PARIS — The blame game and finger pointing following Sunday’s heist at the Louvre Museum kicked off almost as quickly as the seven-minute robbery itself.
France’s far right was quick to assign fault to President Emmanuel Macron and his allies for the brazen, broad-daylight theft of the French crown jewels, accusing them of being soft on crime and failing to sufficiently protect the nation’s heritage.
MEP Marion Maréchal proposed eliminating the €200 cultural vouchers offered to French high school students, a measure put in place under Macron, and redirecting those funds toward protecting France’s “national treasures.”
She later called France the “laughingstock of the world” and called on Culture Minister Rachida Dati — who has acknowledged “failures” in securing the world’s most visited museum in several interviews — to demand the resignations of the museum’s director and head of security.
“The responsibility lies with 40 years of abandonment during which problems were swept under the rug … We always focused on the security of cultural institutions for visitors, much less for that of the artworks,” Dati told broadcaster M6 on Monday.
Jean-Philippe Tanguy, a high-ranking official with the country’s biggest far-right party, the National Rally, accused the French “political and media system’s … soft-on-crime ideology” of being “responsible” for the heist.
In a series of angry social media posts, he claimed that “French museums, like our historic buildings and churches, are DELIBERATELY not secured to the same standard as the treasures they contain.”
National Rally President Jordan Bardella called the incident a “humiliation” before asking: “How far will the breakdown of the state go?”
Meanwhile, conservative lawmaker Alexandre Portier announced plans to propose a parliamentary inquiry into the protection of French heritage and museum security, as first reported by POLITICO.
Security concerns have long been a point of contention within the museum. Trade unions have repeatedly sounded the alarm over what they describe as poor working conditions and understaffing among security personnel — who have gone on strike several times, most recently in June, amid growing visitor numbers driven by mass tourism.
In a bid to modernize the museum’s aging infrastructure, Macron in January announced an ambitious renovation project featuring a new entrance and a dedicated room for the Mona Lisa. The plan — dubbed Louvre — Nouvelle Renaissance — also includes security upgrades such as next-generation surveillance cameras, enhanced perimeter detection and a new central security control room, according to the culture ministry.
As of Monday, the perpetrators remain at large — and the Louvre was closed to the public for a second consecutive day.
The National Transportation Safety Board is recommending that all new vehicles in the U.S. be equipped with blood alcohol monitoring systems that can stop an…
<img src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/a-pizza-in-a-box-right-a-man-adding-sauce-to-a-slice-of-pizza.jpg?id=61106431&width=1200&height=600&coordinates=0%2C39%2C0%2C39"/><br/><br/><p><a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/best-pizza-in-montreal" target="_blank">Montreal’s pizza scene</a> is always evolving. And one of its most exciting new contenders is operating out of a space smaller than most living rooms.</p><p>Tucked into a 400-square-foot space above a paint shop in Montreal's Lachine borough, Forno Pizza Frankie's doesn't look like much at first glance. There are no tables, no dining room, and no neon signs. But inside, two brothers are quietly crafting some of the best pies in the city. Donny and Daniele Mellozzi opened the takeout-only spot in August 2023. It's not a traditional restaurant, though. And that's by design.</p><p>"We're not a restaurant. We're a forno," Frankie's co-owner Donny Mellozzi told MTL Blog. "A forno in Italy is a bakery. It's where you go for a slice of pizza, a sandwich, maybe some bread. That's who we are."</p><p>The brothers grew up around the food business. Their father is a longtime butcher and co-owner at Marchigiani in LaSalle, where Donny first started baking Roman-style pizza on Sundays. </p><p>"I was using the bread I made and topping it with my dad's meats," Mellozzi said. "People started coming in every weekend just to try it." </p><p>Eventually, the hobby outgrew the basement. And when a friend offered them a small kitchen space, they jumped on it. "We didn't take out a loan or build a fancy spot. We just wanted to do things our way."