cafebabel.com

Fancy a degree from the university of Disney?

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 13:44:19 -0000

How about a stroll down Disney Boulevard, shopping in Disney outlet malls and finishing off with a cappuccino on Disney Square? Hell, you can even get your tonsils out in Disney hospital. The Magic Kingdom is building an empire of kitsch just 30 minutes from Paris, and for thousands of jobless Europeans it smells like opportunity

Agenda 2020: 'France and Germany love each other'

('euro topics',) — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

At a meeting of the Franco-German minister council in Paris, French president Nicolas Sarkozy and German chancellor Angela Merkel passed the 'Agenda 2020', which comprises 80 joint projects aimed at bringing the two nations closer together once more. A desirable goal, French, German and Czech commentators say, while also noting that the agenda could offer more

Paris, Krakow: the crop of Europe's pretty urban green

Thu, 04 Feb 2010 11:29:13 -0000

The tallest building in the world, the 828 metre (2716 ft) high Burj Khalifa skyscraper, was unveiled in Dubai at the beginning of January. Nowadays the question is more of building outwards rather than upwards, with four buzzwords - happiness, ecology, smartness and economy - via two city models

Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'

('Lindsey Evans',) — Tue, 02 Feb 2010 12:00:00 -0000

The breathy German chanson singer hasn’t only changed hair colour over the years - she seems to have done a bit of growing up as well. We catch the 31-year-old entertaining the Franco-German relations ambassador and performing live in Paris for the first time

Meet the Erasmus elite: bright stars in a global recession?

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 17:16:02 -0000

What do a loud-mouthed English ladette, a svelte Ukrainian vamp, a dashing Polish casanova and a bagpipe-playing Frenchman all have in common? Bar-stool jokes aside, they're all members of YRN - the association of European regions' youth network. About 150 people meet annually to discuss how to use Europe to hoist them out of the economic doldrums. cafebabel.com caught up with them in Paris this December

Haiti earthquake survivors land in Paris

('Sofia Verzbolovskis',) — Mon, 18 Jan 2010 18:06:59 -0000

The first wave of survivors from Port au Prince landed at Paris Orly airport on 18 January, while hundreds of other flights are expected over the next few days. The earthquake that has destroyed Haiti’s capital has exacerbated the already appalling economic and political conditions that have marked the island over the past years - from the riotous overthrow of president Aristide in 2004 to the collapse of the government, lack of healthcare, string of hurricanes, and the enduring, rampant poverty

Discrimination: finding a place to live in Paris

('Aatish Pattni',) — Thu, 14 Jan 2010 12:00:00 -0000

Real Parisians know it all too well; even they need several months and an agency, usually, to find a home within the city limits, on the commuter belt of one of the 20 Parisian ‘arrondissements’ (administrative districts). But then how do foreigners fare in the cut-throat Parisian housing market?

Unions, strikes and snow: Europe's 12 days of christmas discontent

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Mon, 21 Dec 2009 17:09:41 -0000

Is spreading the misery really the best way to get what we want? Inspired by the British High Court banning British Airways’ cabin crew's decision to take twelve festive days of industrial action, we take a look at the latest glut of stars and strikes to hit Europe

Metro-run university of Paris 14 challenges French ‘anti-egalitarian’ education system

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 16 Dec 2009 11:29:55 -0000

The newly formed university is a mobilisation of students, teachers and researchers who aim to liberate education from the over-arching confines of the ‘institution’. Participants Emile Gayoso and Quentin Lade on neo-liberalism, the Bologna process and giving classes on public transport

Party burnout in Paris, so go to Berlin

('Ellie Banks',) — Tue, 08 Dec 2009 14:30:16 -0000

'Sssssh, go in quickly,' whispers the bouncer of the electro bar 4Elements on the Place de la Republique. The lights are out in the flat above. It is 11pm, a Saturday evening in Paris. The one-time nightlife mecca of Europe is turning into a sleepy little town, a trend that threatens to continue

Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 04 Dec 2009 11:27:38 -0000

The designer untames convention with her 'Nunc' shoes, insisting that her furry fabric fantasies are made to be adapted to daily life. We discuss Paris-Krakow, fashion uglies and what it's like to go it alone as a one-woman brand at 27

Electronic music duo Fuck Buttons: is this music?

('Aatish Pattni',) — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 15:00:00 -0000

From Worcester via Bristol to the world, schoolfriends Andrew Hung and Benjamin John Power are fiddling with some old machines across a table in order to make some music. The universal sound goes by ‘drone, pop, noise’

David Lescot: 'Europe is nothing more than a piggy bank for artists'

('Darren Thompson',) — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The fearless French playwright, musician and director, 38, attacks the concept of Europe in his latest show 'L’Européenne', a wacky commentary on a continent that is still seeking to find itself

So what if Jean Sarkozy wants to be like daddy when he grows up?

