Paris names best baguette maker

After smelling, crackling, tasting, and scrupulously examining an interminably long row of baguettes, a panel of judges whittled down a list of 174 contenders, all vying for the Grand Prize for best baguette in Paris, to just one.
Tuesday’s competition crowned Pascal Barillon the best baguette maker in Paris this year, a competition that turns humble bakers into instant celebrities and attracts snaking lines of customers outside their bakery every day.

The edible icon of Paris is an institution not just for tourists, but for the French who also rhapsodize about the best baguettes in the city.
Barillon, who owns Au levain d’antan in the Montmartre area of Paris, won the grand prize at the 17th annual competition, trumping 173 other bread batons in categories of appearance, doneness, innards, smell and taste.
In addition to winning €4,000, it will be Barillon’s baguettes which will be served all year to French President Nicolas Sarkozy.
The panel of judges included artisanal bakers, food journalists and previous award winners.
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Best? Resume of 2011

With the economy still in bounce-back mode, it’s hard to say why this guy feels like it’s a good idea to pass his resume around like this… I’d like to assume it’s because he’s really so awesome at life and professionalism that even a crappy resume can’t hold him back from ruling the world.
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Meet Mr Louboutin

Famed shoe designer Christian Louboutin opened up to The New Yorker magazine about fashion, his legendary red bottoms and clogs. Here’s some of what he had to say:

“One thing I detest, I have to say, is when a shoe is too soft, and it’s molding to the foot. This is quite disgusting. And I really, really hate incredibly long shoes, where the last is very pointy, almost like Aladdin.”

“The shiny red color of the soles has no function other than to identify to the public that they are mine. I selected the color because it is engaging, flirtatious, memorable and the color of passion.”

“I hate the concept of the clog! It’s fake, it’s ugly, and it’s not even comfortable! And I hate the whole concept of comfort! It’s like when people say, ‘Well, we’re not really in love, but we’re in a comfortable relationship.’ You’re abandoning a lot of ideas when you are too into comfort. ‘Comfy’—that’s one of the worst words! I just picture a woman feeling bad, with a big bottle of alcohol, really puffy. It’s really depressing, but she likes her life because she has comfortable clogs.”

“When a woman buys a pair of shoes, she never looks at the shoe. She stands up and looks in the mirror, she looks at the breast, the ass, from the front, from the side, blah blah blah. If she likes herself, then she considers the shoe.”

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