1.
Lille
–
Lille is a city in northern France, in French Flanders. On the Deûle River, near Frances border with Belgium, it is the capital of the Hauts-de-France region, archeological digs seem to show the area as inhabited by as early as 2000 BC, most notably in the modern-day quartiers of Fives, Wazemmes, and Vieux Lille. The legend of Lydéric and Phinaert puts the foundation of the city of Lille at 640, in the 8th century, the language of Old Low Franconian was spoken here, as attested by toponymic research. Lilles Dutch name is Rijsel, which comes from ter ijsel, the French equivalent has the same meaning, Lille comes from lîle. From 830 until around 910, the Vikings invaded Flanders, after the destruction caused by Norman and Magyar invasion, the eastern part of the region was ruled by various local princes. The first mention of the dates from 1066, apud Insulam. At the time, it was controlled by the County of Flanders, the County of Flanders thus extended to the left bank of the Scheldt, one of the richest and most prosperous regions of Europe. A notable local in this period was Évrard, who lived in the 9th century and participated in many of the days political, there was an important Battle of Lille in 1054. From the 12th century, the fame of the Lille cloth fair began to grow, in 1144 Saint-Sauveur parish was formed, which would give its name to the modern-day quartier Saint-Sauveur. Infante Ferdinand, Count of Flanders was imprisoned and the county fell into dispute, it would be his wife, Jeanne, Countess of Flanders and Constantinople and she was said to be well loved by the residents of Lille, who by that time numbered 10,000. He pushed the kingdoms of Flanders and Hainaut towards sedition against Jeanne in order to recover his land and she called her cousin, Louis VIII. He unmasked the imposter, whom Countess Jeanne quickly had hanged, in 1226 the King agreed to free Infante Ferdinand, Count of Flanders. Count Ferrand died in 1233, and his daughter Marie soon after, in 1235, Jeanne granted a city charter by which city governors would be chosen each All Saints Day by four commissioners chosen by the ruler. On 6 February 1236, she founded the Countesss Hospital, which one of the most beautiful buildings in Old Lille. It was in her honour that the hospital of the Regional Medical University of Lille was named Jeanne of Flanders Hospital in the 20th century, the Countess died in 1244 in the Abbey of Marquette, leaving no heirs. The rule of Flanders and Hainaut thus fell to her sister, Margaret II, Countess of Flanders, then to Margarets son, Lille fell under the rule of France from 1304 to 1369, after the Franco-Flemish War. The county of Flanders fell to the Duchy of Burgundy next, after the 1369 marriage of Margaret III, Countess of Flanders, Lille thus became one of the three capitals of said Duchy, along with Brussels and Dijon. By 1445, Lille counted some 25,000 residents, Philip the Good, Duke of Burgundy, was even more powerful than the King of France, and made Lille an administrative and financial capital
2.
France
–
France, officially the French Republic, is a country with territory in western Europe and several overseas regions and territories. The European, or metropolitan, area of France extends from the Mediterranean Sea to the English Channel and the North Sea, Overseas France include French Guiana on the South American continent and several island territories in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans. France spans 643,801 square kilometres and had a population of almost 67 million people as of January 2017. It is a unitary republic with the capital in Paris. Other major urban centres include Marseille, Lyon, Lille, Nice, Toulouse, during the Iron Age, what is now metropolitan France was inhabited by the Gauls, a Celtic people. The area was annexed in 51 BC by Rome, which held Gaul until 486, France emerged as a major European power in the Late Middle Ages, with its victory in the Hundred Years War strengthening state-building and political centralisation. During the Renaissance, French culture flourished and a colonial empire was established. The 16th century was dominated by civil wars between Catholics and Protestants. France became Europes dominant cultural, political, and military power under Louis XIV, in the 19th century Napoleon took power and established the First French Empire, whose subsequent Napoleonic Wars shaped the course of continental Europe. Following the collapse of the Empire, France endured a succession of governments culminating with the establishment of the French Third Republic in 1870. Following liberation in 1944, a Fourth Republic was established and later dissolved in the course of the Algerian War, the Fifth Republic, led by Charles de Gaulle, was formed in 1958 and remains to this day. Algeria and nearly all the colonies became independent in the 1960s with minimal controversy and typically retained close economic. France has long been a centre of art, science. It hosts Europes fourth-largest number of cultural UNESCO World Heritage Sites and receives around 83 million foreign tourists annually, France is a developed country with the worlds sixth-largest economy by nominal GDP and ninth-largest by purchasing power parity. In terms of household wealth, it ranks fourth in the world. France performs well in international rankings of education, health care, life expectancy, France remains a great power in the world, being one of the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council with the power to veto and an official nuclear-weapon state. It is a member state of the European Union and the Eurozone. It is also a member of the Group of 7, North Atlantic Treaty Organization, Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, the World Trade Organization, originally applied to the whole Frankish Empire, the name France comes from the Latin Francia, or country of the Franks
3.
