by Ric Erickson

Number 1.34:- Metropole Paris - Monday, 14. October 1996:- The shoes are being re-soled, the banners are being prepared, the police are making their plans and everybody in Paris is getting ready for next Thursday's Big Demonstration - of discontent with the government. Note the coming date is 17. October.

The public service sector employees and their unions have issued national strike warnings for this particular day. Besides workers who normally sit quietly in various government offices, this warning includes all public transport workers - and that means all local SNCF train services, RER lines, bus services and the Paris métro.

Will this affect visitors to Paris? It is always hard to say. The reports I have indicate that the 'autonome' transport drivers will not be participating, and the SNCF optimistically predicts that trains will run. But it is just as likely that the 'autonomes' will take the day off; without pay.

Even with a massive 'strike alert' it is impossible to predict how widespread the stoppages will be, or conversely, how little noticed. 'Top-down' actions tend to have spotty followings, but grass-roots movements, from the bottom-up can be more widely popular. In other words, with no 'strike alert,' you might get a total black-out and absolute shut-down - totally unpredicted.

For visitors to Paris then, I predict that Air France will run its buses on round-trips, between the city and the airports at Roissy and Orly.

On the streets of Paris you can expect chaos. Regardless of whether the strike has a big turn-out or not, the road traffic will be horrendous. Workers who 'have to' get to their jobs will try to drive, and this will extend Paris' two daily rush-hours into one big one - from about 6:00 to 21:00.

With the uncertainty about the 'autonome' drivers, underground in the métro you may find trains running just about normally and with few passengers. Do not bother paying fares, because the controllers will are almost certain to strike - I mean, do you think they like their job?

All the same, something new may happen that makes all predictions worthless. If this strike concerns you, watch Metropole for late up-to-date bulletins this week.

Lost Stories

For the eclipse on Saturday, I quit what I was doing and put on my sunglasses and ran outside to capture it, almost live! - for Metropole readers. This first thing I noticed, was that the sun was awfully bright - so bright that I was not going to get a photo of it - so I turned around and shot in the opposite direction. You can see the photo here - of my locality - during an eclipse of the sun by the moon. It looks like broad daylight, doesn't it?

Also on Saturday, the International Herald Tribune had the second part of a huge two-part piece about the Paris fashion shows. I thought, hey! I should read this - even if it is at least 15,000 words - and let Metropole readers know the latest about Paris textiles. But this good intention fell down the same crack in time as my intention to summarize the 'Elle' fashion edition a few weeks ago.

All the same, while waiting for a useable eclipse image to appear on Saturday's A2 TV evening news, the Paris fashion thing came on and I captured one of these 'costumes' - designer's name unknown, but one of the biggies. If I could capture these images at any larger size, and run them in Metropole, it would get on the 'index' for certain, because what goes in public in Paris, will not amuse the Internet watchdogs.

'Cliquez Pour le Savoir'

This is not about what the fare controllers do to your ticket on the métro - if you have one. The Cité des Sciences out at La Villette is running an operation together with the National Education Ministry, that allows visitors to test a selection of 80 CD-ROMs and the Internet.

Open to individuals, school classes are also being given half-hour tutorials on finding their way to information on the net.

Some students are disconcerted to find that most of the information is presented in English - but in theory, they take foreign languages in school in France - beginning in grade one now. In practice, nobody has specifically trained grade one teachers in English, and they would be just as lost in front of the Internet as older students.

This exposition continues until Sunday, 3. November. Entry price is 25 francs. At the Cité des Sciences et de l'Industrie, out at La Villette.

Never Breathless, Belmondo On Stage

When I wrote the mention about Alain Delon in Metropole's 'Au Bistro' column, in issue 32, I couldn't help remembering that I had seen posters for a Jean-Paul Belmondo performance, and none for the Delon piece.

No poster, but here is the latest about Mr. Belmondo's theatre activities. In the last ten years he has been in three stage plays and has just started his fourth, 'La Puce à l'Oreille,' written by Georges Feydeau and directed by Bernard Murat.

I didn't know this, but he played on stage before doing films; appearing in a Georges Feydeau one-act comedy in 1956. According to an interview in Le Parisien, he considers himself a bit old these days for jumping out of helicopters for movies, but not too old to play a double-role on stage every night except Monday. The other plays must have done well, because he apparently owns the theatre where he is appearing.

When asked why he did repertory pieces, unlike Alain Delon, who is appearing in a first-run play, he said that nobody has proposed any new works to him. I don't know if this is a hint to bombard him with scripts, but if you do, remember that Jean-Paul Belmondo now has white hair, but otherwise looks like a slightly older version of himself with his patented grin.

'La Puce à l'Oreille,' at the Théâtre des Varietés, 7. Boulevard de Montmartre, Paris 11. Nightly except Monday, at 20:30, plus at 15:00 on Sundays. Seats from 60 to 300 francs.
Tel.: 42 33 09 92.

Plantu - The Auction Today

This morning, between 11:00 and 12:00, you can view 50 cartoons and 27 sculptures by the artist, 'Plantu,' that are to be auctioned this afternoon - at 14:15 - at the Hôtel Drouot.

'Plantu' whose complete name is Jean Plantureaux, has a remarkable position among Paris cartoonists because he does the daily front page cartoon for Le Monde newspaper. Before Plantu had his first appearance 'sur la une' in 1985, Le Monde did not even run photos on its front page. Since then, he has chronicled the times of France like no other, and he does cartoons that are not only well-drawn, but a truly funny; not that everybody, notably those in the government, agree.

The objects for sale at auction are expected to fetch between 3,000 and 3,500 francs each. Tel.: 53 30 30 30.

Cartier - The Upcoming Auction

If you have a lot of loose cash, this might tempt you more than is good for you. For months, the Geneva watch experts Antiquorum and the Paris auction biggie, Jacques Trajan, have been putting together a collection of nearly 600 pieces by Cartier - watches, clocks, jewelry and precious objects, dating from 1847 to the present.

The result of a world-wide search, the collection was on view in Paris on Friday and Saturday and has now left for a world-wide tour. Try to catch a view of it as it passes through a big, swanky hotel in your city. On Tuesday, 19. November, this collection will be auctioned off in Geneva. For information, call the auction house, Drouot: (33-1) 53 30 30 30.

Reminder:

This week, on Friday, 18. October, France switches its telephone numbers to 10 digits. Within France, to call a number in the Ile-de-France, you simply add '01' to the beginning of an existing number. There is no change for calling from outside France to the Paris area; just add the usual country code of 33 and 1 and the old 8-digit number.

If you still have your memory cap on, Europe will change from summer-time to winter-time, at 02:00, Sunday, 27. October. While you are doing something interesting, we will be setting our clocks back an hour in order to recuperate a hour's sleep we lost last spring.