the web presence of the quintessential, underground, Parisian business quarterly Édition en français
Proudly serving Paris since May 21, 1951.
Please excuse our minimalist presence, as we begin the launch of our web site. You can expect a complete on-line edition by Fall 2004. Watch this space for important announcements and occasional features.
Letter from the Editor
PBR April 31, 2004: We are proud to have been mentioned recently by a misguided American entertainer named Bill O'Reilly, who apparently hosts a television program on a fledgling network called "The Fox News Channel" in the United States. He referenced a recent Paris Business Review article that said France has "lost billions of dollars" because of an American boycott of French products. Of course, that article was meant in jest.
During an April 27 debate with Toronto Globe and Mail columnist Heather Mallick, Mr. O'Reilly said, "they've lost billions of dollars in France according to The Paris Business Review." (See transcript excerpt below.)
Clearly, Mr. O'Reilly did not appreciate the humor in our "Poor Little France" column of April 1, 2004, which we believe to be his source for the information. We had assumed that all our readers would recognize that our special edition on April 1 contained only "April Fools" joke stories. The fact that the masthead of the April 1 edition was printed upside down was supposed to be a dead giveaway. Our annual April Fools edition is a long-standing tribute to the holiday, which originated in France and eventually spread across the world -- as have so many other pieces of culture.
Thank you, Mr. O'Reilly, for extending the humor of our 2004 April Fools edition and helping us celebrate a great French holiday.
We do hope no Americans are taking this "lost billions of dollars" report seriously. Mr. O'Reilly is badly misinformed and, while he may be amusing at times, he is certainly not an authoritative source of factual information. France enjoys an abundance of American tourism and trade. In fact, we are happy to report that France has benefited from increased trade with the United States since the beginning of the attempt by wrong-headed, right-wing conservatives to boycott French products.
Will Mr. O'Reilly fall for one of our jokes next April 1st? The question brings to mind an old Texas saying, as enunciated by Mr. O'Reilly's hero, George W. Bush -- "Fool me once, shame on... shame on you... fool me, you can't get fooled again."
For more information on the topic Mr. O'Reilly's foolishness, read the Media Matters report on this rather humorous misunderstanding.
One closing note... If you would like a sample of some excellent French products, we suggest you start with some delicious chocolates or some good wine. A trip to the Louvre is very nice as well.