Paris
–
Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
4.
Carmelites
–
However, historical records about its origin remain uncertain. The charism of the Carmelite Order is contemplation, Carmelites understand contemplation in a broad sense encompassing prayer, community, and service. These three elements are at the heart of the Carmelite charism, the most recent statement about the charism of Carmel was in the 1995 Constitutions of the Order, in which Chapter 2 is entirely devoted to the idea of charism. Carmel understands contemplation and action to be complementary, not contradictory, the Order is considered by the Church to be under the special protection of the Blessed Virgin Mary, and thus has a strong Marian devotion to Our Lady of Mount Carmel. There are also such as active Carmelite sisters. Carmelite tradition traces the origin of the order to a community of hermits on Mount Carmel, There are no certain records of hermits on this mountain before the 1190s. By this date a group of men had gathered at the well of Elijah on Mount Carmel and these men, who had gone to Palestine from Europe either as pilgrims or as crusaders, chose Mount Carmel in part because it was the traditional home of Elijah. The foundation is believed to have dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary. Some time between 1206 and 1214 the hermits, about very little is known, approached St. Albert of Jerusalem. The Rule of St. Albert addresses a prior name is only listed as B. When later required to name their founders, the Brothers referred to both Elijah and the Blessed Virgin as early models of the community. Later, under pressure from other European Mendicant orders to be more specific, virtually nothing is known of the Carmelites from 1214, when Albert died, until 1238. The Rule of St. Albert was approved by Pope Honorius III in 1226, the Carmelites next appear in the historical record, in 1238, when with the increasing cleavage between the West and the East, the Carmelites found it advisable to leave the Near East. Many moved to Cyprus and Sicily, in 1242, the Carmelites migrated west, establishing a settlement at Aylesford, Kent, England, and Hulne, near Alnwick in Northumberland. Two years later, they established a chapter in southern France, settlements were established at Losenham, Kent, and Bradmer, on the north Norfolk coast, before 1247. By 1245 the Carmelites were so numerous in England that they were able to hold their first general chapter at Aylesford, where Saint Simon Stock, then eighty years old, was chosen general. During his rule of twenty years the order prospered, foundations were made at London and Cambridge, Marseilles, Cologne, York, Monpellier, Norwich, Oxford and Bristol, Paris, and elsewhere. By 1274, there were 22 Carmelite houses in England, about the number in France, eleven in Catalonia
5.
