IS LE TOUR DE FRANCE DEAD?

Le Tour de France, the famous French cycling race that stretches over 21 days, several thousand kilometers and most of France, is in trouble. The race culminates with the Grand Finish on the Champs-Elysee in Paris on Sunday. If you have been following le Tour this year (and many recent years) you will know that the race is dogged with doping allegations, confirmations, evasions and eliminations.

Yesterday's race leader and stage winner Michael Rasmussen has been sacked from his team and withdrawn from the race because of doping suspicions. He denied that he had been in Italy, claiming he had been in Mexico, and said “I am shattered. I am on the verge of tears. I was not in Italy. Not at all. That's the story of one man who believes he recognised me. There is no hint of evidence. My career is ruined. I have no idea what I should do or where I will go. This is an enormous blow for me, and also for all the guys from the Rabo team. They're devastated.”

Hmm.... maybe you should have thought of this before you avoided multiple doping testings?

The bulletin, France Soir has declared with their front page obituary that "the tour is dead".
The Liberation wrote “This procession of cyclists has been transformed into a caravan of ridicule,” and many are calling for the tour to be stopped. Interestingly, many Frenchies I have spoken to have really lost interest in the race because of all the doping issues. Several other riders have also been eliminated from the race due to doping positive tests.

Anyway, I will still be heading off to the Champs-Elysee on Sunday to see the finish...... if there are any riders left!

BASTILLE DAY

Bastille Day as it is known in France, le Fete Nationale or le quartoze Juilliet (14th July), is the national holiday in France, celebrating the fall of the Bastille Prison at the start of the French Revolution. All around the country there are many festivities, starting with the free music concerts at major areas of Paris (Bastille, Republic etc.), the Bal du Pompiers (see previous post), the military parade, and the concert at the Champ de Mars, the park under the Eiffel Tower, followed by fireworks. I have to say, the French really know how to celebrate in (free) style. Although we missed the parade (although I have seen it before - and I was told it was boring), we did everything else. The concert on the Champ de Mars had a star- studded line up, including Nelly Futardo (who was really boring actually), to some old French singer from the 80's. This weekend was the first weekend for ages it was actually hot (too hot!)........ which was perfect for all the outdoor celebrations.

FIREMAN'S BALL

It is tradition in France, on the eve of the 14th July (Bastille Day) that the fire stations around the country throw open their doors for the annual Fireman's Ball (Bal du Pompiers). Basically it is a fundraiser for the station, complete with a concert (costumes and backup dancers included), dancing and cheap beer, and of course, lots of firemen (who are a special part of the French army and apparently have to train for 4 hours each day!). We visited the station in the 12th arrondisment, just near our house. Here are some photos, starting with the obelisk at Place de La Bastille, just 2 blocks from our house. The city of Paris also put on an African music concert here to start the night....

EVERYTHING YOU WANTED TO KNOW ABOUT LIVING IN PARIS

Ok I have just found a great blog which details all sorts of things about Paris.
Check it out..... it's just too true!
http://troi.cc.rochester.edu/~tdip/quirky_things.htm

The quirky Parisian things is spot on, and because tomorrow is Bastille Day (Fete Nationale to the French) do some homework for my next blog and read up on the Fetes section (particularly the Bals du Pompiers!

LETTER TO A THIEF

Dear Sir/Madame,

I am just writing to say “thank you” for trying to destroy my new bike the FIRST time I left it outside. As you may, or may not know, Dazza and I have had new bikes for approximately 2 weeks. Having a bike in Paris is great as it is fairly flat, and you can avoid the metro (which often takes longer, is very crowded and hot). Also it allows you to go riding in the forests at the edges of Paris.

Unfortunately, our building does not have any where for us to keep the bikes, thus we must either tie them out the front on the street, or alternatively, carry them up to our 3rd floor apartment via a tiny staircase. Until last night this is what Dazza (cause I can’t carry the bike) has been doing, but with him working overnight I had no choice but to tie the bike up out the front.

Although I removed the front light and locked the bike up, you still felt compelled to unscrew the back light and reflectors and take them. I also realise you attempted (unsuccessfully) to take the seat.

In the future would you please consider utilising the new strategy the City of Paris is implementing – that is making thousands of bikes available for (cheap) hire all over the city. I hope then you will not feel compelled to destroy or steal my bike.

You now leave me with a dilemma, in that it is a real pain to take the bikes upstairs (and sometimes not an option), but now I am (understandably) concerned about leaving the bikes on the street.

So thankyou, for ruining my day.

Yours sincerely,
Dr. Alli

OLDER & SMARTER

Here are the results of a couple of papers that were recently published in the high profile journal Science. Basically it is telling me what all of us elder siblings have always known- we are smarter than our younger siblings.... take that Andy!

For more than a half century, researchers have debated the effects of birth order on intellectual performance. Although numerous studies have noted a negative association between the two, critics have argued the results citing uncontrolled differences in factors such as family size, parental IQ, and socioeconomic status. In a new study in the 22 Jun 2007 Science, Kristensen and Bjerkedal reported results from a study of nearly 250,000 Norwegian 18- and 19-year-olds showing that older siblings had higher intelligence quotient (IQ) scores than younger siblings. To test whether the difference could be due to biological factors, as some have proposed, the researchers looked at the scores of young men who became the eldest in the household after an older sibling(s) had died. Their scores, it turns out, were similar on average to those of biological firstborns. These results suggest that the relation between birth order and IQ is dependent on social rank in the family as opposed to true biological rank. An accompanying Perspective by F. J. Sulloway discussed some of the competing theories about birth order and intelligence and their ability to account for the tendency of younger siblings to score higher IQ scores than older siblings when tests are given under the age of about 12.