Just when I start to feel my husband and I are not so different, I have a little reminder each night as we get in bed...
Les Guignols de l’info.
Every night Sebastien brings his laptop to bed and watches the TF1 news online and ends the night with the latest episode of Les Guignols de l’info. Les Guignols de l'info translates to “news puppets”. Yes, I said puppets. This show is so beloved by the French some sources say polls have shown Les Guignols has influenced voters in France. Can you imagine this in the United States—a puppet show influencing votes? Of course, some French may think we allow puppets to vote for us. Even so, I am baffled by the impact and popularity of this show.
I have found this show is as addictive as foie gras. I cannot figure out why I love it so much but I find myself wanting more and more. Just hearing the theme music start and the little head of the clay puppet popping into place makes me happy!
Now, if you have never seen this crazy show you are in for a treat. You will feel right at home with American representation in the forefront of most of the vignettes. Familiar figures like George W. Bush, as a rambling idiot, with George H.W. Bush, as his sidekick, and my personal American favorite—Sylvester Stallone. Who knew Sylvester Stallone was still alive, let alone a featured character in French satirical news broadcasts. Somehow this show has been on the air in France for years. From what I can tell it came onto the scene around 1988. Les Guignols has been very insightful to me as an outsider with extremely limited exposure to France, French culture, and French politics; that is of course until I married a Frenchman.
Each night we lie in bed and watch this show. My husband laughs and laughs while I continually say “what did they say” (which is eerily similar to how I feel while visiting my in-laws but that is a story for another day). At any rate, the four to five sentences he does choose to translate for me have given me a wealth of knowledge regarding current politics in France. My latest insight according to Les Guignols is President Sarkozy is obsessed with money. Apparently, he raised the salary for the French Presidency and Former President Chirac is not happy about this at all. Most nights you will see the clay figure representing Chirac whining about not having any money because President Sarkozy has taken it all. Of course, this is my American interpretation and could be far from reality but it is hilarious.
My favorite vignette features President Sarkozy. Hilarious is the best description I can come up with. His ears are huge which nicely hold his sporty sunglasses as he arrogantly rambles on and on. He is always wearing sunglasses as if he is too cool to be interviewed. Most of what he says I do not understand. However, I caught a lucky break because he had a little “slip up” recently and apparently he was caught on video dropping the f-bomb or the French equivalent of. Therefore, Les Guignols bleep out almost every word he says. It is fabulous!
Watch it you will see. As I said, I do not understand 95% of what they are saying on Les Guignols but I laugh along anyway. You will love it-it is completely weird but absolutely brilliant!
For more information on this show go to http://www.canalplus.fr/index.php?pid=1784 or http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Les_Guignols_de_l
Eiffel
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
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About Rachel
From Rachel - My story is a lot the same as Vivan’s…..I had just moved to NYC and was busy working away at my new job, and thoroughly enjoying my new life when a tall dark handsome Frenchman (let's call him Julien) entered the picture. He was visiting NY from Paris and happened to have lunch with my boss…..I was immediately smitten, but then he went back to France. I figured he was one of those “French guys” and had lots of girls on the side, or at least a gorgeous French girl back home. Little did I know he was the EXACT opposite of that! After a few weeks, a cd arrived on my desk of a band that we had been talking about, with a sweet note but no contact information. I guess he figured that if I was interested, then I would find his contact information and email him. I got sidetracked at work, and didn’t email him back…..then an email appeared, which led us to frequent emails back and forth for the next year. He was funny…charming…educated….full of culture…and FRENCH, which at the time was definitely seen as a plus! He decided to come back to NY and soon after his arrival we went on a date, and haven’t been apart since!
Two weeks after we started “dating”, we went back to Paris for a 10 day vacation. I thought this was going to be the most wonderfully romantic 10 days of my life……little did I know what lay in store for me. I encountered the toughest people I have ever met. My loneliness and sense of not belonging was such a contrast from the outward beauty and romance of the city. The cultures….the food….the French mothers…..they all let me know that I would NEVER EVER be French, no matter how much fois gras I ate or how hard I tried! HA!
Even after all this, I just couldn’t imagine NOT being with this wonderful man, and we married last year. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced – trying to “be” French….and I have resigned myself to the fact that no matter how hard I try to be the best wife, daughter in law, sister in law, granddaughter in law….I will NEVER ever be French!
