RTHK 法識生活

RTHK 法識生活

從生活學習語文，從語文認識生活

從生活角度出發，透過飲食、旅遊、品牌、藝術、電影和音樂等不同領域，學習簡易法文，認識法國這個國家的文化底蘊，欣賞法國人追求品味與享受的生活態度。

法識生活，陳祖泳(法國駐香港及澳門總領事館法國五月法國文化推廣部發展總監)、李仁傑主持，李仁傑編導，伍曼儀監製，香港電台文教組製作，法國駐香港及澳門總領事館全力支持。

Report: French consul general in Hong Kong suspended over conduct

(image from HKTDC)

Hong Kong - France's top diplomat in Hong Kong has been suspended and recalled to Paris to be investigated over his conduct, a government-run radio station said Friday.

Consul General Marc Fonbaustier, 46, was suspended over behaviour that would "likely not meet the requirements of professional conduct for a French diplomat," RTHK reported.

Quoting a Foreign Affairs Ministry official in Paris, the radio station said Fonbaustier, who is married with three children and has been in Hong Kong since 2009, left the former British colony Monday.

The official was quoted as saying the consul general had been suspended from duty while an investigation was conducted. No details of the alleged misconduct were given.

There was no immediate response from the French consulate in Hong Kong. However, a notice on its website announced Fonbaustier had left his post and returned to Paris because of "an emergency."

Deputy Consul General Agnes Humrazian would take over his duties, the notice said. It gave no details of the reason for Fonbaustier's departure.


(adapted from Earth Times)

Les Plus Jeunes Amoureux du monde

Mont-Saint-Michel - I went there before

Want to know more about French dining etiquette?

 

Join French Alumni Association's Cafe Parlez! session on 7th Oct:

