Dear partners from Greece, Poland and Turkey, welcome to the French page !
1. THE LOUVRE PYRAMID, 1988
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The Louvre Pyramid
The Louvre Pyramid is a large glass and metal pyramid, surrounded by three smaller pyramids, in the main courtyard (Cour Napoléon) of the Louvre Palace in Paris. The large pyramid serves as the main entrance to the Louvre Museum. Completed in 1989, it has become a landmark of the city of Paris.
(by Sarkis & Berkay, Turkey)
The Louvre Museum is one of the world's largest museums and a historic monument. The museum is housed in the Louvre Palace, originally built as a fortress in the late 12th century under Philip II. During the French Revolution, the Louvre was transformed into a public museum. In May 1791, the Assembly declared that the Louvre would be "a place for bringing together monuments of all the sciences and arts". Architect Ieoh Ming Pei was awarded the project and proposed a glass pyramid to stand over a new entrance in the main court( La Pyramide Inversée) and the pyramid was completed in 1993.( By Nickos Rinis ,Greece)
An originator of this pyramid was president of France François Mitterrand. The project was made by Ieoh Ming Pei. The pyramid is 21,6 m high and the side of the base is 35 m. There are 603 glass panes in a shape of diamond and 70 triangular panes. Dan Brown used this pyramid in the novel ‘The Da Vinci Code’. The construction of the pyramid triggered a considerable amount of controversy because many people felt that the futuristic edifice looked quite out of place in front of the Louvre Museum with its classical architecture.
(by Justyna, Ania, Natalia from Poland)
2. EUROPEAN PARLIAMENT, STRASBOURG
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The European Parliament has three places of work – Brussels (Belgium), the city of Luxembourg(Luxembourg) and Strasbourg (France). The European Parliament of Strasbourg, in France, is the legislatory body of the European Union. It was built in 1979 and it consists of 751 members which are directly elected every five years by universal suffrage.Furthermore, the European Parliament is one of the oldest common institutions which has actually began as the "common Assembly" of European Coal and Steel Community.The European Parliament's role includes participation in the legislative process, presentation and adoption of the European budget and exercise of democratic control over the activities of Community Institutions.THe House of Parliament members meet one week each month in Strasburg. The President of the European Parliament is Martin Schulz elected in January 2012. He presides over a multi-party chamber, the two largest groups being the Group of the European People's Party(EPP) and the Progressive Alliance of Socialists and Democrats. The last union-wide elections were the 2014 elections. (By Joanna Terpo and Markos Plakou from Greece)
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This is the official seat of the European Parliament but most of parliamentary debate take place in Brussels. The chairman of the Parliament is Martin Schulz. Now, there are 751 members. Deputies gather in this place once a month for 4 days to vote and discuss about the most important matters. During week session people are allowed to visit the Parliament in lots of official languages and listen to the presentation which is made by a Parliament worker. (by A., J., J., N. from Poland)
3.FREEDOM OF SPEECH MARCH, PARIS, 2015
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This is how famous cartoonists reacted after Charlie Hebdo attack.
By the Greek group
On the 7th of January two armed men forced their way into the offices of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper and started firing shots. The gunmen were identified as members of Al-Qaeda. Eleven people were killed during the attack and eleven more were injured. After the shooting, a march took place in Paris on the 11th of January. About 1.6 million people gathered at the march and 50 of them were leaders from around the world. 3.7 million people also took part in events all across France, which made them the biggest in the history of the country. The purpose of the rally is to show all of us that freedom of speech must be supported and protected. The reporters of the Charlie Hebdo newspaper were not afraid to express their opinion, so none of us should be. (By Nick Poulos and Joseph Lalas, Greece)
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Freedom of speech march started on Sunday at 15:00 on Place de la République. Almost all of the participants in the march were carrying black plates with white lettering „ Je suis Charlie (I’m Charlie”). This heading can be seen in recent days at each step in the French capital. This march was guarded by 2000 policemen and 1400 soldiers, about one milion people participated in it, among them famous politics like British Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the head of the Polish government Ewa Kopacz. Also, European Commission President Jean Claude Junckner and the head of the European Council, Donald Tusk. Politics ,who come to the capital of France said that „ today Paris is capital of the whole world”. (by J., J., A., N. from Poland)
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'We are here to support freedom. We will not be beaten': 3.7 MILLION people march across France as world leaders are joined in Paris for moving tribute to 17 terror victims'.The march has been called the largest gathering in French history.
'I was just one Australian face in a human sea of more than one and half million Parisians yesterday. I was trying to comprehend what I was a part of when the placard thrust in front of my eyes made it clear: “La liberte d’expression n’a pas de religion” – freedom of expression has no religion. This was a rally to defend the essential global human right to free expression. A right that should not be bound by religious, cultural or political strictures.'
Julie Posetti
( By The Turkish Group)
4. 1998 SOCCER WORLD CHAMPIONS
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1998 FIFA World Cup was organised in France from 10th of June to 12th of July. 32 teams took part in this event. The tournament was won by the host of this championship – France. They beat Brazil 3-0 in the final, the third place was for Croatia. The best player, who was chosen by FIFA, was Ronaldo. The official song of the 1998 FIFA World Cup was "The cup of Life," aka "La Copa de la Vida" recorded by Ricky Martin and the mascot of the championship was Footix. (by A., J., J., N. from Poland)
The 1998 Fifa World Cup for men was held by France,which was the country that won it as well!!The preparations for the championship lasted for two years and the main two stadiums where the first and final matches took place were Stade de France and Saint-Dennis!!France's performance in the tournament was remarkable and at the final match they beat Brazil 3-0.This title is extremely important for France as it was their first one!! Also the became the 7th nation to win a world cup and the sixth to win the tournament in their home-country.The official mascot was Footix and the tournament's ball was adidas Tricolore. [Stamos Petroulias from Greece!!!]
5. 21st APRIL, 2002
May 5 2002, a great day but at the same time horryfing for France.A new candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen was close to the expected president Jacques Chicac.For France ,that would be a big change the borders would close and all the immigrants would leave and a new France would be made.Although Le Pen's party "National Front" described themselves as conservative, observers agreed in defining it as an extreme right party.Then,there were a lot of street rallies which held over one million protesters and some of the protests held signs stating "I'm ashamed to be French",which parodied Le Pen's slogan "Proud to be French".Finally,Chirac won Le Pen by 82% of the vote.
(by nickos and marilena,Greece)
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The French presidential election in 2002 was held in two rounds : on 21 April and 5 May. Finally there were two candidates: Jacques Chirac (Rally for the Republic) and Jean-Marie Le Pen (National Front). It was won by the first man who gained 82.21% of the votes. (by A., J., J., N. from Poland)
DEAR FRIENDS FROM ATHENS, ISTANBUL AND BIECZ, CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL OF YOU !
The French group sends warm greetings!