I too, have spent countless hours laughing, crying, screaming, and desperately trying to figure out these complex Frenchies. I guess it’s going to be a lifelong quest, but I’m up for the challenge.....especially since I have Vivi around to share stories with, and tell me that no, it's not me...it's THEM! :)
Two weeks after we started “dating”, we went back to Paris for a 10 day vacation. I thought this was going to be the most wonderfully romantic 10 days of my life……little did I know what lay in store for me. I encountered the toughest people I have ever met. My loneliness and sense of not belonging was such a contrast from the outward beauty and romance of the city. The cultures….the food….the French mothers…..they all let me know that I would NEVER EVER be French, no matter how much fois gras I ate or how hard I tried! HA!
Even after all this, I just couldn’t imagine NOT being with this wonderful man, and we married last year. It’s the craziest thing I’ve ever experienced – trying to “be” French….and I have resigned myself to the fact that no matter how hard I try to be the best wife, daughter in law, sister in law, granddaughter in law….I will NEVER ever be French!
I too, have spent countless hours laughing, crying, screaming, and desperately trying to figure out these complex Frenchies. I guess it’s going to be a lifelong quest, but I’m up for the challenge.....especially since I have Vivi around to share stories with, and tell me that no, it's not me...it's THEM! :)
About Vivian
In 2003 I met the most beautiful man-who we will call Sebastien-in Chicago, Illinois. He had just completed his MBA at the University of Miami (Florida) and taken a position in Scottsdale, Arizona. I lived in Washington DC. He was in Chicago with his fraternity brothers and I was in town to lend moral support to one of my friends at the opening of his new restaurant. Our chance meeting led us to spend the rest of the weekend together. After our magical weekend in the Windy City we both returned home to our respective jobs and lives. It was very sad, not in a dramatic way, but in a “we have so much more to experience together” way. We promised to call one another and see each other soon. I did not think this would happen and went about my life back in DC which consisted of work, work and, um, more work!
I do not remember who called who first but after a couple weeks of chatting on the phone we decided we should see each other again. Sebastien boarded a flight and spent a few days with me in Washington DC. It was a wonderful! It was like we had known each other forever. I loved spending time with this person. I thought to myself, how had I ever dated anyone else or spent time with someone else? Sebastien was the most wonderful person I had ever known and unlike most of the people I had been in previous relationships with, he was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, I still to this day think, how did I marry such a beautiful man (inside and out).
Over the next few months we had some major changes in our lives and careers, which led Sebastien back to Florida. I soon followed and we were married months later. Complete bliss! Most of our experiences with his family were spent at his parents second home which is in Florida as well. Thus, I still had the comforts of home like Starbucks, dinner guests who spoke English, etc. I thought to myself, I am the luckiest girl in the entire world! I have a wonderful husband (still true) and someday I will get to have babies and move to Paris (being a DC girl living anywhere else in France has never really occurred to me). I looked forward to dressing up to attend the four hour dinners with his family when they were visiting the States. The food was fabulous; the family was so laid back and understanding of my lack of ability to speak their native language. All was beautiful in my new life as a Frenchwoman!
I now look back and laugh at how naive this little girl from the Midwest was and my lack of acknowledgement of the complexity of the French culture...
I have been working on becoming French since and now I am exhausted.
I do not remember who called who first but after a couple weeks of chatting on the phone we decided we should see each other again. Sebastien boarded a flight and spent a few days with me in Washington DC. It was a wonderful! It was like we had known each other forever. I loved spending time with this person. I thought to myself, how had I ever dated anyone else or spent time with someone else? Sebastien was the most wonderful person I had ever known and unlike most of the people I had been in previous relationships with, he was absolutely gorgeous. I mean, I still to this day think, how did I marry such a beautiful man (inside and out).
Over the next few months we had some major changes in our lives and careers, which led Sebastien back to Florida. I soon followed and we were married months later. Complete bliss! Most of our experiences with his family were spent at his parents second home which is in Florida as well. Thus, I still had the comforts of home like Starbucks, dinner guests who spoke English, etc. I thought to myself, I am the luckiest girl in the entire world! I have a wonderful husband (still true) and someday I will get to have babies and move to Paris (being a DC girl living anywhere else in France has never really occurred to me). I looked forward to dressing up to attend the four hour dinners with his family when they were visiting the States. The food was fabulous; the family was so laid back and understanding of my lack of ability to speak their native language. All was beautiful in my new life as a Frenchwoman!
I now look back and laugh at how naive this little girl from the Midwest was and my lack of acknowledgement of the complexity of the French culture...
I have been working on becoming French since and now I am exhausted.
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