Paris: English vs. French

Earlier this summer I saw an exhibit in the Musée de l'Armée about the work of Jean Froissart, a medieval historian who wrote extensively about the Hundred Years' War between England and France (a misnomer, since the war actually lasted over 100 years).

Here's the poster for the exhibition. The title translates as "JOHN FROISSART chronicler of the Hundred Years' War." Note the use of red in the title - this follows the medieval practice of rubrication in manuscripts (i.e., using red letters to signal important textual features like titles or section headings). Colors - particularly red and blue - were used in some interesting ways throughout the exhibit as well.

This medieval manuscript shows the King of England (L, dressed in red, with lions) speaking with the King of France (R, dressed in blue, with fleur-de-lis motif). These are traditional heraldic devices/colors associated with the two nations.

The family tree near the start of the exhibit actually uses these heraldic motifs to mark royal family lines (England red, France blue). But look what happens when Henry V of England and French princess Catherine de Valois bear a child: Henry VI is rendered in alternating red and blue. Reminds me of a line in Shakespeare when the English king woos Catherine and suggests that "thou and I" shall bear a "compound...boy, half French, half English" (Henry V, Act 5.2).

The color-coding gets more complicated in the war chronology: events in English history are listed in blue, events in French history are in red, and events in the shared history of the nations are in green.

This little panel describes pieces of armor worn by soldiers during the period. In the center, a nice little riddle about a chain-mail garment (in parallel translation). Not quite sure why they "re-translated" the word "haubergon" in the French but not in the English.

Insofar as English/French relations are concerned, there seems to be a love/hate dynamic throughout the museum as a whole. The displays often stress solidarity between the Allies during World War II (in this context, the English are clearly friends and supporters of the French), but other materials openly mock the English. This satirical poster mocks "les English" on their way to Transvaal (in South Africa). Above, they cry for glory and victory shouting AO YES! Below, they disembark the ships onto the land, seasick and full of "wisky."

P.S. Just noticed in the royal pedigree that "Edouard" is not anglicized to Edward, but Henry is spelled in the English way (in French it would be spelled "Henri"). Weird.

Paris: Landmarks, Monuments, Museums

More linguistically-interesting things I saw in Paris.

A monument to peace within view of the Eiffel Tower. I can't tell how well the word "peace" is rendered in all these languages but the Chinese (和平) is at least legible. Not the best execution but well-intentioned. (By the way, I didn't see English anywhere among these languages! Hmmm...)

Louis Braille, inventor of the raised system of dots for the blind, is entombed beneath the Panthéon. This is one of the rare monuments that actively encourages visitors to touch and interact with it: a  bust, electronically illuminated Braille inscriptions, and audio recordings.

A similar installment for the blind can be found in the Pompidou Center. Here the Braille inscription and a textured pattern allow the visitor to appreciate a work of visual art.

Inside the Louvre Museum there's a series of signs that lay down "les règles de l'art" [the rules of art], i.e. what you're forbidden to do inside (e.g. no touching artworks, no flash photography etc.). I like the humorous and non-verbal aspect of these signs:

And, finally, a trilingual notice in the Palace of Versailles:

Paris: Neighborhoods (Jewish, Japanese, Latin)

This blog entry goes through a few distinctive neighborhoods in Paris: le Marais (the old Jewish Quarter), le quarter japonais (Japanese Quarter, around la Rue Sainte-Anne), and le quartier latin (Latin Quarter, near the Sorbonne - so called because university scholars used to speak Latin).

Here's a typical storefront in the Marais advertising merchandise in Hebrew and French. Incidentally, the word "Librarie" doesn't mean "library" - it means "bookshop" (the French word for library is "bibliotheque").

This excellent restaurant, "l'As du Fallafel," advertises its signature attractions in Hebrew: falafel (פלפל) and shwarma (השאוורמה). It's worth noting that the origin of falafel is disputed; some would claim it is Arab in origin. Whatever its origin, the food is delicious.

A closer view of the take-out order window reveals playing card aces (the word "As" in the restaurant name means "ace") and the motto of the establishment is "Toujour Imité Jamais Égalé" (Always Imitated, Never Equaled) - a nice jab at all the rival restaurants that have opened up nearby.

Along the Rue Sainte-Anne there's a stretch of Japanese restaurants - here's the menu for Naniwa-Ya, which probably has the best Japanese noodle soup I've ever eaten. The Japanese menu reads in the traditional manner, up-down and left-to-right. Oddly, the menu uses the letters YA rather than the kanji (character) 屋 or や (ya).

On one of the walls inside the Sorbonne I saw this sign advertising a photo competition for an international language study program. "No entiendo" is Spanish for "I don't understand," and the French translation ("Je ne comprends pas") is the URL for the website. I find it ironic that the acronym ESL (English as a Second Language) doesn't need any translation.

Inside one of the bathrooms in the university, some pedantic graffiti. One person demands that the maintenance staff replace the hand towels, and another person corrects the first person's grammatical error, correcting "essuies-main" to the proper French form "essuie-mains" (hand-towels).

Paris: Randomness

Last blog entry about Paris.

Displayed in a storefront window, this T-shirt offers a ironic, snooty twist on the "I [HEART] PARIS" cliché: "J' [aime] rein: Je suis Parisien" [I love nothing: I'm a Parisian].

Variation on the theme: I [SPACE INVADER] PARIS. Who knows what this is about? Strange thing is, there were lots of these signs all over the city.

In a little park, a bunch of cursive vowels and random vocalic word balloons. I got the sense this was supposed to represent the childlike joy one gets from playing outdoors, but I could totally be making that up.

On the Métro, I spotted this ad targeting people who want to learn English. The name and American flag/tongue thing strike me as incredibly cheesy. I'm also not sure "Wall Street" English is the best name - yes it conveys the idea of "practical" real-world English, but Wall Street doesn't have the best reputation as of late.

Another weird French take on American culture: this graphic novel (?) for sale in a storefront window reads I.R.$. (dollar sign replacing S). Sort of makes tax collection look glamorous and exciting!

P.S. I've just learned that there is Wikipedia about the "Space Invader" artist, who has "invaded" many cities - but Paris remains the most saturated.

P.P.S. For more on the "I [HEART] WHATEVER" motif, see this posting.