Paris Journal 2007

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Cover of the catalog for the “alive!” exhibition in Paris. 
You can see some of the exhibition online by clicking here. 
Click on “English version” in the upper right corner, then
click on “Alive exhibition.”  Then choose “texts and photos
from the exhibition” in the left column.

 

From the catalog:  “Coleman Shrimp – This Indonesian
shrimp hides and lives exclusively between the venomous
prickles of a toxic urchin, called Fire Urchin, and is widely
feared among the reef’s inhabitants.  Once settled on its
host, the shrimp starts to prune a couple spines and
ambulacra – the urchin’s ‘feet’ – thus creating a perfectly
smooth and flat territory.  To this nice comfortable home
the male shrimp brings the female, which is the bigger of
the two.  Most shrimps are models of fidelity, staying
with the same partner all their life.”

(Credit:  James D. Watt/J.H. Editorial)

 

Of course some wildlife can be bothersome, like the
pigeons of Paris.  Here, building owners went to the
extreme step of netting their cupola so the pigeons can’t
use it.

 

One of the enchanting gardens of the Parc André Citroën.

 

A remnant of the old village of Grenelle in this shed-like
structure, surrounded by more modern buildings.

Wednesday, August 15

 

Today is the big French holiday, the Feast of the Assumption.  After today, Paris starts to wake up again, with Parisians returning from vacation.

 

So many places are closed that I knew buying the newspapers today could be a challenge.  The International Herald Tribune was no problem – the man in the kiosque at the park on Commerce was working and he had that paper in stock.  But he had no Le Parisien, Aujourdhui en France, and no L’Equipe – all the newspapers owned by the Amaury group.  The customer in front of me was especially disappointed.  I just expected something like this. 

 

So I started a huge loop of walking through parts of the 15th and 7th arrondissements.  All the newsstands I passed were either closed for the holiday or out of Le Parisen.  I’d buy a different paper, such as Le Monde, but the type is too small and the French is a bit too tough going for us.  We could handle it, but it would be tiring.  And sometimes Le Parisien can be downright funny.  Le Monde is so serious, like the International Herald Tribune.

 

After walking the length of the avenue de la Bourdonnais, I decided to give up and go see the outdoor photographic exhibition called “alive!” at the Porte de la Bourdonnais on the Seine (between the Eiffel Tower and the Musée du Quai Branly).  I had read about this exhibition in July when Tom and I were at the Jardin des Plantes.

 

My sister, who saw the exhibition last Sunday, said that if you’re the kind of person who has to read every plaque, it will take you a couple hours to see this.  Well, I am exactly that kind of person and that is exactly how long it took for me to make my way through it.

 

The exhibition consisted of large, beautiful color photographs of wildlife, mostly endangered wildlife, and lots of information about environmental threats to humans and wildlife.  The information was very well written and presented, in French and in English. 

 

The exhibition was put together by photographer Yann Arthus-Bertrand, and many of his photographs are included.  But there is work from others, too.  He did this as a part of his work with GoodPlanet.org, the major sponsor of the show.  Other sponsors include Foundation Bru, Canon Corporation, the City of Paris, the bankers Lombard Odier Darier Hentsche & Cie, and the World Wildlife Foundation.

 

I’m sure that part of the purpose of the exhibition is to convince the French to do more for the environment, because much of the information was directed at the French.  For example:  “In France, 80% of waste is recyclable, but only 12% is actually recycled.” (Source: French Agency for Environment and Energy Management [ADEME] www.ademe.fr )

 

Here’s another one:

“Only 2% of the world’s farmland is cultivated organically.” (French National Observatory of Organic Agriculture)

“Australia, Agentina, Italy, the United States and Brazil have the world’s largest areas of organic farmland.  In Europe, 3.5% of farmland is cultivated organically, an area that grew by 7% between 2002 and 2003.  Just 2% of France’s agricultural land is farmed organically, with France ranking 13th in Europe and 25th in the world.  Worldwide consumption of organic produce is increasing, however, by between 10% and 20% annually.”

 

And here’s a zinger:

“In the United States, 1 dollar in every 8 is invested in ethical funds.  In France, it is less than 1 euro out of 100.”  (Novethic – www.novethic.fr )

 

And there is plenty of scientific information about the animals in the beautiful photos.

 

My sister, after seeing the exhibition, decided to buy a black t-shirt that says “vivant!” for “alive!” as a gift for Nathan, her son.  I decided to buy the catalog for the exhibit, so I can continue to share information from it with you in this journal.

I had an entire conversation in French with the gentleman who was selling the catalogs.  We exchanged friendly greetings and I asked to buy a catalog.  He put my credit card through the wrong slot in the machine at first, so I said that there is no microchip in the card (pas de puce).  He said, ah, no puce, and slipped my card through the other slot.  He said it would take a few moments, but it didn’t take long.  As he waited for the tape to print out, he said he hoped I didn’t mind, but they are trying to keep some record of where the exhibition’s visitors come from.  He asked if I would be willing to tell him what state I was from.  I answered “Floride.”  He seemed a little surprised, saying that for some reason, many of the Americans visiting the exhibition (at least the ones who stopped to buy a catalog or t-shirt, I guess) were from California.  I explained that there are many environmentalists in California. 

Of course, California is a huge state and it was slammed by terrible air pollution from autos starting 30 years ago.  It was enough to wake anyone up.

We exchanged thank-you’s and good-day’s and I was on my way. 

Almost home, I found that a brand new stack of Le Parisien newspapers had arrived at the marketplace kiosque.  A 70-something woman waited until I was at the cashier, and then she tried to make off with a free newspaper, hoping the cashier would be distracted.  But the young and nimble cashier bounced out from behind the counter and followed her, saying that the paper was not free.  She paid.  There were lots of people around, since it is market day on the boulevard de Grenelle, Feast of the Assumption or no.

 

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