteers from the charity Restos du Cœur were busy collecting non-perishable goods from shoppers as part of the 30th annual winter campaign (that had begun on Monday of the same week) to provide food packages and hot meals to the ever-increasing number of French needy in need of such help.

Ah well.

That was last week. And France (just as life - how philosophical) is full of contradictions.



This coming weekend the French will be in for yet another paradox which seems to have become common practice.

Some television celebrities such as game show host Nagui back in 2010 have questioned why it is allowed to happen, but those calls fell on deaf TV executive ears and even deafer event organisers, it appears.

Public television - and in particular France 2 - will be in full charitable mode raising money, just as it has done every year since 1987, for the L'Association française contre les myopathies, (the muscular dystrophy charity) with the Téléthon.

Meanwhile TF1 will broadcast - just as it has for several years - the election of Miss France as  33 candidates compete in Orléans to succeed last year's winner Flora Coquerel.

Black Friday shopping and Restos du Cœur are as much a match made in heaven as Miss France and the Téléthon.

The French male chauvinist's ideal Christmas present for his "other half"?

With Christmas (it's no good groaning, it's that time of year again) just over one month away, it's time perhaps to begin thinking about what you're going to buy your nearest and dearest.

And for the male chauvinists among you who might be looking for ideas as to what to offer your better/other half, her indoors, swmbo or whatever suitably clichéd term you might wish to use, Rowenta has come up with what could well be the "perfect" gift.

After all, it's clearly something only women use.

A vacuum cleaner.

Yes - it's THE thing made for HER!

At least if you're reading through the diagrammatic instructions that accompany the "made in France" Rowenta x-trem power aspirateur (that's your French word for the day. Try dropping it into a conversation. You'll definitely impress).

Now, neither the country of production (France) nor of the manufacturer (Germany) might seem particularly relevant until you cast an eye over (and this is admittedly a somewhat shaky and definitely laboured link to give this piece a semblance of up-to-date newsworthiness) the recent annual report from the World Economic Forum on the global gender gap.

It looks at gender quality worldwide in terms of education, work and health and ranks countries accordingly. As you might expect Germany at 12th position and France 16th rate reasonably well.

After all both are countries in which women's rights and gender equality are promoted - albeit with varying degrees of success.

Somehow though housekeeping and cleaning in this case (as far as Rowenta is concerned), are still apparently very much the domain of women.

How can you tell?

Well, it's back to those diagrammatic instructions - so handy as the written ones only come in nine different languages.

Because although the hand in the illustrations might well be considered to be androgynous enough to give the appearance that the instructions were for both men and women, those featuring the foot (figures 10 and 14) clearly give the game away.

Yep - that's definitely a woman's foot - or at least one clad in a woman's shoe.

So there you have it. A product aimed at, and to be used by, women.

Surely the ideal Christmas present "just for her".

So Messieurs, try stuffing that in the stocking or placing it wrapped at the foot of the Christmas tree and wait for the "squeals of joy and delight".

It'll be a Christmas you'll never forget.

Toulouse begins preparing for Christmas - What?

Strewth.

While most French are concentrating on la rentrée - getting back into the school or work routine after the summer holidays - the local authority of the southwestern city of Toulouse has other things on its mind.

Christmas!

Christmas lights Toulouse 2012 (screenshot from Toulouse7.com video)

 It's only early September and already the council has begun putting up the Christmas lights!

Nope, it's not a (very) late April Fool, rather an attempt to save money according to Emilion Esnault, the municipal councillor responsible for street lighting.

"The idea is not to leave everything until the last moment (editor's note - no kidding!) and having to ask outside contractors to carry out the work because we don't have the manpower," he told France Bleu radio.

"That's expensive. Instead we can minimise the costs and use our resources more effectively."

So if for some peculiar reason, you're in desperate need of an early shot of Yuletide spirit, you know where to head to - or not, as the case may be?

TF1's phallic weather warning

Tempête Dirk came, lingered like the most unwelcome of guests over parts of France, and caused Christmas misery for many.

Brittany was perhaps initially the hardest hit part of France with, for example, residents in the town of Marlaix "celebrating" the festive season quite literally under water.

They weren't alone.

Far from it, as back-to-back news reports showed, giving journalists something "real" to report other than the usual last-minute shoppers, preparations for Santa's arrival, ideas for the perfect meal and the like.

Granted, those items still provided more than their fair share of the bulletins, but Dirk was understandably, the lead item.

And once it had left, along came Erich to cause added misery.

