FRANCAIS AVEC MONSIEUR CALDWELL

from the NY Times By ANDREW MARTIN Published: May 12, 2007 The Danone Group has enjoyed great success by selling French yogurt to Americans. Now the company is turning to an American to introduce organic yogurts in Europe, starting in France, a country that doesn’t normally look across the Atlantic for culinary advice. Gary Hirshberg, the head of Stonyfield Farm, has built a yogurt empire by tirelessly promoting the virtues of organic food . Now that Stonyfield’s parent company, the Danone Group, has asked him to take his show on the road, he is about to see how well his message translates. “It’s obviously very audacious to go to France and talk about improving their food offerings,” he said. But at the insistence of Danone’s chairman and chief executive, Franck Riboud, Mr. Hirshberg introduced a line of products in September meant to tap into the growing demand for organic food in France, particularly in urban markets. The yogurt, called Les 2 Vaches des Fermiers du Bio (the two cows...

from the NY Times By ELAINE SCIOLINO Published: May 8, 2007 PARIS, May 7 — Two days before the first round of the presidential election last month, Nicolas Sarkozy donned a red checked shirt, jeans and cowboy boots, mounted a small white horse named Universe and rode around the Camargue country in France ’s deep south. A gaggle of reporters and cameramen followed him in a cart pulled by a tractor. The black bulls in the nearby pasture stayed away. “A vague resemblance to the look of George W. Bush on his Texan ranch,” is how the left-leaning newspaper Libération described Mr. Sarkozy, who was elected president on Sunday, beating the Socialist candidate Ségolène Royal in a runoff. The newspaper dismissed the event as a media stunt, saying, “Everything for the image, right up until the last minute.” Mr. Sarkozy is unabashedly pro-American, a man who openly proclaims his love of Ernest Hemingway , Steve McQueen and Sylvester Stallone and his admiration for America’s strong work ethic a...

from france.com Submitted by France.com on May 2, 2007 - 5:12am. News They seemed to style themselves on John and Jackie Kennedy, posing as a happy couple in the great outdoors, holding hands on boats. But for weeks Paris has been asking why Cecilia Sarkozy, the second wife of French presidential favourite Nicolas Sarkozy, has not been seen in public with her husband at his final public meetings before Sunday’s election. Full story: Beta Politique

from Reuters Submitted by France.com on May 3, 2007 - 11:47pm. News A luxury hotel just steps from the Champs Elysees with private terraces and 17th-century tapestries was on Tuesday named as the world's top large hotel by a U.S.-based survey of travelers and travel agents. Consumer-survey based guide company Zagat Survey LLC surveyed 21,783 frequent travelers and 1,626 professional travel agents to compile its 2007/2008 guide to the World's Top Hotels, Resorts and Spas covering venues in 103 countries. Full story: Reuters