If you’re traveling to France in the near future and have dreams of picking apart the delicate, flaky layers of authentic croissant, be warned that these beloved pastries may be in short supply when you get there. Why? Apparently because people are eating more butter. [More]
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Airport Employee Punches Passenger Holding Baby Because We Live In A Cruel And Absurd Universe
By 7.31.17
As Dostoyevsky wrote, a beast can never be so cruel as a man, so artistically cruel, so it’s of little surprise that a random airport worker lashed out with his fist at a passenger — a traveler who was not only holding an infant in his arms at the time, but who had languished for some 13 hours while waiting for his repeatedly delayed flight. [More]
French Apple Store Smasher Sentenced, Ordered To Repay $19K In Damages
By 10.26.16
The man who went on a phone-smashing spree at a mall near Dijon, France, reportedly because the company wouldn’t replace his defective iPhone, has received a six-month suspended prison sentence. He must stay away from the mall and pay Apple back for his destruction spree. [More]
Man Smashes Apple Store Merchandise, Yelling About Consumer Rights
By 9.30.16
We don’t know how Apple wronged this customer in Dijon, France, but he caught everyone’s attention when he walked calmly around a store, smashing iPhones and at least one computer with a steel ball. During his smashing spree, he told employees and shoppers about his grievances with the company, then tried to leave the store before mall security caught up with him. [More]
Tesla Model S Engulfed In Flames During Worst Test Drive Ever
By 8.16.16
You might remember a few years ago that after three Tesla Model S sedans caught fire, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration stepped in and opened an investigation into the series of fires, and Tesla made changes to the vehicles based on what happened. Now another fire has happened in France. [More]
In France, Uber And Executives Convicted Of Deceptive Commercial Practices
By 6.9.16
Ride-hailing app Uber’s service that lets any safe driver with access to a new-ish car become a driver for hire is generally popular with the frugal public all over the world, but is less popular with regulators and with professional taxi drivers. That’s been the case in France, where the company was convicted today of deceptive commercial practices and illegal business activity, and with its executives fined a collective €850,000 ($962,689). [More]
Lack Of Windows 3.1 Technicians Causes Traffic Backup At French Airport
By 11.13.15
In your office, there might be an ancient, dusty computer lurking in a corner that no one remembers to take to the electronics recycling place. Maybe it runs some scary-old operating system like Windows 95, and you wouldn’t use it for a mission-critical function. Would you? At Orly airport outside of Paris, France, the breakdown of a program that provides weather and visibility updates to pilots grounded dozens of planes. The problem: that program only runs on Windows 3.1. [More]
French Dairy Cartel Busted After U.S.-Based General Mills Blows The Whistle
By 3.12.15
When you think of cartels and price fixing, what’s the first thing to come to mind? Probably drugs, oil, or electronics that fall off the back of a truck, but definitely not yogurt. Still, it was that very product that led to the bust of a French dairy product cartel after a U.S.-based company apparently crashed the colluding. [More]
Amazon Takes Away All Discounts In France Under New Law, Charges A Penny For Shipping
By 7.11.14
Book lovers looking for a tidy discount in France won’t be finding anything of the sort, at least not from Amazon: In accordance with a new law in that country, the e-commerce Goliath has ditched all discounts and is charging a penny for shipping, because it’s not allowed to send books for free. [More]
Congratulations, Everyone: U.S. Is Now The Top Wine Market In The World
By 5.13.14
While they’ve been enjoying Pinot noir and sampling fine Champagne over in France for more years than the United States has been a country, there’s a new No. 1 wine market in the world and it rhymes with “USA, USA!” Yes, it’s our sipping habits that have made our country the top when it comes to swilling vino. [More]
Brilliant Marketing: Car Rental Company Rents Hot Wheels To Kids
By 5.8.14
When families go on vacation, parents get to drive around a shiny and different vehicle, but what do kids get to drive? Nothing! It happened that toy-maker Mattel and car-renter Europcar are clients of the same ad agency, and they formed an interesting idea: what if there were a counter where children could rent cars, too? Pocket-sized cars, that is. Hot Wheels. [More]
Bad Consumer Hurls Fry At McDonald’s Cashier, Lacerates Other Customer’s Cornea
By 1.22.14
Anything can be used as a weapon if deployed in just the right way. That’s what a customer at a McDonald’s in Bordeaux, France learned when she was hit in the eye with a fry while waiting in line at a restaurant. A doctor diagnosed her with a lacerated cornea and told her to take ten days off work. [More]
No One From McDonald’s France Has Apparently Ever Visited The U.S.
By 12.18.13
Why is it that McDonald’s — arguably the company whose brand is most closely identified with numerous negative stereotypes about America — simply can not get those stereotypes correct when it runs ads overseas? Earlier this year, there were the McDonald’s UK spots that reduced the U.S. to poodle-carrying socialites and no-necked weightlifters, but those are laser-point accurate compared to the “Americans” being featured in bizarre McD’s ads coming out of France. [More]
Coffee Prices At This Cafe Vary Depending On How Rude You Are
By 12.11.13
What began as a bit of fun for the occasionally frustrated workers at a cafe in the French city of Nice is sticking around on the menu, with customers being charged more for coffee if they fail to ask nicely. [More]
Lunch Envy: McDonald’s France Offers Goat Cheese McWrap
By 10.8.13 — Updated: 9.8.16
Other countries continue to get all of the best fast-food products from American brands. Want more evidence? Check out the new goat cheese McWrap available from McDonald’s, only in France and for a limited time. A previous version that the chain tried had breaded and fried goat cheese. Both versions replace the more typical chicken in the wrap with cheese. [More]
Fancy People, Revelers Everywhere Worried About This Year’s Low Champagne Harvest
By 11.14.12
That bubbly you toast with on New Year’s Eve (or any toastable occasion, like finishing a work week without crying more than four times) could be in danger: France is reporting its lowest champagne harvest in 40 years, after vineyards were severely damaged by hailstorms, wet weather and fungus. [More]
Baguette ATM Hits Paris Streets
By 8.16.11
A new vending machine just hit the streets of Paris dispensing freshly baked baguettes. [More]
Expedia Denies Refund Even Though Hotel Was Closed
By 7.15.11
This summer, Abe went on a trip through Europe this summer with his wife and kids. One night, he made a hotel reservation using the Expedia iPhone app. But when he arrived at the place, it was already past check-in time and no one was around. When he called Expedia for a refund, they said no, because the check-in time was disclosed on their website, even though that information was not available through the iPhone app at all. [More]