In the midst of all the bad news though, there was a lighter - if somewhat unintentionally lewd moment.

And it was provided by, of all people, one of the country's most recognised television weather forecasters (or as some presenters on BFM TV seems to have decided to call them "climate specialists") TF1's Evelyne Dheliat.

The prime time evening news in France on both TF1 is preceded by and followed by a comprehensive national weather forecast.

But when there's a predicted extreme of one sort or another, the weather forecaster is invited into the studio to beef up the report.

Such was the case on the eve of Christmas Eve with Dheliat joining anchor Julien Arnaud in front of the cameras complete with a state-of-the-art (ahem) diagram to show the likely progression of Dirk.

Except Dheliat seemed not to have checked her graphics before the show because, in the tradition of the very best (or worst) of Benny Hill-type smuttiness, the storm appeared to take on phallic proportions as it move eastwards and southwards.

Evelyne Dheliat on TF1 (screenshot from Gentside's zapping)

As the image hit Twitter (of course) some bright sparks came up with comments such as "Evelyne Dheliat seems to have confused  'Dirk' with tempête...well work it out yourselves.

TF1 : La carte météo du 23 décembre a bien fait rire les internautes par Gentside

Christmas shopping - look at the labels carefully

A few last minute offers at the local supermarket and the labels on the packaging , quite frankly, must leave you wondering, "why?" and whether anyone actually buys them.

There's nothing like fresh slab of game for Christmas dinner - and this is nothing like fresh!

Clearly there aren't enough boar in France

And finally, if you're too lazy to make it yourself, you can always by it in a packet...but why would you?

Les étrennes - How absolutely fabulous, another unwanted calendar

In France, Christmas isn't the only time of giving and receiving unwanted presents.

Just ask anyone who lives or works here and you'll be told about that New Year's tradition of giving (ahem) "voluntary" tips for services rendered - aka les étrennes.

It's a practice that dates back to "way back when"  - Roman times apparently - although you'll probably be able to fill in the gaps to discover the real history by doing a proper Internet search (which doesn't include relying solely on Wikipedia). But that's for those of you who really want the full story.

In this country it's a convention which happily persists - and confuses.

You "give" to postal workers, firefighters, rubbish collectors and (where they still exist)
 apartment block concierges or gardiens.

In each case, it's not exactly voluntary.

And you "receive" (yes it's a two-way process) from shops and businesses where you're a valued customer -  with an ever-increasing pile of competing calendars taking up space on your kitchen wall (or wherever you decide to keep them).

As far as concierges or caretakers are concerned, "To celebrate the New Year, it's customary to slip a small envelope (with cash) or offer a box of chocolates or a bottle of champagne to a concierge as thanks." Well that's according to Christine Henry a reporter for the national daily "Aujourd'hui en France".

Those services include ones not necessarily stipulated in their employment contract such as watering plants, walking the dog or simply being (extra) friendly!

It's also, as Henry points out, a tradition as much in decline as the job itself as the French are counting their centimes and some at least are reluctant to dig very deep into their pockets.

As far as sapeur-pompiers or firefighters are concerned, well nobody in their right mind would begrudge "giving" them the odd five or ten euro note now, would they?

And right now they're busy knocking on doors offering their 2013 calender - at a price - which you of course set.

You'll end up buying it, unless you're a complete misery, because of the 250,000 firefighters in France, almost 80 percent of them are volunteers and you could well owe your life to them at some point in the future.

And similarly you'll probably already have been offered - and "made a contribution" to - the Almanach du facteur or the Postman/woman's calendar.

Yes another flippin' calendar.

What in the past might have featured pictures of historical figures and events is nowadays more than likely to contain photos of cute kittens, puppies and meaningless landscapes.

Once again even though it's free, a contribution - left to your discretion - is expected. And you can hardly refuse to "buy" one.

In all fairness, certainly in rural parts of France, those delivering the mail provide a service above and beyond the proverbial call of duty.

Posties can be a Godsend to many an elderly person stranded in their homes during bad weather.

Finally there are the rubbish collectors. They too are traditionally entitled to "a little something" but more and more local authorities have clamped down on the practice in recent years because "fake dustmen" have been going from door-to-door pretending to be collecting on behalf of the real ones.

The main problem with all this less-than-warm-hearted virtually institutionalised giving is that nobody really seems to know how much to give or whether to give at all come to that.

When even the French are confused, what hope is there for the rest of us?

Watch out for a report or two on French telly over the coming days as there might well be some possible  guidelines.

