Paris
Agenda 2020: 'France and Germany love each other'
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, nicolas sarkozy, press review, angela merkel, euweek, politics
Paris, Krakow: the crop of Europe's pretty urban green
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
paris, future of europe, futur, architecture, cities, cracow, urbanism
Annett Louisan: 'I don’t need to go the fake platinum blonde bombshell route anymore'
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
paris, germany, leonid kuchma, brunch, culture, music, interview
Meet the Erasmus elite: bright stars in a global recession?
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
paris, economic crisis, erasmus, youth, travel, eurogeneration, conference
Haiti earthquake survivors land in Paris
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
paris, poverty, earthquake, natural disaster, society, france
Discrimination: finding a place to live in Paris
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?
paris, university, flat hunting, erasmus, flat share, expatriates, students
Unions, strikes and snow: Europe's 12 days of christmas discontent
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
paris, protest, economical crisis, bologna process, christmas, germany, financial crisis
Metro-run university of Paris 14 challenges French ‘anti-egalitarian’ education system
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
paris, university, teaching, independence, local autonomy, youth, lyon
Party burnout in Paris, so go to Berlin
'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
paris, underground, lifestyle, dance, nightlife, party, alcohol
Dominika Nowak: 'I want to stay unusual, even if I've had to become more commercial'
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
paris, university, poland, emancipation, fashion, business, expatriates
Electronic music duo Fuck Buttons: is this music?
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’
paris, noise, technology, electronic music, pop music, brunch, fuck buttons
David Lescot: 'Europe is nothing more than a piggy bank for artists'
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
paris, languages, david lescot, multilingualism, brunch, theatre, europe
So what if Jean Sarkozy wants to be like daddy when he grows up?
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, nicolas sarkozy, jean sarkozy, youth, politics, society, france
Paris squat reopens for artists to rent
‘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
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
paris, english, education system, languages, discrimination, exams, french
Phil Stumpf: anaesthetist by day, DJ by night
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
paris, underground, germany, berlin, club, electronic, dj
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