I hope this type of post is OK here. It is sort of off topic, but not completely. My daughter has to do a report on France for her 6th grade geography class. I figure there are several folks here from France, so was hoping I could get some information on French culture from the actual French point of view. Sort of a 'man on the street' interview type of thing. She's interested in the art, music, cuisine, etc. that makes France French. :-) Specifically, names of any current popular musicians as well as traditional French folk music (I love folk music), sites and names of festivals, holidays and dates they are celebrated, famous French authors (and the names of their works). Also, any English language links to stuff related to these themes would be wonderful. It's not completely off topic; as I said, she will have to write a report. Thanks. jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.

I don't know how old 6th grade makes your daughter, but here are a couple of sites worth checking out :-) www.franceguide.com is the official french tourist office website. If you click on the multimedia link at the bottom of the pages there, you can download some beautiful jpegs of france. This site contains all the basic information on geography, national holidays etc... www.letourfr/ might be worth checking out as 2003 is the tour de france centennial year. www.ouest-france.fr is in french (you are supposed to be able to view it in english but I couldn't figure out how :-() It is worth checking out anyway, as it has listings of current films, tv guides, regional information on schools etc... basically everyday news and culture on western france. There are some multimedia presentations and interesting pictures there as well. As far as french popular music goes, well, I haven't a clue, it doesn't tend to be particulary successful in the uk :-) If I think of any other good ones, I'll let you know, sorry I couldn't be more help Shanna :-)

Thanks Shoshanna. My 6th grader is 13. I got more details from her over dinner tonight (it's hard to get info from a 13 year old). They are to develop a tourist brochure. So things to do, places to see, experiences to be had would be wonderful. I'll be sure to check out the links you provided. If anyone has some nice snapshots they'd be willing to post, those would be wonderful as well. jon Wow, that's scary. I just spell checked what I typed and did not get any red flags! For me, that's incredible. :-) jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.

Unfortunately, I don't know any members off-hand who are French. I know a few Mods are from Europe, but none from France. As a cheat, you can look at who's currently logged in under the IM screen and see if anyone lists France as their country of origin. Some people are flattered when asked if they could be interviewed for a report. Cheers!

BTW: Asking for help for a written report ... yep, totally Off Topic in the Writing Forum. ;-)

A couple more sites worth checking out: www.chez.com/autret/ this will take you to a page where you can select to view the current charts from around the world. Click europe, then france and you'll know what's no 1 this week! www.francemagazine.org if you click on the selected sites link at the bottom of the page, you will find a host of english friendly sites on different french things (monuments etc...) The magazine itself is pretty interesting as well :-) Shanna :-)

Hmmm... I've been in Paris twice, I cannot be of much help, but maybe I can find some photos. If you are interested let me know. My pics were taken in Paris only, but they are a lot, if you need a specific item...

Thanks all. jgeorge - that's two more times than I've been there. :-) Yes, if you would not mind, just a couple of typical tourtist type scenes. The Eiffel Tower, the Arc De Triumph, Notre Dame... whatever you found interesting. And perhaps a few words on what you liked about them. I know I can get professional pics off the internet, but I think it would be cool to have some real "snapshots". Still hope to find out from someone about local festivals, foods, and artists, poets, novelists, musicians and such. If not, we shall make-do. Thanks for all your ideas, all. jon

 
~jon
My Blog - Mad Utopia Writing in a new era.

I'm sorry I'm late... The photos are not so good, I had to digitalize them (if such a word exists, because they are slides... And my scanner is not very professional... I've choosen 19 of them... Can I post them here? It'll become a quite heavy thread... If you prefer it, I can send them to you...