All things French

Mais, non, c'est les PIRATES!!


French navy trails yacht seized by pirates
Sun Apr 6

The French navy continued to trail a luxury yacht off the Somali coast on Sunday, two days after pirates stormed the boat and took its 30 crew hostage, French Defense Minister Herve Morin said.

"We are still in this phase of the pirates carrying on sailing with us following them at a distance," Morin told Europe 1 radio, adding that he expected the hijackers would eventually make land somewhere in Somalia.

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On Craigslist:

(PARIS) — Pirates seized control of a French cruise ship Friday off the coast of Somalia, France's Foreign Ministry said. The all-French crew surrendered immediately and evacuated the vessel in keeping with French military tradition. Admiral Pierre LeMiniWee is quoted as saying "The pirates looked so angry..and they shouted a lot. What else could we do?"

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Ikea and Castorama fined for being open Sunday

Ikea was ordered to pay more than $700,000 last week for staying open on Sundays in a Paris suburb. A big French home repair chain was sued for nearly as much — also for violating a 102-year-old requirement to shut up shop on Sunday.

Both cases show that the stakes are mounting in a long-running battle between French unions and retailers over shopping on the seventh day.

The government of President Nicolas Sarkozy, encouraged by major companies, is trying to shed old restrictions as part of broader plans to loosen up the French economy.

Advocates of the 1906 law, determined to prevent its demise, are digging in and demanding ever-higher fines against violators of a rule they say upholds a less spending-obsessed French way of life.

"Working on Sundays calls into question the very foundation of society," said lawyer Vincent Lecourt, who represents the Workers Force union. "It is a day when we try to consume less ... when we try to have values that are a little different."


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And I thought France was a staunch supporter of separation of church & state. I can't wait for shopping on Sundays - bring it, capitalist pigs! I need to go grocery shopping!!!