Jean Gabin
–
Jean Gabin was a French actor and sometime singer. Considered a key figure in French cinema, he starred in classic films including Pépé le Moko, La grande illusion, Le Quai des brumes, La bête humaine, Le jour se lève. Gabin was made a member of the Légion dhonneur in recognition of the important role he played in French cinema, Gabin was born Jean-Alexis Moncorgé in Paris, the son of Madeleine Petit and Ferdinand Moncorgé, a cafe entertainer whose stage name was Gabin. He grew up in the village of Mériel in the Seine-et-Oise département, the son of cabaret entertainers, he attended the Lycée Janson de Sailly. Gabin left school early, and worked as a laborer until the age of 19 when he entered business with a bit part in a Folies Bergères production. He continued performing in a variety of roles before going into the military. He was part of a troupe that toured South America, and his performances started getting noticed, and better stage roles came along that led to parts in two silent films in 1928. Two years later Gabin easily made the transition to talkies, in a 1930 Pathé Frères production titled Chacun sa Chance, playing secondary roles, he made more than a dozen films over the next four years, including films directed by Maurice and Jacques Tourneur. However, he only gained recognition for his performance in Maria Chapdelaine. He was then cast as a hero in a 1936 war drama titled La Bandera. The following year he teamed up with Duvivier again, this time in the highly successful Pépé le Moko and that same year he starred in the Jean Renoir film La Grande Illusion, an anti-war film that ran at a New York City theatre for an unprecedented six months. He was divorced from his wife in 1939. In the late 1930s Gabin was flooded with offers from Hollywood, for a time he turned them all down, after the German occupation of France in 1940, he joined Jean Renoir and Julien Duvivier in the United States. During his time in Hollywood, Gabin began a romance with actress Marlene Dietrich which lasted until 1948. However, his films in America – Moontide and The Impostor, Gabin was a difficult personality, he did serious damage to his Hollywood career while working for RKO Pictures. Scheduled to star in an RKO film, at the last minute he demanded Dietrich be given the co-starring role, after Gabin remained steadfast in his demand, he was fired, and the film project was shelved. Undaunted, he joined General Charles de Gaulles Free French Forces and earned the Médaille militaire, following D-Day, Gabin was part of the military contingent that entered a liberated Paris. He was hired by Marcel Carné in 1946 to star in the film, Les Portes de la Nuit, but his conduct got him fired again
6.
Maurice Chevalier
–
Maurice Auguste Chevalier was a French actor, cabaret singer and entertainer. He is perhaps best known for his songs, including Louise, Mimi, Valentine. His trademark attire was a hat, which he always wore on stage with a tuxedo. He made his name as a star of comedy, appearing in public as a singer and dancer at an early age before working in menial jobs as a teenager. In 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France at the time, Fréhel. Although their relationship was brief, she secured him his first major engagement, as a mimic, in 1917, he discovered jazz and ragtime and went to London, where he found new success at the Palace Theatre. After this, he toured the United States, where he met the American composers George Gershwin and Irving Berlin and he developed an interest in acting and had success in Dédé. When talkies arrived, he went to Hollywood in 1928, where he played his first American role in Innocents of Paris, in 1957, he appeared in Love in the Afternoon, which was his first Hollywood film in more than 20 years. In 1958, he starred with Leslie Caron and Louis Jourdan in Gigi, in the early 1960s, he made eight films, including Can-Can in 1960 and Fanny the following year. In 1970, he made his contribution to the film industry where he sang the title song of the Disney film The Aristocats. He died in Paris, on January 1,1972, aged 83, Chevalier was born in Paris, France. His father was a French house painter and his mother, Joséphine van den Bosch, was French of Belgian descent. He worked a number of jobs, an apprentice, electrician, printer. He started in business in 1901. He was singing, unpaid, at a café when a member of the theatre saw him, Chevalier made a name as a mimic and a singer. His act in lAlcazar in Marseille was so successful, he made a triumphant rearrival in Paris, in 1909, he became the partner of the biggest female star in France, Fréhel. However, due to her alcoholism and drug addiction, their liaison ended in 1911, Chevalier then started a relationship with 36-year-old Mistinguett at the Folies Bergère, where he was her 23-year-old dance partner, they eventually played out a public romance. In 1917, Chevalier became a star in le Casino de Paris and played before British soldiers and he discovered jazz and ragtime and started thinking about touring the United States
7.