To apply: http://www.faa-hk.com/index.php/event/eventdetail/17

Versailles traditionalists decry outlandish display 凡爾賽宮村上隆展遭敵視

(Source: www.okaygreat.com) Versailles traditionalists decry outlandish display

Pascale Mollard-Chenebenoit Updated on Aug 31, 2010

A show of outlandish sculptures by a cult Japanese artist in the historic Chateau of Versailles near Paris has enraged traditionalists who say it dishonours France's past. From September 14 to December 12, visitors to Versailles will see eye-grabbing statues in silver, fibreglass and metal by Takashi Murakami alongside the chateau's ornate murals and chandeliers. "The Chateau de Versailles is one of the greatest symbols of Western history," Murakami says in a statement on the museum's website. "The Versailles of my imagination ... has become a kind of completely separate and unreal world," he adds. "That is what I have tried to depict in this exhibition." Versailles enthusiasts branded it an outrage to their beloved museum in the upmarket Paris suburb. "Murakami and company have no business in the Chateau of Versailles!" reads a message on the website Versailles Mon Amour, dedicated to a petition which it says has gained more than 3,500 signatures. "The chateau is not a billboard but one of the symbols of our history and our culture," it says. France's King Louis XVI was driven from the chateau by revolutionaries in 1789 and guillotined four years later. His ancestor Louis XIV had set up court there in the 17th century, living in his royal apartments - site of the new exhibition. The museum's director, former culture minister Jean-Jacques Aillagon, says the protests "come from far-right fundamentalist circles and from very conservative circles". Such groups see Versailles as "a reliquary of nostalgia of [pre-revolution] Ancien Regime France, of a France that is turned in on itself and hostile to modernity," Aillagon says. Murakami has a global cult following, but his brash, colourful style and sometimes gleefully obscene subject matter are not to everyone's taste. The 47-year-old artist's work evokes the look of manga comic books, perhaps most famously in the 1997 statue Hiropon, which depicts a large-chested girl skipping over a "rope" of spurting breast milk. In another sculpture, My Lonesome Cowboy, a naked young man finds a novel use for his own semen. These two works are not part of the Versailles exhibition, but Anne Brassie, a local literary critic who launched the petition, cites them as showing that Murakami was not worthy to have his work displayed in Versailles. "The young man with an erect penis whose sperm forms a lasso, the little woman with big breasts whose milk forms a skipping rope - these have no place in the royal apartments," she says. Another patriotic cultural group, Versailles Defence Co-ordination, also launched a petition which it says has gained more than 4,000 signatures. Its leader, Arnaud Upinsky, says the exhibition is "illegal". Aillagon says the works in the show "were chosen carefully so they could be seen by everyone". They include Oval Buddha Silver, a meditating silver figure with a huge globular head, and the multicoloured psychedelic sculpture Flower Matango. The Murakami show is one in a series of contemporary installations in the chateau, launched by Aillagon. The first such show in 2008, with bright and bizarre sculptures by the US artist Jeff Koons, also angered traditionalists. Prince Charles-Emmanuel de Bourbon-Parme, an heir of Louis XIV, tried to get it banned, saying it dishonoured his family's past, but the courts dismissed his bid. Visitors flocked to the Koons show and to the second in the series last year, with works by French pop artist Xavier Veilhan, including futuristic purple horses, a naked woman and a colossal four-metre Yuri Gagarin. Aillagon said the series "aims to give visitors to historic monuments the chance to discover art that is less familiar to them, and to those who want to see Takashi Murakami or Jeff Koons to come to the chateau where they wouldn't normally come". The organisers of the site said a "playful" demonstration was planned in front of the chateau on the day of the exhibition's opening. Agence France-Presse ------------------------ 凡爾賽宮村上隆展遭敵視  7500人聯署　指作品色情對法國不敬 日本當紅藝術家、「日本安迪華荷」村上隆，下月 14日起在法國凡爾賽宮（ Palace of Versailles）舉行為期約三個月的作品展。但展覽未開始，已引起迴響，觸發抗議。傳統派人士批評他的作品意識色情，在凡爾賽宮展出是對法國歷史文 化的不敬，兩個團體已收集到至少 7,500人聯署反對。館方反指批評者眷戀王權時代的法國，敵視現代化。 村上隆在凡爾賽宮官方網頁為即將舉行的作品展撰文說：「凡爾賽宮是西方歷史重要象徵之一。我想像中的凡爾賽宮，成為了一個完全抽離和超現實的世界。這是我嘗試在今次展覽帶出的效果。」但保守派凡爾賽宮忠實擁躉認為，他的作品是對這座藝術聖殿的侮辱。 「村上隆等人跟凡爾賽宮拉不上關係！凡爾賽宮不是廣告板，是我們歷史和文化的象徵之一。」在名為「我愛凡爾賽」（ Versailles Mon Amour）的網頁，不少人留言反對村上隆在凡爾賽宮的展覽，至今收集了逾 3,500個簽名支持。 另 一文化組織「凡爾賽保衞協調」（ Versailles Defence Coordination）也有類似簽名活動，有逾 4,000人支持，組織負責人烏平斯基甚至認為村上隆今次展覽是「非法的」。法國前王室後裔曾以展覽侮辱其家族歷史為由，向法庭申請禁制令，但不獲接納。 47 歲的村上隆，藝術作品風格，既豪放又充滿色彩，有時還帶點淫褻的玩味，非人人能接受。他的作品漫畫味濃，最有名是 1997年的雕塑《 Hiropon》，一個漫畫女郎的巨乳噴出的人奶形成繩狀，她就做出跳繩姿態。另一出位之作是《我的寂寞牛仔》（ My Lonesome Cowboy）雕塑，展示一名年輕男子陰莖勃起，射出的精液成套索狀。 館方指批評者眷戀王權時代 雖然這兩個雕像都不會在今次展覽中展出，但文學批評家布拉西耶（ Anne Brassie）認為，這兩件作品足以證明村上隆的作品不配在凡爾賽宮展覽。 凡 爾賽宮總監、前文化部長阿亞戈（ Jean-Jacques Aillagon）則為村上隆平反，指抗議的人都是來自「極右原教旨主義者圈子和極保守派人士圈子」，他們視凡爾賽宮為法國王權時代的遺物，與外隔絕，敵 視現代化。他指今次展覽展出的作品「都經過仔細挑選，保證老少咸宜」，包括銀製雕像《 Oval Buddha Silver》和色彩艷麗的雕塑《 Flower Matango》。他希望讓參觀歷史建築物的遊客有機會接觸他們不大認識的藝術，也希望吸引村上隆的支持者到歷史建築物參觀。 法新社 (資料：蘋果日報)

FAA is going to Monsieur Chatte tonight

FAA (French Alumni Association) is organising a Cafe Parlez! (our french-speaking series) session at French Grocery Store, Monsieur Chatte tonight, unfortunately I can't make it. :( I am sure it will be fun.

