Interesting musings from today's news (13h) on France 2:
-The French parliament met today...at Versailles...to consider constitutional reforms necessary for the approval of the new EU constitution, and some environmental bill I can't really seem to get my head around. Subject matter aside, why they chose to meet at Versailles confuses me. I guess they really like the Hall of Mirrors, but it's going to prove disappointing to some American tourists. In any case, the pictures of the parlementaires riding buses to Versailles mean that they're imitating the tourists in more ways than one, today.
-The French are in a tizzy because of the terribly cold weather that's sweeping the nation. These record cold temperatures: the low tonight in Paris is -7 celsius. A quick trip to Google Calculator says that's 20 degrees fahrenheit....cold, yes. But worthy of some huge alert in a city where people already own winter clothing? I think not.
-French politicians debate by simply talking over each other at the same time, in a conversation resembling that found in a Woody Allen film. Which, I guess, is better than the way American politicians debate--spouting focus-group-tested sound bites at each other. Though, I must say, it's only marginally more interesting.
The french parliament is made of 2 chambers (senat and assemblee nationale) which have their own houses (palais du luxembourg and palais bourbon). To reform the constitution, both chambers have to vote together and the 3/5 of the votes are required. As the former two houses are too small for such a meeting containing all the senators and deputes...they meet in Versailles.....
ReplyDelete-7°C...so coooooooooooooooold ! i m freezing !