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
–
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios Inc. is an American media company, involved primarily in the production and distribution of feature films and television programs. Its headquarters are in Beverly Hills, California and it is one of the worlds oldest film studios. In 1971, it was announced that MGM would merge with 20th Century Fox, over the next thirty-nine years, the studio was bought and sold at various points in its history until, on November 3,2010, MGM filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. MGM Resorts International, a Las Vegas-based hotel and casino company listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol MGM, is not currently affiliated with Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. In 1966, MGM was sold to Canadian investor Edgar Bronfman Sr. whose son Edgar Jr. would later buy Universal Studios, the studio continued to produce five to six films a year that were released through other studios, mostly United Artists. Kerkorian did, however, commit to increased production and a film library when he bought United Artists in 1981. MGM ramped up production, as well as keeping production going at UA. It also incurred significant amounts of debt to increase production, the studio took on additional debt as a series of owners took charge in the 1980s and early 1990s. In 1986, Ted Turner bought MGM, but a few later, sold the company back to Kerkorian to recoup massive debt. The series of deals left MGM even more heavily in debt, MGM was bought by Pathé Communications in 1990, but Parretti lost control of Pathé and defaulted on the loans used to purchase the studio. The French banking conglomerate Crédit Lyonnais, the major creditor. Even more deeply in debt, MGM was purchased by a joint venture between Kerkorian, producer Frank Mancuso, and Australias Seven Network in 1996, the debt load from these and subsequent business deals negatively affected MGMs ability to survive as an independent motion picture studio. In 1924, movie theater magnate Marcus Loew had a problem and he had bought Metro Pictures Corporation in 1919 for a steady supply of films for his large Loews Theatres chain. With Loews lackluster assortment of Metro films, Loew purchased Goldwyn Pictures in 1924 to improve the quality, however, these purchases created a need for someone to oversee his new Hollywood operations, since longtime assistant Nicholas Schenck was needed in New York headquarters to oversee the 150 theaters. Mayer, Loew addressed the situation by buying Louis B. Mayer Pictures on April 17,1924, Mayer became head of the renamed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, with Irving Thalberg as head of production. MGM produced more than 100 feature films in its first two years, in 1925, MGM released the extravagant and successful Ben-Hur, taking a $4.7 million profit that year, its first full year. Marcus Loew died in 1927, and control of Loews passed to Nicholas Schenck, in 1929, William Fox of Fox Film Corporation bought the Loew familys holdings with Schencks assent. Mayer and Thalberg disagreed with the decision, Mayer was active in the California Republican Party and used his political connections to persuade the Justice Department to delay final approval of the deal on antitrust grounds
8.
Johann Strauss II
–
Johann Strauss II, also known as Johann Strauss Jr. the Younger, the Son, Johann Baptist Strauss, was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of music, as well as several operettas. In his lifetime, he was known as The Waltz King, Strauss had two younger brothers, Josef and Eduard Strauss, who became composers of light music as well, although they were never as well known as their elder brother. Some of Johann Strauss most famous works include The Blue Danube, Kaiser-Walzer, Tales from the Vienna Woods, among his operettas, Die Fledermaus and Der Zigeunerbaron are the best known. In other words, it is properly Strauss, not Strauß and his family called him Schani, derived from the Italian Gianni, a nickname. Strauss was born in St Ulrich near Vienna, Austria, on October 25,1825 and his paternal great-grandfather was a Hungarian Jew – a fact which the Nazis, who lionised Strausss music as so German, later tried to conceal. His father did not want him to become a musician but rather a banker, nevertheless, Strauss Junior studied the violin secretly as a child with the first violinist of his fathers orchestra, Franz Amon. When his father discovered his son secretly practising on a one day. It