Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
of emperor. In 1815, an allied Europe defeated and exiled Napoleon, reinstating the
French monarchy—though future kings and emperors (including Napoleon's neph-
ew, who ruled as Napoleon III) were somewhat subject to democratic constraints.
Claude Monet (1840-1926):
Monet's Impressionist paintings captured the soft-fo-
cus beauty of the belle époque—middle-class men and women enjoying drinks in
cafés, walks ingardens, andpicnics along the Seine. Atthe turnofthe 20thcentury,
French culture reigned supreme while its economic and political clout was fading,
soon to be shattered by the violence of World War I.
Charles de Gaulle (1890-1970):
A career military man, de Gaulle helped France
survive occupation by Nazi Germany during World War II with his rousing radio
broadcasts and unbending faith in his countrymen. He left politics in the post-war
period, but after France's divisive wars in Vietnam and Algeria, he came to the res-
cue, becoming president of the Fifth Republic in 1959. De Gaulle shocked support-
ers and allies bygranting Algeria its independence, blocking Britain's entry into the
Common Market, and withdrawing from the military wing of NATO. The turbulent
student riots in the late 1960s eventually led to his resignation in 1969.
Contemporary French:
Which recent French people will history remember? Pres-
ident François Mitterrand (1916-1996), the driving force behind La Grande Arche
and Opéra Bastille? Marcel Marceau (1923-2007), white-faced mime? Chef Paul
Bocuse (b. 1926), inventor of nouvelle cuisine? Brigitte Bardot (b. 1934), film act-
ress, crusader for animal rights, and popularizer of the bikini? Yves Saint Laurent
(1936-2008), one of the world's greatest fashion designers? Jean-Marie Le Pen (b.
1928), founder of the far-right Front National party, with staunch anti-immigration
policies? Bernard Kouchner (b. 1939), co-founder of Doctors Without Borders and
minister of foreign affairs under President Nicolas Sarkozy? Zinédine Zidane (b.
1972), France's greatest soccer player, whose Algerian roots helped raise the status
of Arabs in France? Or Dominique Strauss-Kahn (b. 1949), disgraced International
Monetary Fund chief? (I hope not.)
Opposing Sarkozy were a host of left-leaning candidates. François Hollande of the
center-leftSocialistParty(PS)pointedoutthatSarkozy'sausteritypolicieswerenotwork-
ing. The more-radical Left Front Party (which includes the once-powerful Communists)
proposed raising the minimum wage to $2,200 a month and establishing a “maximum
wage” of $500,000, beyond which you pay 100 percent taxes. The environmental Green
Party (Les Verts) promised to stimulate the economy with half a million new green jobs.
