It must be nice to be a rock star. You come into town to do a concert and have a little free time so what do you do? You call up the president and he invites you over for a chat. That’s what happened this week here as Bono came to town with U2 for a concert at the Stade de France.
Bono at the Elysee Palace
Bono spoke with President Sarkozy about an upcoming UN summit in NY, continued development in Africa and about France’s upcoming presidency of both the G8 and G20.
We were all hoping that Bono and Carla would come out and do a duet together in the Elysee courtyard but no luck. Bono did, however, walk out on the street in front of the Elysee and caused a near riot with fans swarming him.
Here’s a recent news item that I would love to have happen to me. A sales executive has had to quit her job – due to a rare condition which makes her speak with a foreign accent. Kay Russell, 49, went for a nap while suffering a migraine and woke up sounding French. She has only been to France twice, and has not used the language since school. Doctors have diagnosed foreign accent syndrome, which damages part of the brain controlling speech.
There are just 60 recorded cases in the world and no known cure for the condition, which can last days, months or years. Other cases include Sarah Colwill, 35, from Plymouth, who has a Chinese accent after a migraine in April, a British man who sounds Mexican and an American with a French accent (clearly not me).
Here’s a video where you can hear her speak:
And despite my attempt not to laugh, I failed while watching this video:
And finally, remember my blog entry a couple months back about the Love Locks on the bridge near my apartment? Well I passed by there this week and couldn’t believe it. The amount of locks has dramatically increased, enough to where I’m guessing the authorities will have to do something about it. People have even starting tying ribbons, shoelaces and n’importe quoi on there. I’m not writing about stuff like that ever again. 😉
Love Locks on Pont de l'Archeveche
A couple photos of the week:
Bono at the Elysee Palace
French Flag Over the Elysee Palace
Paris Weekly 