('Andrew Burgess',) — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:49:22 -0000

He's got the eyes of his mother, the chin of his grandfather and the political gene from his father. The only difference marking the French president's son's bid to be chairman of Paris' financial district is that he is 23 ... a Spaniard breathes in the nepotistic affair

Paris squat reopens for artists to rent

('Angela Therain',) — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 12:00:00 -0000

‘We used to steal in through the back window; now we use the front door.’ As unauthorised locations become ever legit, artists find themselves playing tenant. From Paris to Rome via Berlin, European municipalities have started to cash in on the ‘squat mine’

French citizens ‘Balkan-level’ skill at the English language

('Tim Mac an Airchinnigh',) — Wed, 16 Sep 2009 15:07:08 -0000

The nineteenth-century attitudes to language learning here are not just wasting people’s time, but wasting an extraordinary amount of their money, opines a young Irishman who teaches English in Paris, capital of a country which an 'archaic' education system

Phil Stumpf: anaesthetist by day, DJ by night

('Alexandra Baxter',) — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:29:45 -0000

Living in France for the last decade has allowed the German, 35, to be more 'exotic'. But the capital is too expensive to allow an underground culture to manifest itself, he says

Parisian for a day

('Hayley Wood',) — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 14:00:00 -0000

A group of native Parisians is helping visitors to discover another side to the capital; and it's free. A world away from tourist buses and sightseeing river boats, we catch a glimpse of the bars and gardens of a hidden Montmartre

London, Paris, Ghent, Transylvania: cross Europe by bike

('Helen Swain',) — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 08:45:00 -0000

An Italian government eco-initiative offering big discounts on bicycles, a London cafe where you can repair your bike and bike film festivals across the continent - an overview of two-wheeled fun to spin your summer

Mr Roux: 'I’ve got a soft spot for unlucky bastards'

('Hayley Wood',) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 15:00:00 -0000

Not to be confused with English female musician La Roux, Mr Roux's gritty lyrics reveal how he favours the social outcasts in life, although he claims that he doesn't want to look like a grump. The French frontman, aka Erwan Roux, on voting, youth and your annoying parents

Site tips: the happy trippy eco-world of European car-sharing

('Lindsey Evans',) — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:00:00 -0000

The environmental concept of sharing a car with other drivers and passengers was born in Europe in the eighties. Skim of the continent's alternative transit surface, plus some popular websites

Warp records' Steve Beckett: ‘I was certain guitars would die out and electronic music would be everywhere’

('Mohsin Patel',) — Fri, 17 Jul 2009 10:00:00 -0000

For over two decades, Steve Beckett, 45, has been at the very forefront of electronic music. His independent record label 'Weird and Radical Projects' is home to the likes of Aphex Twin and Plaid, and has overseen the birth of some of the now finest names in electronic music over the past 20 years

Alison Smale: 'by learning languages I could escape the boring life I had been living as a child in England'

Thu, 11 Jun 2009 01:15:00 -0000

The former German and Politics student at Bristol university is the first woman to lead the Paris-based International Herald Tribune. The multilingual managing editor talks European elections, languages and journalism

EU women: Polish, Danish, Irish and Portuguese residents of Paris’ La Garenne speak

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 18:00:00 -0000

Its residents often describe it as a village, but the Parisian suburb of La Garenne-Colombes is just two kilometres awar from La Defense, the financial hub in the northwest of the French capital. Five ‘Garennoise’ Europeans describe how they feel about being EU citizens

Theatre: Balkans’ not dead, from Paris to Skopje via Pristina

('Joss Corner',) — Mon, 16 Mar 2009 10:30:00 -0000

The Theatre de Syldavie company presents a sparse play in which the muslims and christians of Macedonia attempt to understand one another: - 'Blood Wedding’, or the re-writing of a great Balkan classic

Miss Marion: the French burlesque star will 'tease you until you die'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 13 Feb 2009 15:29:09 -0000

The 32-year-old from Normandy performs a 'slowed-down' version of burlesque. A dance historically popular in eras of depression, her latest show updates the genre, combining nipple tassels and an iPhone - an accessible escape for Europeans in recession

Société Réaliste: French-Hungarian duo on a ‘free’ European Green Card

('Soili Semkina',) — Fri, 30 Jan 2009 12:25:07 -0000

Created in 2004, the anarchist artist duo are ‘part of a factory’ which only accepts Europe as an idea ‘if Japan is Europe, if Alaska is Europe.’ We learn how they deconstruct the constructed, introverted entity which they see as Europe in Paris

Obama election images: once upon a campaign in Atlanta

('fabien campoverde',) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 18:17:42 -0000

From Georgia to Paris: one of three official photographers at the democrat rally on 4 November 2008, shares his last moments of election history. Barack Obama is inaugurated president of the US on 20 January

The European elections in June are socialistly, manifestly Parisian

('Jeremy Cliffe',) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 16:35:15 -0000

Ideology or pragmatism, consensus or confrontation? What do we want from the European elections in June? In rainy Paris, the socialist manifesto is making waves

Six-minute romances: speed dating in Paris

('Kinia Adamczyk',) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 15:03:23 -0000