If you want to go on your own you can see the address on the image above. And their website for more info: Monsieur Chatte.

Carte postale de CP

Merci CP!

Joueuse (Caroline Bottaro) - Bande Annonce

The good thing about European film is that anything could be the theme of a film, this one is about chess, are you interested?

Imagine if a Hong Kong film on Chinese chess, would people go see? I doubt it. haha! That's why I love European films, 下棋悟出人生道理, great!

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| Dir: Caroline Bottaro | France/Germany | 2009 |
| Colour | 101min |
| Cast: Sandrine Bonnaire, Kevin Kline, Jennifer Beals |

Helene is no queen. She works as a maid in a Corsican hotel while living a mundane life with her husband and a rebellious daughter. But when she chances upon a couple playing chess, she becomes inspired to learn the centuries-old game. Upon seeing a game set while cleaning for an American expat named Dr. Kroger, she tries to convince her employer to tutor her. Thus begins her journey into self-discovery… Sandrine Bonnaire delivers a elegantly understated performance, supported by a surprising turn by Kevin Kline in a French-speaking role.

2009 Tribeca, Montréal Film Festival

Screening Time:
| 26/8/2010 (Thu) | 19:30 | AC |
| 31/8/2010 (Tue) | 19:30 | UL |

(Info adapted from HK Summer IFF)

Email HK Interpreter - Louise

法國軍情 iPhone 即時睇

蘋果日報 2010年08月04日 (10:39 am)

法國海軍與美國蘋果公司 crossover合作， iPhone手機用戶可從蘋果網上商店下載「法國海軍」免費應用軟件後，就可了解法國海軍裝備情況、徵兵情況等消息。

「法國海軍」 iPhone手機免費應用軟件主要內容包括「艦隊」「徵兵」「百科」「新聞」「視頻」和「媒體」等。

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I can't find it in Apple App Store, anyone who knows the name of this app, please let me know!

HK Summer IFF 2010: Partir (Leaving)

Leaving (Partir)

Dir: Catherine Corsini | France | 2009

Colour | 85min

Cast: Kristin Scott Thomas, Yvan Attal, Sergi Lopez

After reinventing herself as a French thespian in the acclaimed I’ve Loved You So Long, Kristin Scott Thomas once again mesmerizes as a woman who leaves her marriage for another man. It’s a classic Lady Chatterley plot, but imbued with genuine emotions and convincing psychological fortitude. Suzanne (Thomas) lives a bourgeois existence with her physician husband Samuel (Yvan Attal) for over twenty years, until the day she meets handyman Ivan (Sergi Lopez). Catherine Corsini’s direction keep things unpredictable even as the jealously and passion build to a boiling point.

2009 Toronto, London, Seattle International Film Festival

(Info adapted from HK Summer IFF)

Le Petit Prince @ Elements

 A nice brochure for you to take

There's another part of it - different planets which Le Petit Prince went to, I will go back to take more photos!

(More info: Elements website)

Short Film: Gratte papier

Very romantic...

French vocab: Short film = Un court-métrage

Handmade La Tour Eiffel Bookmark

My very nice and talented piano teacher gave me this as a gift because she knows how much I like about Paris. :) I love it.

And my colleague gave me this book corner, which she bought in Korea, and coincidently, it has French on it! :P

iPhone dock

I bought an iPhone dock, JBL, a week after my Franch trip, the main purpose is for me to listen to french radio with iPhone app: Radio France (like what I doing now while writing this blog post). I think it's very good for practising my listening, and also I can pretend to be in France still. Haha!

French oral test

I had my oral test this week, the topic was Maison, I wasn't too worried about it. And it's quite short, each person had about 5-10 mins. We were given some photos of different types of maisons en france, and we had to choose which one we like and why. I thought I didn't speak enough.

Anyway, after the 4 of us (the first group) finished, we all left together and the prof said my pronunciation is obviously better than the whole class. I am happy about it. And now I know that I really have to read more french news and books to increase my vocabulary.

