"jacques chirac" news and stories

To commemorate the opening of the Monty Python musical Spamalot in London, Hormel is unleashing Stinky French Garlic Spam upon the British Isles. I'm not quite sure how I missed it, but the makers of the much-maligned canned meat product, introduced this "collector's edition" tin in the States some two years ago when the show made its New York debut.

Hormel's European arm plans to step up its decidely tongue-in-cheek campaign by sending a tin of Stinky French Garlic Spam to Jacques Chirac. This move is inspired by Chirac's tendency to complain about British chow. It's also a tip of the hat to the scene in Monty Python and the Holy Grail where French soldiers and King Arthur's knights trade insults, notably, "I fart in your general direction."

Although he used to eat spam, Eric Idle (pictured), the musical's creator, hasn't tasted the funky new flavor. He gave up meat more than 30 years ago. Has anyone out there had the, er, pleasure of sampling this Pythonesque product?

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At Luxist, Deidre announced that the wines collected by Jacques Chirac while he was the mayor of Paris will be auctioned later this year. The city has decided that the liability involved in keeping the collection - which could be damaged by floods or other accidents in the bowels of the Hôtel de Ville, where it is kept - is too high to make it worth the risk, not to mention the fact that the wine budget for the city has been slashed dramatically and they can't really afford the maintenance. The wine budget reduction is a reflection of the fact that the Parisians aren't drinking wine at the same rates they used to. For example, despite an equal number of receptions, only half the amount of wine is consumed now as it was during Chirac's time in office.

The 5,000 bottle collection is expected to bring in at least $600,000, as it contains many fine wines, including 191 bottles of 1976 Krug champagne and several bottles of 1990 Château Pétrus (worth more than $1,700 each).

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