</p><p>Their pizza is far from typical. Frankie's serves a mix of Roman and Neo–New York-style pies, including one they call a "New Haven Tribute." The dough is made using a three-day pre-ferment process that Donny developed over years of research and experimentation. </p><p>"We knew exactly what kind of pizza we wanted to make. Crispy, crunchy, light, and digestible. Something you can reheat and still enjoy," he added.</p><p>The space may be small, but the pizza shop's following is big.</p><p>Word of mouth has helped them build a loyal customer base, with countless fan-made videos popping up on social media and an impressive five-star average on Google.</p><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4nQ2pqOR4b/" data-instgrm-version="4" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/C4nQ2pqOR4b/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">See on Instagram</a>
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</blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script> <p><br/></p><p>"We were taking orders by hand at first, just through Instagram DMs. I couldn't keep up. Same faces coming back every week," he said. "That's when I knew this might really work."</p><p>Frankie's may no longer be under the radar, but Lachine locals were the first to embrace it like a neighbourhood secret. "They're proud of it. I never thought I'd open a business in Lachine," Donny said. "But now, it feels like exactly where we're supposed to be."</p><p>Today, orders can be placed online, via the <a href="https://www.instagram.com/pizzafrankies/" target="_blank">business's Instagram page</a>, through <a href="https://www.mtlblog.com/tag/uber-eats" target="_blank">Uber Eats</a>, <a href="https://order.ueat.io/integration/b8164529-e10a-4389-ba57-56c27ff02c27/fr#/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAadTK45izSW-FU60ROrTrUs7hmnzKxZYKgEBmfZyTpplFZlhOrZfryj8wMb4Vg_aem_9UZQTc_RbK6U-FzNmuaVmA" target="_blank">Ueat.io</a>, or in person. Slices and Roman sandwiches are also available daily, and the menu rotates depending on what's fresh or seasonal. </p><p><br/></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image"> <img alt="A row of sandwiches on a platter at Frankie's Pizza in Montreal." class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7277f74579016d3e603189f3b68d5a3e" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image" id="5faed" loading="lazy" src="https://www.mtlblog.com/media-library/a-row-of-sandwiches-on-a-platter-at-frankie-s-pizza-in-montreal.jpg?id=61106434&width=980"/> <small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Frankie's famous scacciata sandwiches. </small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="Add Photo Credit...">Donny Mellozzi</small></p><p>The Mellozzi brothers' menu is flexible, limited, and deliberate. "We're not a two-for-one pizza place. We're not open until midnight. We want people to enjoy this at home, open a bottle of wine, have a good meal."</p><p>As for what's next, Donny admits that they may soon need to expand the operation. But in the meantime, the small team at Frankie's will keep letting the food do the talking.</p><h3>Forno Pizza Frankie's</h3><br/><blockquote class="instagram-media" data-instgrm-permalink="https://www.instagram.com/p/DH1FPkDJQf3/?img_index=1" data-instgrm-version="4" style="background:#FFF; border:0; border-radius:3px; box-shadow:0 0 1px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.5),0 1px 10px 0 rgba(0,0,0,0.15); margin: 1px; max-width:658px; padding:0; width:99.375%; width:-webkit-calc(100% - 2px); width:calc(100% - 2px);">
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/DH1FPkDJQf3/?img_index=1" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif; font-size:14px; font-style:normal; font-weight:normal; line-height:17px; text-decoration:none; word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">See on Instagram</a>
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</blockquote><script async="" defer="" src="//platform.instagram.com/en_US/embeds.js"></script><p>Price:💸💸</p><p>Cuisine: Roman-style, Neo–New York pizza, Italian sandwiches</p><p>Address: 695 11e Avenue, Montreal, QC</p><p>Why You Need To Go: Some of Montreal's most legit, small-batch pizza is being made in a space smaller than your living room, and it's got the loyal following to prove it.</p><p><a href="https://order.ueat.io/integration/b8164529-e10a-4389-ba57-56c27ff02c27/fr#/?fbclid=PAZXh0bgNhZW0CMTEAAadTK45izSW-FU60ROrTrUs7hmnzKxZYKgEBmfZyTpplFZlhOrZfryj8wMb4Vg_aem_9UZQTc_RbK6U-FzNmuaVmA" target="_blank">Forno Pizza Frankie's website</a></p>
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