SHOUT for Christmas - well this little girl sure did

We all have them don't we? Those embarrassing films or photos stashed away somewhere, kept hidden out of sight.

They were made or taken by our parents, proud of us and wanting to share their pleasure with the world.

Nativity angel (screenshot from YouTube video)

Well here's one moment captured on film from several years ago but definitely timeless, and thanks to YouTube, available for everyone and anyone to see.

It's a nativity scene, the sort played out year after year throughout Britain.

But this one, although it starts off innocently enough with the children filing in dressed as Mary, Joseph, shepherds and angels, is one that surely none who were present could ever forget.

All the children break into song...except from 51 seconds and until the end, there's one particular little angel who...well how to put this politely? Well, she rather steals the show.

Enjoy - and try not to break into a massive grin.

Sing-a-long a sailor - HMS Ocean crew get into the festive spirit

Go on, put yourself in the holiday season mood

You know how some Brits have something of a reputation for being...er...eccentric and not afraid to have a laugh at their own expense?

Well here's something that surely backs up the that often-held view.

(screenshot for HMS Ocean video)

It's lip dubbing - you know the combination of lip syncing and audio dubbing to make a music video - British style.

More specifically it's the crew of HMS Ocean who put together a video to celebrate their anticipated return to the UK on December 9 - just in time for Christmas.

The men and women aboard the ship were only due to be away for seven weeks when they went on a deployment exercise with other nations but that turned into seven months away from loved ones as they "were diverted to Libya and further operations."

Anyway here they all are in a lip-dubbed video of US singer Mariah Carey's version of "All I want for Christmas is you"; four minutes of fun and feel-good sing-a-long.

It has apparently already been featured on US breakfast time TV and a thrilled Carey tweeted the video and thanked the Royal Navy

And Carey's reaction? Well she's thrilled and said as much in a Tweet she sent to the Royal Navy.

"This is the best thing I've ever seen," she wrote. "You guys just made my day! Happy Happy Christmas!!! x0x0 to the troops."

Now here's a challenge. Can any of you - even the most curmudgeonly - not to at least raise a smile at some point during this video.

Ready?

Go on. you know you want to...join in.

A purrfectly ridiculous Christmas present for your cat

All right so it's obviously a marketing strategy; encourage pet owners - in this case those who have cats - to cough up hard-earned centimes for something that's packaged especially for Christmas.

But isn't an Advent Calendar for your furry four-legged friend taking things just a little too far?

An Advent Calendar for your cat

This one's currently available in a major chain of supermarkets throughout France, but of course they're not just in the shops.

Try a simple search on the Net and you'll come across any number of sites reminding us for example that, "Christmas is also for our family pets and this excellent Advent Calendar is a great way to share the excitement of the countdown to the festive season with your feline friends."

Puh-lease.

Goodwill to all creatures great and small all year round and not just during the festive season.

Nothing wrong in that.

But really.

An Advent Calendar to, "provide a little delicacy for your feline every day until Christmas."

Bah humbug!

Que pensez-vous?

Toutou rista - the Doggie Doo poop-scooping game in France

Not sure how to keep the children entertained at Christmas?

Well family games manufacturer Goliath thinks it has the answer with the release in France of Toutou rista.

Toutou rista (screenshot from promotional video)

It's the French version of the same game launched on an unsuspecting German, Spanish and Dutch market last year.

In Germany, under the name of Kackel Dackel it was a huge hit with the promotional video going viral.

None the wiser?

Well perhaps the English name will give the game (sorry) away as it's also being released in the United Kingdom and The United States under the name of Doggie Doo.

It's a game which "aims to teach children how to take care of dogs with poop-scooping gameplay" and French toy industry magazine La revue du jouet named it best infant toy game in France for 2011.

"Feed and walk your little pup, when he makes a mess you clean it up," says the game's manufacturer, Goliath.

"The first player who has 3 pieces of dog mess on his shovel wins the game."

The rules are simple although they include the rather...er...worrying extra remark, "You can only pick up the dog’s mess when it has fallen on the table. When it is hanging outside the end of the dog, just tap him on the back until it drops."

Charming!

Enough said.

New Year "giving" in France; les étrennes and too many calendars

It's not just Christmas that is a time for giving in France.

New Year also sees the practice of giving in cash or in kind to a number of people in specific jobs.

It's the tradition of "les étrennes" or the New Year's gifts given to postal workers, firefighters, rubbish collectors (think that is just about as non-sexist as you can get in describing the jobs) and (where they still exist) apartment block concierges or gardiens, perhaps most accurately translated as janitor or caretaker in English.

