Quintessential French Objects
Turning 90, the Air France anniversary
A French Icon, the Citroen 2CV
A French Icon, the Citroen 2CV is probably France's most famous car.
The Deux Chevaux, or the ‘Tin Snail’ as it became affectionately known, was conceptualized in 1936 during a moment of frustration or the right man in the right situation. The inspired man behind the project was Citroen’s new boss Pierre-Jules Boulanger. The story goes he was driving in the countryside, stuck behind a farmer’s horse and cart. Rather than fuming with impatience, but still a bit frustrated, he wondered how he could better the situation. He pondered the possibility of creating analternative that a farmer would find hard to resist. A car that would better the horse.
His vision was an affordable car that would be accessible to farmers, winemakers and rural families. He wanted it to be mechanically simple, with room for four people or produce (at least 50kg or a full cask of wine) or even small livestock. The car needed t…
Silk Scarves
Essential France: Objects
Quintessential French Objects
History, Politics and… Camemberts
by Bernard Richard, Historian
Camembert is one of France's gastronomic emblems along with the baguette, champagne, coq au vin, wine and many other products that make up the French identity.
According to a well established, but undocumented, legend the cheese called camembert was created in about 1791 by a certain Marie Harel, a milkmaid whose statue was inaugurated by the French president in 1928 in the town of Vimoutiers, which is the administrative center down the road from the village of Camembert. Vimoutiers is in the Orme department in Normandy. The story goes that Marie, during the chaos of the Revolution, gave refuge to a priest who came from Brie, east of Paris, and that to show his gratitude the priest gave Marie the famous cheese recipe. But in fact much earlier, around 1705, Thomas Corneille, brother of the playwright Pierre, already wrote of the good cheese from Camembert.
The round boxes…
Unique reuseable gift wrap
Christmas Gift wrap rolls are so passé! Each year, the French buy 40 million rolls of gift wrap. These papers are largely non-recyclable because of their glossy or plasticized finishes. Moreover, being single use, they go in the trash as soon as the gifts are unwrapped, generating more than 20,000 tons of waste just at Christmas ... There are alternatives! Here's a few good ideas for reuseable gift wrap which are ecological, economical, reuseable for the most part and made in France.
A reuseable gift wrap bag hand made by Sac(k)s by Lisa. These simple drawstring bags are made from upcycled fabrics. They come in a variety of sizes and are perfect for books, socks and all sorts of goodies. They can be ordered on https://store.fusac.fr/produit/gift-bags/ 4€ each.
DIY Gift Wrap with recycled materialsMake your own gift wrap from old maps & atlas pages, or dictionary pages. Use rubber stamps or stenc…
Discover 90+ Ways You Know You’re Becoming French
"This is really funny--I actually improved my quality of life from "Becoming French". The one about saying bonjour to the bus driver and not your neighbor? I realized I didn't often greet the bus driver so …