seems that rather than trying to avoid a Strauss rivalry and it was only when the father abandoned his family for a mistress, Emilie Trampusch, that the son was able to concentrate fully on a career as a composer with the support of his mother. Strauss studied counterpoint and harmony with theorist Professor Joachim Hoffmann, who owned a music school. His talents were recognized by composer Joseph Drechsler, who taught him exercises in harmony. It was during that time that he composed his only sacred work and his other violin teacher, Anton Kollmann, who was the ballet répétiteur of the Vienna Court Opera, also wrote excellent testimonials for him. Armed with these, he approached the Viennese authorities to apply for a license to perform and he initially formed his small orchestra where he recruited his members at the Zur Stadt Belgrad tavern, where musicians seeking work could be hired easily. Johann Strauss Is influence over the local entertainment establishments meant that many of them were wary of offering the younger Strauss a contract for fear of angering the father. Strauss Jr. was able to persuade the Dommayers Casino in Hietzing, a suburb of Vienna, to allow him to perform. The elder Strauss, in anger at his sons disobedience, and at that of the proprietor, refused to play at the Dommayers Casino again. Strauss made his debut at Dommayers in October 1844, where he performed some of his first works, such as the waltzes Sinngedichte, Op.1 and Gunstwerber, Op.4, critics and the press were unanimous in their praise for Strausss music. Despite the initial fanfare, Strauss found his years as a composer difficult
9.
Charles Boyer
–
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage and his memorable performances were among the eras most highly praised, in romantic dramas such as The Garden of Allah, Algiers, and Love Affair, as well as the mystery-thriller Gaslight. He received four Academy Award nominations for Best Actor, Boyer was born in Figeac, Lot, France, the son of Augustine Louise Durand and Maurice Boyer, a merchant. Boyer was a shy, small-town boy who discovered the movies, Boyer performed comic sketches for soldiers while working as a hospital orderly during World War I. He began studies briefly at the Sorbonne, and was waiting for a chance to study acting at the Paris Conservatory and he went to the capital city to finish his education, but spent most of his time pursuing a theatrical career. In 1920, his quick memory won him a chance to replace the man in a stage production. In the 1920s, he not only played a suave and sophisticated ladies man on the stage, MGM signed Boyer to a contract, and he loved life in the United States, but nothing much came of his first American stay from 1929 to 1931. At first, he performed film roles only for the money, however, with the coming of sound, his deep voice made him a romantic star. His first Hollywood break came with a small role in Jean Harlows Red-Headed Woman. Subsequently, he co-starred with Claudette Colbert in the psychiatric drama Private Worlds, until the early 1930s, Boyer mainly continued making French films, and Mayerling co-starring Danielle Darrieux in 1936 made him an international star. This was followed by Orage, opposite Michèle Morgan, the offscreen Boyer was bookish and private, far removed from the Hollywood high life. In 1938, he landed his famous role as Pepe le Moko, the thief on the run in Algiers, although in the movie Boyer never said to costar Hedy Lamarr Come with me to the Casbah, this line was in the movie trailer. The line would stick with him, thanks to generations of impressionists, Boyers vocal style was also parodied on the Tom and Jerry cartoons, most notably when Tom was trying to woo a female cat. In contrast to his glamorous image, Boyer began losing his hair early, had a pronounced paunch, when Bette Davis first saw him on the set of All This, and Heaven Too, she did not recognize him and tried to have him removed. In 1943, he was awarded an Honorary Oscar Certificate for progressive cultural achievement in establishing the French Research Foundation in Los Angeles as a source of reference. He is particularly known for Gaslight in which he played a thief/murderer who tries to convince his newlywed wife that she is going insane. In 1947, he was the voice of Capt. Daniel Gregg in the Lux Radio Theaters presentation of The Ghost and Mrs. Muir, in 1948, he was made a chevalier of the French Légion dhonneur. When another film with Bergman, Arch of Triumph, failed at the box office, in 1956, Boyer was a guest star on I Love Lucy