Day 3: Paris (31 Mar 2010)

It's a nice day today, very sunny, and the first destination is Musée du Louvre:

On the side before going in. Well, I didn't actually go inside the Louvre cos I did before, and it isn't too cheap and it will take a long time to walk around, that's why I chose not to.

Louvre Pyramid by Chinese-American I.M.Pei (貝聿銘).

Me with the Pyramid, I kind of fall in love with taking photos for myself, haha!

I quite like this picture myself, blue blue sky with Louvre and Pyramid, nice!

And you can see La Tour Effiel from here: (see the thick clouds there?)

Weather is quite unpreditable here, just now there's blue blue sky and suddenly, out of nowhere the clouds came together and it rained:

This is actually took after hiding in the bookshop of Louvre, I have to say that the rain here, even if it's not heavy, it's quite useless to have an umbrella because it's windy!

Next destination - L'arc de Triumphe, and see the cars on Champs Elysee? Always so 車水馬龍. I walked from Louvre to here, it took about 15-20 mins I guess, not too far, and I like walking:

And time for lunch! I chose a cheap place, and the sun came back out, so I chose to sit out, but I got an uninvited "friend" to keep me company:

The bread is nice, not so much the cake though. And here's my "friend"

Yes, the pigeon! I tried so many times to make it go away, it didn't want to! And they symbolise peace? I think it's trying to make a war with me, and up close, they look ugly! I think these are the 風塵白鴿, don't think it's the same type as the peaceful ones.

And then I was already quite tired, but still went to the Virgin bookshop, it's huge! And I bought the thick Petit Nicholas which Mani has at home for myself, and bought 2 other thin versions as souvenir.

And I also went inside Sephora, just to have a look, and then left to go back, cos was really tired as my bag is really heavy.

I took a nap before having dinner with Matthieu at his place, he's an exchange student at PolyU, and it's so good to see him and his wife and daughter of 2 whose name is also Louise! Haha. Cute girl. The flat is nice with a mezzanine (a new french word from him) :). The dinner is in English, I mean our conversation, yea, my level of french still can't last for dinner long. Anyway, it's a very nice soiree. I am going to meet him again the coming Friday for lunch before we left for St.Michel Chef Chef for the long weekend.

Day 2: Paris (30 Mar 2010)

The second day I woke up at around 12 sth, and got changed and left at around 1 sth. I regretted it when I went outside that I wore so little clothes, but didn't go back to take the coat. I thought it would be ok. The first place I went, of course, La Tour Eiffel, but the sky was quite grey:

I was quite pleased with my self-serviced photo.

It was super windy and a bit rainy that day, and obviously I didn't wear enough. In fact, I waited under a cover for a few minutes from the rain before coming to this place for this photo.

And afterwards, I walked back to the Eiffel tower side to walk along the park, but the rain got heavier, so I hid inside a bus station, and waited for like 5 mins or so, still the rain didn't stop, so I changed my mind to not go to the Arc de Triomphe, but somewhere else, and I hopped on a bus, thought it was going to Gare du Nord side, to the Louvre direction, but then after 1 stop, the bus driver said "c'est le terminus" (it's the terminus), and I was like "..." I got on the wrong direction!! Such a waste of a ticket! (It's 11.6 euros for 10 tickets which can be used for metro and bus) and I had to run from the bus to somewhere covered. After 10 mins or so, I finally found a metro station called DUPLEIX:

So tired...and I was quite wet. After this tired got lost bit, I found my way to Rue de Rivoli, was gonna go to the Louvre, but I went...shopping!

The first thing I wanted to buy was a coat or jacket because it was way too cold, I ran inside ZARA, couldn't find anything for my size. Then went to Etam (don't think HK has this shop), it's on discount up to 50%. Finally, I bought a knitwear, felt much better afterwards! And also bought a pair of gumboots there, size 36, but it fits. After the shopping, I was already quite tired, so didn't bother to go Louvre, instead I went to a small cafe at Chatelet, drank a hot chocolate, wrote my diary and relax.

