‘Tis

‘Tis The Season Again For Xmas in Frisco

‘Tis the absolute best thing about this time of year, the annual return of Xmas in Frisko.

New Mailing List

The new mailing list ’tis up-and-running, thanks to all your feedback.

If you’re not on the list, you’re a loser.

Sign up to the right, in the sidebar, and be a winner.

‘Nuf said.

Paris Bites Back

The Independent newspaper of London has a very good article, Paris Bites Back with five very famous people. And me.
‘Tis a discussion on the state of French food.

You can read what I had to say, along with three-star chef Pierre Gagnaire and molecular gastronomist Hervé This.
Ignore the idiotic comments of Gerard Depardieu, who may want to stick to acting.

And I wouldn’t eat anything from the garden of his grandmother. ‘Tis for sure.

Holiday Shopping

‘Tis the season to shop. Why not do it online, like cool people like me are doing?
You can find some of my favorite things here.

Borat

‘Tis like a Saturday Night Live skit (from the good-old-days) that goes on for 1 hour and 25 minutes too long.
The French teenage boys in the audience, however, were howling with laughter.

Enough said.

Paris Transit Notes

1. Finally! The métro will now be running an extra one hour later on Saturday nights, with the last train leaving each end station roughly at 2am. So no more racing out the door to catch the last train. (Tho ’tis an easy way to get rid of dinner guests.)

The bus and métro drivers are planning a strike in protest, naturally, scheduled for the first Saturday night in December, from 10:30pm until 2:30am. ‘Tis normale.

2. A number of the underground stations have been renovated and they’re getting rid of the cashiers, so you might have to buy tickets via machines.

I haven’t used one of the new machines yet, but they may not take foreign credit cards, so have change on hand. A carnet of 10 tickets ’tis available in most Tabacs in Paris as well.

3. Paris ’tis phasing out the economical Carte Orange sometime in 2007 with Navigo cards, which contain an electronic puce . The Carte Orange is intended for residents (although most tourists have no trouble buying one) and allows unlimited rides for about 16 euros during one week, from Monday to Sunday only. At present, a Carte Orange can still be purchased at underground stations, but bring a postage-stamp sized photo.

‘Tis all.