Question du Jour #41

Hello again! I don't have a picture for this, but I'll see what I can do about finding one. Not France-related, either, but something I'm wondering about all the same:

If everything in Spanish is spelled the way it sounds, do they have spelling bees in Spanish-speaking countries?

Question du Jour #40

Sorry for my extended absence, folks; got into some serious final examming. But now I'm back, and I thought this would be a timely topic for a lot of us:

It's snowing. Umbrella or no?

For me, it's a definite no, but some Parisians seem to disagree with me.

Question du Jour #39

I took this picture during my class at the Sorbonne on Wednesday afternoon. The girl next to me is actually knitting during class, sitting quite visibly in the second row--with very few people sitting in the first. Which leads me to today's question:

Can I bring some colorful tissue paper, Elmer's glue, and water to class and découpage one of the tables?

Because heaven knows that plain wood could use a little sprucing up.

Question du Jour #38

These artfully carved squash products were in the produce section at a Monoprix on Boulevard de l'Hôpital in the 13th. I have to say that I was a little taken aback to find something so pretty and decorative just sitting there, with no fanfare, in a local outpost of a major supermarket (and everythingmarket) chain. Just wanted to put that out there and ask, in the immortal words of Dr. Gordon, my AP Calculus teacher:

What's going on here?

Would this everever happen in the U.S.? Who's the artist and what is (s)he doing sequestered in a Monoprix in rainy December Paris when (s)he clearly belongs on a sunny cruise ship deck in the Caribbean, fashioning admirable edibles and getting a tan?

Question du Jour #37

Please forgive my lengthy absence; I spent much of the last week face-first in an Art History paper on Georges Seurat and Paul Signac, one of whose paintings (Grand Canal (Venise)) is pictured above. Finally handed it in on Thursday, and I guess that since then, I've just been recovering. But, in honor of all the time I spent with these two artists, my question is:

Isn't Signac's work gorgeous (sigh)?

Question du Jour #36

Close-up on our huge bowl of leftover cranberry sauce...So today is Black Friday, or, as we anglophones in Paris call it, Friday. Today is Americans' signal to turn their focus to the next big holiday at hand, which is, as far as commercialism is concerned, Christmas. Obviously not everyone in the country celebrates it, but Chanukah, Kwanzaa, Solstice and their other winter friends don't provide much competition from an advertising and consumerist standpoint. What I'm wondering is:

Here in France, where is there is no Thanksgiving, when does it become Christmastime?

Question du Jour #35

I didn't say the scary deer was keeping me away from Orangina--just that she threatened to keep me awake nights. I try to have a big bottle of Orangina Light in our fridge at all times, because it's such a good deal: all that yummy taste for only 12 calories a glass. Particularly on a day like today, when I'm heading to Angelina for crazy hot chocolate with visiting friends later, I need to economize where I can. They've had this for years here, and what I want to know is:

Why hasn't Orangina Light made it to the U.S.?

And am I going to have to go into importing to make this happen?