As far as concierges or caretakers are concerned, "To celebrate the New Year," writes Christine Henry, a reporter for the daily Aujourd'hui en France - Le Parisien, "It's customary to slip a small envelope (with cash) or offer a box of chocolates or a bottle of champagne to a concierge as thanks for services rendered throughout the year."

Those services include ones not necessarily stipulated in their employment contract such as watering plants, walking the dog or simply being (extra) friendly!

It's also, as Henry points out, a tradition as much in decline as the job itself as the French are counting the centimes and some at least are reluctant to dig very deep into their pockets.

A report on Sunday evening's edition of France 3 news suggested that the amount given, or the form the gift takes, is no longer to be taken for granted. And while most of those interviewed happily agreed that les étrennes were by and large deserved, they reserved the right to determine their exact level.

So much for the concierges, What about the sapeur-pompiers, or firefighters who right now are busy knocking on doors offering their 2011 calendar?

Well, the problem with the calendar they're "giving away" - apart perhaps from the fact that it has nothing remotely "Dieux du Stade" about it, which might come as a disappointment to those fantasising about men (and women) in uniform - is that there's nothing very voluntary about the contribution you're expected to make for a calendar you don't particularly want.

But you'll end up buying it, unless you're a complete misery, because of the 250,000 firefighters in France, almost 80 percent of them are volunteers and you could well owe your life to them at some point in the future.

Almanach du facteur, 2011

And similarly you'll probably already have been offered - and made a contribution to - the Almanach du facteur or the Postman/woman's calendar.

What in the past might have featured pictures of historical figures and events is nowadays more than likely to contain photos of cute kittens, puppies and meaningless landscapes.

Once again even though it's free, a contribution - left to your discretion - is expected. And you can hardly refuse to "buy" one.

In all fairness, certainly in rural parts of France, those delivering the mail provide a service above and beyond the proverbial call of duty.

Posties have been a Godsend to many an elderly person stranded in their homes during the recent cold snap.

Finally there are the rubbish collectors. They too are traditionally entitled to "a little something" but more and more local authorities have clamped down on the practice in recent years because "fake dustmen" have been going from door-to-door pretending to be collecting on behalf of the real ones.

The main problem with all this less-than-warm-hearted virtually institutionalised giving is that nobody really seems to know how much to give or whether to give at all come to that.

And while for some concierges and gardiens the cash received, for what is after all a low-paid job, can constitute a welcome 13th month of salary, there is surely a limit as to what use they can make of so much chocolate or champagne.

Hallelujah - an early Christmas surprise for shoppers in a Canadian mall

It happened just over a month ago as unsuspecting shoppers at The Welland Seaway Mall in southern Ontario were "flash mobbed".

No that's not some sort of perverse sexual behaviour but an occasion when "a large group of people assemble (apparently) suddenly in a public place, perform an unusual act for a brief time and then disperse."

The woman who got the "show on the road" (screenshot from YouTube video)

It's a trend that has more than taken off in recent years in towns and cities around the world, and quite often videos find their way on to YouTube where they frequently "go viral".

A recent such example was on November 13 as "unsuspecting shoppers in the food court of Welland's Seaway Mall got a big surprise while enjoying their lunch".

And it was a seasonal one at that as over 100 participants performed the "Hallelujah" chorus from Handel's "Messiah".

As the organisers said on the video (proving they're Canadian?) "Awesome".

France's 10-metre tall Christmas tree - made from chocolate

You have to hand it to France's chocolatiers. They really know how to grab the headlines with a feel-good story.

After the recent launch of a boat built entirely of chocolate, comes the seasonal tale of a 10-metre Christmas tree completely made from what else but chocolate.

A choco-holics delight!

Patrick Roger's 10-metre high chocolate Christmas tree (screenshot from YouTube video)

The difference this time around though is that it's not only an architectural masterpiece, it's also designed to be savoured as it'll be used in France's annual Téléthon on public television and radio next weekend which raises money for the muscular dystrophy charity, L’Association française contre les myopathies.

The creator of the tree is Patrick Roger who describes himself on his website as a "Chocolate artist, a sculptor of flavours" who treats chocolate like a raw material which he transforms into giant 80-kilogramme creations or wrapped sweets in metre-long boxes."

This time around though he has gone several tonnes better than his usual creations - four tonnes to be precise or around 800,000 bars of standard-sized chocolate as the national British newspaper, The Daily Telegraph helpfully puts it, for the 10-metre tree which took a month to build.

