Oscar Campaigns Against Eating Escargots
Last week Oscar Gau (pronounced Go) had his own manifestation (protest march) in front of the Café de Flores in Paris. It was a non-violent protest, and he skate- boarded back and forth waving a banner that said Nous sommes vos amis. Ne nous mangez pas.
Oscar is a scholar and a gentlesnail, majoring in medieval French literature and philosophy at the Sorbonne. He likes to go to cyber cafés, especially Cyberia at the Centre Pompidou. He is also a free-lance photographer, and sings on occasion at cabarets like Le Lapin Agile on Montmartre.
Oscar was interviewed by Le Monde and France-Soir. According to Gau, "Snails are an inspiration to humanity. They show us all that in this fast-paced frenzied world we sometimes need to slow down. They represent man's desperate and subconscious yearning to struggle against the human condition and to come out of his shell, freeing himself from the shackles of society's debilitating, demoralizing and heinous scrutiny."
He may have something there.
Oscar plans other events in the near future to convince people not to eat his species.
Madame Fifi Facts
- The organ of Notre-Dame in Paris has 8000 pipes.
- The French call a roller coaster a montagne russe, literally a "Russian mountain." This amusement park attraction came from Russia, where large wooden scaffolds were constructed to create a high steep slope on a river. People gasped with delight as they whizzed down the slope. This was brought to Paris, and the Parisians loved it, and it's been the crowning glory to amusement parks every since then.
- The highest restaurant in Paris is 410 feet high. It is, of course, on the Eiffel Tower. It's the Jules Verne. Better not drop your fork!
- Most words in French that end in -ette are feminine. There is one very common word that ends in -ette that is masculine. Do you know what it is? Ask this at your next soirée and see how long it take people to figure it out. (The answer is below.)
- Louis XIV had 400 wigs which he often changed many times during the day. He probably never had a bad hair day.
- Paris has 37 bridges, the newest one being the Pont Charles de Gaulle which was finished in 1997 and is very cyclist and pedestrian friendly.
- Each night 240 monuments and fountains light up in Paris. From the end of November to mid-January all the trees on the Champs-Elysées are lit up.
- A croque-mort is French for undertaker. It literally means "bite the dead." You see, the undertaker was given the responsibility of being the coroner, and he had to bite a toe on the body to see if indeed the person was deceased and not just sleeping.
Answer: le squelette
There'll be more news and fun later. Please come back and visit!
—— Madame Fifi and Oscar