You can see that the sun has now come out, it was about 6:30pm then. The day time ends about 7:30pm nowadays in Paris. I was sitting by the entrance, in front of me is a Chatelet monument:

And then I went back home to meet Guillaume et Mani to go to the Salon de Livres. It's quite nice, but the entrance is 9 euros, unlike HK's cheap price, don't know why people are willing to pay to get in, ours were free from Guillaume's brother or sth. :) And we bought a book called Oscar et La Dame Rose, which is made into a movie, and the author was there, we were gonna get la dedicace, but it's too late, so we took a picture next to him instead:

And outside the bookfair, there was a piece of berlin wall, for some reasons it's there, so we took a picture too:

And finally, the moon was SUPER big and round, 難道外國既月亮真係月d?

Dinner was at a french brasserie, Guillaume said it's a 法國茶餐廳, but still has entree, plat et dessert = menu.

It's been a nice day walking alone in Paris.

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Day 1: Paris (29 Mar 2010)

The flight HK - SH - Paris on China Eastern was far better than I expected. And the pleasant surprise on the flight from HK to SH:

Yeah! Chocolate Haagen Daz ice-cream! Wow, I thought I was on CX. Haha! Although I have to mention that the German guy sitting next to me was a bit ma fan (you know, with a Chinese girlfriend and thought he's a king that type of caucasian.). Anyway, after landing, I went through the customs, which I didn't expect it because I thought connecting flight doesn't need to, and thus I didn't bring my back-to-china card (回鄉咭), so there was a female police who escorted me to the gate to my flight, I felt so important. Haha!

There was free wi-fi at the Pudong Airport, so I immediately took out my iPhone to get online on MSN, and it also made the hour long wait shorter. The airport:

And then the 13-hour journey began...

It wasn't too bad the flight, the plane is big and quite new, I chose the exit seat, this bigger seat which most people desire turns out to be unsuitable for me, because...my legs are too short! :P So I couldn't rest my legs on the seat in front which made it difficult to have a nice sleep (cos I usually curl up like a ball), so it's a no for me next time. The food is the same as the previous flight, fish noodle and chicken rice. Although it's not the best seat for me, I did manage to get some sleep after all.

It felt quite fast for the 13-hour journey, and the wait at the carousel was not too long also. I took my big suitcase to find the RER to my friend's place - Cite Universitaire, good that I could use the trolley for half way, and then I pushed it to the RER platform, the ticket was 8.5 euro, which is ok cos it goes straight from airport to the station. There was a guy who kept shouting Paris to people who want to get on the train, I looked at him and he wasn't wearing a uniform, so he's not a staff of the train, and a couple minutes later, he was handing out a card to the passenger, it said "I am a refugee, need to take care of 1 brother, a mother...1 to 2 euro or ticket restaurant is good for me...etc." And then I immediately think "Get a job then!". After like a few seconds, he collected the cards back, I don't think anyone has given him anything. Well, such a waste as a human being.

The train looks like as I remember it: windows with scratches, seats a bit dirty. But still on time. It took about 40 mins from airport drectly to Cite Universitaire, when I got off, I didn't see my friend, so I pushed my suitcase to get out of the station, still don't see her, so I went to the phone booth to try to make a call, the pay phones here don't allow coins, just local bank cards or credit card, but after two failed attempts of my two cards, I didn't know what to do. I stood there and waited for a bit, and then I tried again, still failed, finally I saw the number for calling the operator, I gave the guy my card number and card details, and finally I got through to her. After about 15 mins she arrived, she told me she set the alarm, but it's because the day before the day time saving starts and she forgot to change the time on the phone. Haha. Anyway, we then took the tramway for 1 station to go to her place. Her place is on the 4th floor, which means we have to carry the suitcase up. The move was actually not as bad as I expected.

We rested and chatted for a couple hours, and then I got changed and went out, took a bus to a place called St.Michel, where Notre Dame located. Had a nice relaxing lunch, walked around, took some pictures:

We went to this famous book store: Shakespeare, it was in the film of Before Sunrise or After Sunset, it sells English books, and it's very nice inside:

Everything is very old inside, the bookselves, table, chairs. Very nice vintage feel.

And then we walked around the area, went to Notre Dame, but didn't go inside this time:

And we also walked inside a park where we saw this cute baby:

This wrapped up my first day. It's nice to be back in Paris! :)

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