What was last week like in Paris?  Try this -

Black ice forces Eiffel Tower shut down  

PARIS, March 4 (AFP) - The Eiffel Tower was due to remain closed to visitors Friday morning after bitterly cold weather in France left the monument with black ice on its metal floors, a spokesman said.

It was the second day in a row that one of Paris' most visited monuments kept its doors shut to ensure visitor safety.

Officials said they could neither use salt, which would corrode the iron structure, nor sand, which would disrupt the elevators, to prevent ice from covering the monument. Attempts to sweep off the layers of snow have failed to prevent the formation of a layer of black ice.

… The gourmet restaurant housed in the tower has remained open.

Of course it remained open.

For what it was really like, notes these shots sent to Just Above Sunset from Ric Erickson of MetropoleParis -

But the big event last week as Ric tells us -

Salon de l'Agriculture – known to 'bonne bouffe' fans as the 'Beautiful Cow Show,' this annual hyper–event turns Paris into a farm again until Sunday, 6. March. Open hours are 9:00 to 19:00, and until 22:00 on Friday, 4. March. At Paris–Expo, Porte de Versailles, Paris 15. Métro: Porte de Versailles. InfoTel.: 01 49 09 60 00.

And didn’t surrealism take root in Paris long ago?  Visit the weekly photo magazine Left Bank Lens from Paris.  Don Smith sent this along before the snows hit town.

Footnote -

Charolais History:

One of the oldest of the several breeds of French cattle, Charolais is considered of Jurassic origin and was developed in the district around Charolles in Central France. The breed became established there and achieved considerable regard as a producer of highly-rated meat in the markets at Lyon and Villefranche in the 16th and 17th centuries. There also is historical evidence that these white cattle were being noticed as early as 878 A.D. The cattle were generally confined to that area until after the French Revolution.

 

One of the early influential herds in the region was started in 1840 by the Count Charles de Bouile. His selective breeding led him to set up a herd book in 1864 for the breed at his stable at Villars near the village of Magny-Cours. Breeders in the Charolles vicinity established a herd book in 1882.

 

The two societies merged in 1919, with the older organization taking the records of the later group into ther headquarters at Nevers, the capital of the Nievre province. Soon after the First World War, a young Mexican industrialist of French name and ancestry, Jean Pugibet, decided to bring some of the French cattle to his ranch in Mexico. He had seen the Charolais cattle during World War I while serving as a French army volunteer and was impressed by their appearance and productivity. He arranged for a shipment of two bulls and 10 heifers to Mexico in 1930. Two later shipments in 1931 and 1937 increased the total number to 37 - eight bulls and 29 females.

 

The first Charolais to come into the United States from Mexico are believed to be two bulls, Neptune and Ortolan, which were purchased from Pugibet by the King Ranch in Texas and imported in June 1936. From that beginning, the breed grew rapidly. Wherever they were shown, the big white cattle commanded instant attention. Cattlemen admired both Charolais bulls and females for their muscling, correctness and size. They were also very impressed with their calves. An ever-expanding demand for the purebred seedstock kept an active market for both bulls and females. Livestock producers across the country were searching for animals that would improve their profit picture.  

See also this if you want to join the US Charolais organization.