";s:4:"text";s:4752:" France has the reputation of being a "literary culture",[38] and this image is reinforced by such things as the importance of French literature in the French educational system, the attention paid by the French media to French book fairs and book prizes (like the Prix Goncourt, Prix Renaudot or Prix Femina) and by the popular success of the (former) literary television show "Apostrophes" (hosted by Bernard Pivot). Réécouter Coronavirus, une conversation mondiale : le pire est-il déjà arrivé ? The cliché about the Parisien is rush hour in the Métro subway. In the 13th century, French craftsmen developed the stained glass painting technique and sophisticated illuminated manuscripts for private devotion in the new gothic style. Since 1982, following the French government's policy of decentralisation, overseas departments have elected regional councils with powers similar to those of the regions of metropolitan France. The Roman Catholic faith is no longer considered the state religion, as it was before the 1789 Revolution and throughout the various, non-republican regimes of the 19th century (the Restoration, the July Monarchy and the Second Empire). Arabs from North Africa started to settle in France. and the suburban and working class hinterlands (like Seine-Saint-Denis) of urban agglomerations (called variously banlieues ("suburbs", sometimes qualified as "chic" or "pauvres" or les cités "housing projects")) which have developed their own "sense of place" and local culture (much like the various boroughs of New York City or suburbs of Los Angeles), as well as cultural identity. Along with Milan, London and New York, Paris is center of an important number of fashion shows. A traditional French dish is coq au vin — chicken in Burgundy wine, lardons (small strips or cubes of pork fat), button mushrooms, onions and garlic. Emblematic of these tensions is the work of José Bové, who founded in 1987, the Confédération Paysanne, an agricultural union that places its highest political values on humans and the environment, promotes organic farming and opposes genetically modified organisms; Bové's most famous protest was the dismantling of a McDonald's franchise in Millau (Aveyron), in 1999. According to National Geographic, they may actually be from Spain or Belgium. Some action has been taken by the government in order to promote French culture and the French language. Lunch ("déjeuner") and dinner ("dîner") are the main meals of the day. This is sometimes called the French paradox (see, for example, Mireille Guiliano's 2006 book French Women Don't Get Fat).
France's National Research Agency on AIDS, French Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Development, The Official Website of France: Slogan of the French Republic, The Metropolitan Museum of Art: The Impressionism Movement, USA Today: Food & Eating Habits in France, These could be the funniest animal pictures ever, Artemis Accords: Why many countries are refusing to sign moon exploration agreement, Scientists discover new organ in the throat, 1st-ever footage of giant pandas mating in the wild is not 'cute and cuddly', Black holes could become massive particle accelerators, 24 million-year-old nursery for baby megasharks discovered in South Carolina. The French educational system differs strongly from Northern-European and American systems in that it stresses the importance of partaking in a society as opposed to being responsibly independent. In the past few years, other unexpected voices are however beginning to question what they interpret, as the new philosopher Alain Finkielkraut coined the term, as an "Ideology of miscegenation" (une idéologie du métissage) that may come from what one other philosopher, Pascal Bruckner, defined as The Tears of the White Man (le sanglot de l'homme blanc). French cuisine was codified in the 20th century by Georges Auguste Escoffier to become the modern version of haute cuisine. France Culture se fait aussi l'écho de la francophonie dans le monde et diffuse encore des fictions, des documentaires ou des conférences. Despite the principles of laïcité and the separation of church from state, public and school holidays in France generally follow the Roman Catholic religious calendar (including Easter, Christmas, Ascension Day, Pentecost, Assumption of Mary, All Saints Day, etc.). Another expression, "terroir" is a French term originally used for wine and coffee to denote the special characteristics that geography bestowed upon these products.