Ma Petite Lettre de Paris

January  2002

What's new in Paris for this first 2002's month?  

For some experts, there is a big threat of overflow in Paris now. All the conditions are met in Paris to generate an exceptional overflow. The last one occurred in 1910 : on January 28^th 1910, the river Seine reached the 8 m 42 level ( 25 ½ feet ) It had grown of 6 meters within 6 days and it came back in its bed by march 15^th .

Today, only 2 days of strong rains will be enough to play again the 1910 story ! Last January 2nd, the River Seine reached the 4 meters level  (12 feet) and the left bank ways were closed without special warnings.

Since 3 years, it has been raining a lot over Paris . By consequence, all the reservoirs of water around Paris are full. Additionally, we have had a very cold weather last weeks so the earth is not ready to absorb more rain. One million of Parisian people will risk to be impacted by the Seine overflow  with multiple potential problems with : traffic, electricity, gaz, water, metro ...

The Louvre museum and the Carousel Gallery would be in the water and the Orsay museum has setup an emergency plan to save famous paintings (Manet, Gauguin, ....) !

The first warning is when the  Zouave statue on Pont de L'Alma has his legs in the water .
By the way nothing is sure, itonly a scenario, but now every day we take a look at the sky and crossing fingers ! !

Paris Eiffel tower still open 

The Eiffel Tower painting campaign has begun :

Every seven years the Eiffel Tower needs a lifting. Perhaps you have seen on my photos a big green net under the first floor ? campaign painting has started by December 2001. The color is the special " brown-green Eiffel Tower color". 25 mountaineers-painters will be working during the next 18 months to paint it, with traditional paintbrushes !

This lifting needs 6 tonnes of paint. Before painting, they have to wash , to scrash and to inject anti-corrosion products..

As a preparation for the painting campaign, all the lights that you have seen between jannuay 2000 to july 20001 have been removed. Imagine how to remove a bulb at the top of the tower ? only mountaineers can do that.

The tower is open during this period and all is done not to disturb the visitors. The painting campaign will stop during summer to let the visitors fully enjoy the tower..

Paris news :   

The big fairy weel leaves Place de la Concorde : 

After 2 years, the mayor of Paris imposed the Big fairy weel to move from Place de la Concorde to the Reuilly green .
At the beginning, it has been decided that the fairy weel would stay there only for the year 2000. One part of Parisians people were against this Grande Roue (Fairy weel) because they thought that the Place de la Concorde is not a place for a merry-go-round. The other part think that it was beautiful, lighting the city of Light and offering to visitors a splendid panorama of Paris with the Champ-Elysees, The River Seine and the Eiffel Tower.

Personally, I am very sad to see it leaving because it was exactly at the right place and I loved it there. The Grande Roue remembered me the wonderful festivities of the millenium and the beautiful fire work in front of the Eiffel Tower.

Paris in euro :

Since January 2001, the Euro is in business and it is a big change for us. 

The first day, it was crazy, it was like a big monopoly game. All of them went to the cash machines to get their first Euros and to spend them in nearby shops to do their first purchases in Euros ! Retailers were as lost as clients with this new money and we tried to help each others! 

It is funny to change our mind, our references, with this new money. For instance, when we see amounts in Euros, we have either to divide by 6.55957 or to try to consider this new amounts as the new reference for our brains and to forget definitively French francs reference ! More than that, we have to be  careful about the centimes ( 10 Euro centimes equal 65 french centimes).I think that it would be easier for American people than for us as the change rate is much closer to the dollars than to the french francs.

With Euros, There are lot of coins: one, two, five, ten, twenty , fifty centimes and one, two  euros.

The billets are five, ten, twenty , fifty and one hundred Euros. I have never seen yet fifty and one hundred ones yet ! The size is larger than the dollar, less practical in the pocket but quite nice with a bridge on one face and a gate on the other one, but we don’t know where these monuments are from ! The five Euros billets are quite rare !

When the Euros billets began to circulate, a small french company, specialized in satellite images processing have had the big surprise to discover that the image of Europe printed in the background of all the Euros billets were a perfect reproduction of one of their processed image. The problem is that this image has a copyright and this small french company is arguing that the copyrights have been bypassed by the European Bank. This is now to the European Court to decide either to destroy the millions of billlets or to ask for a financial compensation to the benefit of this company. Lucky people !

Do the prices increase with Euro? For some of them yes. For instance, before the Euro, I was used to pay 50 French francs for a meal in my favorite restaurant (Le Cafe du Marche) and now I have to pay 8 Euros (52.98 french francs) ! 

Finally, it is amazing to see young people (as my sons for instance), thinking in Euros as if it has been their money for a long long time ! They belong to the Euro generation.

A bientot.

Noelle from PARIS Champ de Mars.

You like to read my previous letters: 

Ma petite lettre de PARIS- December  2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- November  2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- Oct  2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- July  2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- June  2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- Mai 2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- April 2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- March 2001
Ma petite lettre de PARIS- feb 2001 

Any comments or feedbacks, please E-Mail me at: Noelle@babiole.com

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