For many Americans “the voice of the sea has a soft French accent”, wrote CNN in June 1997 upon the death of Jacques Cousteau. His specials and documentaries won 40 Emmy nominations and enchanted, enlightened, and ‘environmentalised’ a couple of generations of Americans. He can mostly be credited with saving the Antarctic from exploitation for at least 50 years; he received the Legion of Honor; he was elected to the Académie française in 1989; his “The Silent World” won the Cannes Film Festival top award in 1956. Pretty fair credentials for anyone and sterling for a Frenchman. In addition it was he, along with Emile Gagnan, who developed the aqualung and scuba gear. Having passed on in 1997 he can now, in the words of John Denver, “sail on a dream on a crystal clear ocean…. be true as the tide and free as a wind swell. Aye, Calypso, I sing to your spirit, the men who have served you so long and so well.”

Original appearance Nov 29, 2005, © 2005 / Jacques COUSTEAU / 1910-1997 / oceanographer, Calypso / best / B+/A / 9 / CIP 309, OO 24, RD 29 OR 01, YP 30/10-29

To be honest I can’t figure out how or why he made the list. While at first I didn’t recognize the name, as soon as I found out he was a heart surgeon I thought he must be pretty good. When I found out he was an MEP (Member of the European Parliament) it was a little strike against him, as I am usually not fond of politicians. That’s all folks, there isn’t any more. He attended a few committee meetings, he opposed an astrologer getting a Doctorate in Sociology at the Sorbonne, and he favored legislation to allow doctors to take organs from dead people unless they had specifically expressed opposition before they died. I put the name Christian Cabrol in an internet search engine and came up with less than 200 hits (almost all insignificant). I tried the same thing with the names of the two heart surgeons that I had heard of and came up with 12,500 for Christian Barnard, and 52,500 for Michael DeBakey. Okay, I am being heartless – I’m sure he is a decent man and a good doctor. Besides, when my sweetheart, who is definitely French, saw this she told me I was being heartless. And when I put the three names in a French language search engine the results were skewed differently.

Original appearance Nov 29, 2005, © 2005 / Christian CABROL / 1925- / heart surgeon, transplant / better / B/D / 37 / CIP 337, OO 24, RD 29 OR 01, YP 30/10-29 /
For more relevant information see* On Recognition and Ranking

In a place of honor, in the entry hall of my home away from home in Paris, is a decanter filled with the sand of Omaha Beach. I filled it shortly after coming to France. To a man of a certain age Omaha Beach is a sacred place. Many of the men who bled here died here. They are buried in row on row at the Caen Memorial. Most of the survivors have, or are, passing away now. Their sons still honor them. My father did not storm the beach here – he commanded the British submarine Taku during the war. I became an American. I salute all the Americans who came ashore at Omaha and June Beach on 6th of June 1944. I pay tribute to the British, Canadians, and French who did likewise at Gold, Juno, and Sword Beach. And I honor my father who also fought in the war - Lieutenant Commander Arthur Pitt, DSO.

Original appearance June 4, 2005, © 2005 / OMAHA BEACH / OUTSIDE PARIS / STILL IN FRANCE / CIP 111, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

It might have been an eon since I called a lawyer good. Okay, it is a relative term and I am not at all sure that even in France they are ‘good’. Maybe it is only in comparison to the general run of the mill shysters in our good old US of A. Over here they do not seem quite as money grubbing, nor totally lacking in ethics. While I prefer our legal system for fairness, I prefer their lawyers for moral turpitude. Thank goodness however for American judges and I am not nearly as impressed with French judges. Justice however may be a little hollow on both sides of the pond. Luckily I don’t know either system well and it is just an opinion from reading the news.

Original appearance June 04, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 097, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

Over the years the French have built up a world class reputation in medicine. Their hospitals are modern, clean and efficient. Their Doctors seem a touch friendlier and their offices seem more accessible, sometimes even in the Doctor’s apartment. The medical safety net is complete and virtually cost free. Their life expectancy just recently passed 80 for men, and is about 84 for women. It would appear that in medicine they are comparable to the best and considerably above the average. We may not know who Dr. Claude Bernard is (1813-1878, physiology), but we certainly recognize Louis Pasteur (1822-1895 chemist, biologist and pasteurization), and Pierre & Marie Curie (radioactivity). It is on names like those that the foundation of French medicine rests.

Original appearance June 04, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 057, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

Theatre – all kinds of theatre – all over Paris. The Comédie Française just a stroll from the Odéon (and you get to pass the Louvre on the walk). The Opéra Bastille and Garnier in the same city with the Casino de Paris (of Josephine Baker fame) and the Crazy Horse Saloon. Even the Grand Rex and the Olympia – all here, all tastes, all venues. From Bercy, to Châtelet, to Disneyland – with everything in between. Theatre and street theatre, all for your entertainment. Something for everyone.