And unlike Georges Larnicol's boat which was made from "recycled decorative chocolate" past its sell-by date and consequently inedible, Roger's tree is definitely to be enjoyed...and devoured.

"In making the tree I also wanted it to serve a purpose," he said.

"People can make a donation - for example €50 - and they'll get an equivalent portion of chocolate," he explained.

"We'll gradually dismantle the tree according to the donations made and at the end of the 30 hours (of the Telethon) the goal is that nothing will be left over."

For those of you interested in getting their choppers around some of the delicious chocolate and contributing to a good cause to boot, you'll have to make your way along to Roger's factory in Sceaux in the southern suburbs of the French capital at some point during the Téléthon (from 6.00pm December 3 until midnight December 4).

Alternatively if you're looking for a mouthwatering Christmas present for your loved ones, you could always check out his website.

In the meantime here are a couple of videos the first from the Daily Telegraph reporting on the creation of the tree and the second, funkier version (in French) featuring a longer interview with Roger himself.




Patrick Roger crée un sapin de 10 mètres en chocolat pour le téléthon sur doctissimo.fr

French bank reveals Santa doesn't exist!

The French bank Crédit Mutuel is in hot water with parents after a commercial it aired revealed that Father Christmas doesn't exist.

The spot only lasts 20 seconds, but it has been the subject of controversy for the best part of a week.

It features a father offering up his adult son some "sound" financial advice, insisting that banks touch a commission whenever they carry out transactions on behalf of their clients.

"I have some bad news for you," the father says to his son right at the beginning of the commercial.

"Father Christmas doesn't really exist."

Crédit Mutuel; "Father Christmas doesn't really exist" (snapshot from commercial)

All right, all right. So nothing too controversial in that. After all he doesn't really exist that is in any tangible sense (apologies to those of you who've just had a myth destroyed).

He is of course a figure used by parents to...well an explanation isn't really necessary, surely.

The problem, apparently as far as many parents in France are concerned, comes not with the commercial or its message so much as with its placement; as it was broadcast immediately before the animated Walt Disney film "Ratatouille" aired on TF1 a week last Sunday.

It is of course a movie aimed primarily at children, and plenty of them were reportedly in front of the box eagerly awaiting the start when their illusions were shattered.

And even though some might think parents were overreacting, a psychologist insisted that finding out in such a way that Santa doesn't really exist could have a detrimental effect on young children.

"Being told so suddenly that Father Christmas is imaginary could be viewed (by children) as a punishment or a lie," children's psychologist Sonia Ouali told the French website Rue89.

"Denying this imaginary figure (in such a manner) is like taking away part of childhood."

Crédit Mutuel's initial reaction was to try to play down the growing storm of protest.

"It would be a mistake to withdraw the commercial," its communications director, Bernard Sadoun, told Rue89.

"The whole controversy has been taken totally out of context."

But in an effort to diffuse mounting criticism, including a Facebook group protesting the commercial, it subsequently contributed to the debate by posting its own message in threads in which it promised it would "only air the spot after 8;30pm to reduce its impact on young children."

Pub Scandale : Le père Noël n'existe pas Vidéo jeanmarcmorandini sélectionnée dans Pub

Flatulent turtles send alarm bells ringing

Christmas and New Year might have come and gone, but here's a tale that (among other things) involves the mightily underrated brussels sprout - a seasonal favourite to dedicated fans.



Thanks must go in advance to the weekly French news magazine, Marianne, which on page 27 of the most recent issue brings its readers this story from across the Channel: one that might otherwise have gone unnoticed in the media here.

It concerns that humble aforementioned vegetable, its undesirable side-effects (on animals, human and otherwise), an aquarium in the British town of Great Yarmouth and some of its inhabitants - turtles.

Apparently staff at the town's Sea Life Centre took the unusual step just before the Christmas period of lowering the amount of water in the tank containing a certain "George", an eight-year-old green turtle.

It was a preventative measure just in case George - and the other turtles - reacted as they had done a year earlier to the seasonal treat of brussels sprouts they had been given - namely with flatulence.

Apparently the vegetable not only supplies a healthy dollop of vitamins, fibres and minerals for George and friends but also a pretty fair blast of wind.

So much so that the previous Christmas had been something of a nightmare for staff, with the accompanying "symphony of air bubbles" causing water to overflow on to the floor, and setting off the sensitive alarm system in the middle of the night.

This time around there were no such worries though.

George still got his brussels, but the precautionary measure taken by staff of lowering the water levels also meant that they were able to enjoy the holiday period without being woken by an alarm.