-Fresh from Paris-

Sealed with a...

After privately PACSing (see below) behind the closed doors of the municipal building (in the background), the two celebrants

emerged into the ebbing light of day to personally stamp their union in public, much like these pioneering PACSers,

as caught in this famous French photo....

photo by Robert Doisneau, 1950

Note:  The photographer "set up" this shot (that is, it wasn't spontaneous) which

somehow reduces its emotional value -- though not its monetary worth.  The 

woman, who was 20 at the time, was given a signed and stamped original of the

photo as payment for her "work."  She sold it 45 years later for 155,000 euros (more

than $211,000 U.S.).  Several years before selling the photo, she had sued Doisneau,

attempting to weasel a settlement from the photographer, but the suit was tossed out of

French court.  Her relationship with the guy she's kissing, by the way, lasted 9 months.

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Mademoiselle no more.

Madame Marion (see story below)

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PACSed in Paris.

HackFester ManhattanCam, August 2009 - Amira & Pierre passing yet another "couples' test," the one in which a proud man and a strong-willed

woman attempt to find their way (without biting the other's head off) using only a standard folding map ....

1/19/11 - Well, they've done it; they've gone and tied the knot.  Sort of, kind of.  At 3:15 pm Paris time (9:15 am in Ann Arbor

and 4:15 am in Papeete, Tahiti), the couple stood before a judicial official and became PACSed. 

(NOTE: Click on the PACSed link in the headline above the photo for further elucidation.) 

Bottom Line?  PACS stands for pacte civil de solidarit�span>, or civil union, as we

call it (but pacte civil de solidarit�span> sounds so much cooler).  It is fast becoming the linkage choice du jour  in Paris; these days

there are two PACS's for every three marriages.  The New York Times says this about PACS:  "As with traditional marriages,

civil unions allow couples to file joint tax returns, exempt spouses from inheritance taxes, permit partners

to share insurance policies, ease access to residency permits for foreigners and make partners responsible for each other's debts...."

Except for that last part, sounds tres perfect to me. 

More to come, including rare photos of Pierre in a suit (NOT jogging), so come back soon.  wom