Original appearance June 04, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 050, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

The work ethic is dead in France. I even thought of calling this paragraph the Work Weak. Officially the work week is 35 hours. It’s 30 hours if you deduct the time spent planning, talking about, organizing and arranging ones next vacation. It’s probably imminent because eight weeks, and, in addition, perhaps a dozen holidays are standard. It’s 25 hours if you deduct the time spent complaining about work, bosses and the unfairness of it all. Luckily they cannot deduct the time they spend at home complaining. Lets not discuss, discussing politics, coffee breaks, doctor’s visits, or long lunches. To give them credit though, when they do actually get around to work they are very focused, do work hard, and are productive.

Original appearance June 04, 2005, © 2005 / CIP 100, OO 21, RD 28, YP 30/10-28

For health reasons in 1786 they shut down all the little cemeteries in Paris. Four large new cemeteries were opened, way out in the countryside surrounding Paris: Montmartre (North), Père-Lachaise (East), Passy (West), and Montparnasse (South). The big two are the first two, especially Père-Lachaise, but it is the first one Cimetière de Montmartre that we are focused on here. Perhaps because of the neighborhood it is the more whimsical of the memorial parks and it is given to artists. The Russian dancer Nijinsky is buried here, as is the film director François Truffant, the artist Degas, the composer Berlioz, the writer Dumas, and the singer Dalida. Emile Zola was buried here but, as he moved up the ladder of history, he was transferred to the Panthéon a few years later. Berlioz was supposed to move there in 2003 (the bicentenary of his birth) but it didn’t happen. The necropolis is built on 27 acres of gypsum quarries and features the eclectic combination of vaults, crypts and very varied tombstones that are the hallmark of French graveyards. By the way the burial grounds are all back within the city limits now.

Original appearance Feb 26, 2006, © 2006 / MONTMARTRE / CIMETIÈRE DE MONTMARTRE, (CEMETERY) / 20 AVE RACHEL, 75018 / 01 43 87 64 24 / KEYS : CEMETERY, BURIED: NIJINSKY, TRUFFAUT, ARTISTIC, 27 ACRES, 1825, DEGAS / CIP 198, OO 23, RD 26, YP 30/10-26

You have to sort of like the guy. Anyone who can refuse a César (the French equivalent of an Oscar) because the original sculptor of the César statuette once insulted his father, (who was also a sculptor), is okay with me. Jean-Paul Belmondo won said César for his work in Itinéraire d’un enfant gâté (1985) which roughly translates Route of a Spoiled Child, but which wasn’t translated into English. It was a touching film full of heart and the reviews in French and German were great. His first major hit was À bout de sofle (1960, Breathless) which made him a central figure in the French New Wave. In the mid 60’s he switched to action movies and comedies. You also have to sort of like the guy who does his own stunts, or at least did till he had an accident in 1985. He made around 80 films between 1956-2001, my favorite was The Professional (1981). I believe he is still alive but I am not certain as he had a stroke in 2001. Overall, I sort of like the guy.

Original appearance Nov 26, 2005, © 2005 / Jean-Paul BELMONDO / 1933- / actor, film, new wave / good / C- / 38 / CIP 338, OO 23, RD 26, YP 30/10-26

Indochina, mid 1950’s – a French marine parachutist. From such real beginnings a star is born. Between 1957 and today he appears in close to 90 films with the ones in the 1960’s particularly promising. While primarily an actor Alain Delon is also a producer, writer, director and dabbles in theater along with his film career. Early on he very much resembles James Dean with his simmering sultry youth and his raw talent – the look, the age and the time coincide. Plein Soleil (1960, an adaptation of The Talented Mr. Ripley) launches him and is followed by The Leopard (1963), and Le Samourai (1967). In 1968 a huge scandal involving sex, drugs and a dead bodyguard who ended up in a garbage dump rocks all of France up to very high governmental levels. Eventually he is cleared. The movies in the 70’s are still passably good, but the 80’s and 90’s produce mostly a series of box office disasters. Meanwhile he has successfully branded himself and now manages something of a business empire and manufactures a perfume. One wonders if James Dean might not have followed a similar path – had he not absurdly died in an automobile accident like Albert Camus.

Original appearance Nov 26, 2005, © 2005 / Alain DELON / 1936- / actor, cinema, film / better / B / 62 / CIP 362, OO 23, RD 26, YP 30/10-26