In the capital of fashion and romance, there’s a chic way to relax after a hard day’s work and to party for every wallet. And there’s no better time for an (early) night on the town than Thursday, when Parisians head straight to one of the many trendy bars which offer so-called ‘afterwork’ evenings

Photos: Paris, transport and fresh air

('Louisa Reichstetter',) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 12:00:00 -0000

Fancy a fresh-aired adventure in Paris? Since 2007 residents and tourists have been able to rent the public bicycles, the Vélibs, fleeing the dark metros which transport millions in and out of the capital day in, day out. Images of a city in movement

Vincennes detention centre: the restrictions of migratory policies

('Helen Swain',) — Tue, 13 Jan 2009 08:00:00 -0000

The situation for clandestine immigrants in Sarkozy's France is critical: 26, 000 expulsions were made in 2008, and 30,000 are required in 2009. This report is from the Vincennes detention centre in the outskirts of Paris

After JC Decaux’s Vélib’, 6, 000 bicycles for London

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Wed, 19 Nov 2008 14:00:00 -0000

Its recent success in the public bicycle market has led the French advertising giant into a race against competitors to secure the multiplying contracts popping up all over Europe

Barack Obama inspires art and fashion in Paris and Barcelona

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 18:59:45 -0000

Whether it's his face in gravel viewed from the air, or his face in sequins viewed from the catwalk, Cuban artist Jorge Rodríguez Gerada and French Moroccan designer Jean-Charles de Castelbajac are inspired by the democratic presidential candidate. Cross-portraits

Culture in November: cinema, reflection, competition

('Helen Swain',) — Wed, 22 Oct 2008 10:22:09 -0000

From cinema in Barcelona and Stockholm, to photography and Picasso in Paris, a line up of events that will get you thinking - monthly guide

Migration in Paris’ Chinatown: a reality in Europe

('Delphine Lawrance',) — Tue, 15 Jul 2008 12:15:00 -0000

With Chinatowns sprouting in every major European city, immigrants travel more between one country to the next. Does it make them more European than ‘real’ Europeans?

Dj Miguel Picasso: 'Europe is the main source of house music worldwide'

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 10:24:08 -0000

The Spanish DJ, musician and composer from Malaga teaches in a music academy in Fuengirola. A successful remix has helped him hit the top of the world house music charts, in a genre becoming ever-popular in Europe

Overworked, underpaid in a French call centre

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Too many young Europeans are forced to work in bad conditions to finance their studies in France. Why a young Italian quit

Roger Woolger: 'it's not psychosis'

('Elisa Marengo',) — Fri, 25 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The British psychotherapist from Sussex, 63, brings together Jung theory and eastern philosophy in his 'deep memory process'. His theory on reincarnation: our past lives help us resolve our present neuroses

Bike traffic: return of the scorchers

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Environmentally conscious cyclists regularly battle errant cars in European cities

Babelblogs: little princes and book fair bombs

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Some European member states don't get much attention, but are often worth a detour. Our multilingual community blogs take you there

Olympic games: Europe up in arms over Tibet

('Susannah Readett-Bayley',) — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

A huge victory for some, enormous disappointment for others. For the first ever time, the Olympic torch has been extinguished under mass pressure, as Europe makes itself heard

Go out in April: Uppsala, nerds and witches

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Enjoy the year's first rays at Walpurgis night in Sweden, a vintage computer festival in Munich or the spring festival in Seville

Go, women architects

('Nabeelah Shabbir',) — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Female architects are suffering from social historical invisibility. Creating more gender-based networks can raise awareness about gender inequality and social recognition

Paris: squats in Europe's second most expensive city

('Alison Matthews',) — Tue, 01 Apr 2008 00:00:00 -0000

Amidst an explosion of rental prices, the Macaq organisation squats unoccupied buildings to bring the lack of student housing into the public eye

Teen rock bands: the Tokio Hotel phenomenon

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Young, extremely successful - and extremely annoying for some. Why are teen bands like Estonia's 'The Bedwetters' and Denmark's 'Dúné' storming the charts across Europe?

Batman, goats and internet in Cavas do Monte, Portugal

('Martyn Hawkins',) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

The living conditions in the north Portuguese mountaintops of S. Pedro do Sul have hardly changed in hundreds of years. Bit by bit, however, the uniting, modernising world is moving in, and the children are moving out

Jean-Benoît Dunckel: 'the English are a hard audience to win over'

Sat, 15 Mar 2008 12:00:00 -0000

Ten years since the release of Air's first album 'Moon Safari', one half of the French duo, 38, talks Czech audiences, being a vanguard of the European electronic scene and why Air are not like Radiohead

An Oscar for Geert Wilders please

Fri, 14 Mar 2008 20:31:00 -0000

'Fitna' the film means evil, European parliament has a fake birthday and ousted gay Iranians - it's your latest news from Brussels

FREEZE! by the Eiffel Tower in Paris

('Sophie Paterson',) — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 00:00:00 -0000

On 8 March 2008, 3, 000 people suddenly stopped dead in their tracks and froze like statues at the Trocadero Square 'because we usually spend all day long running around like lunatics'