Category: Culture

Why French Winemakers Are Welcoming Bats to Their Vineyards

Bats in the vineyardThe winged creatures may help the wine industry salvage a terrible year

It’s not such a batty idea: Bordeaux wine producers are building bat-friendly habitats on their vineyards to help eradicate the issue of grapevine moth and grape berry moth infestation.

And in doing so, they’re hoping to salvage a beleaguered French wine industry that’s suffering not only from pests but high tariffs, climate change and the on-going COVID-19 pandemic, all of which is decimating sales of high-end wine bottles.

As Forbes reports, wine producers in France are creating strips of grass between the vines and building bat boxes; the hope is that the insect-eating mammals will eradicate the moths that cause botrytis, a gray mold that’s seriously hurt the industry before, particularly Champagne.

A Bordeaux-based scientist has been catching bats in nets and testing for the moths in their digestive systems; unfortunately, even their presence can’t prove if the yields will increase, as there are too many factors (such as climate) that change every year.

Source: Why French Winemakers Are Welcoming Bats to Their Vineyards – InsideHook

In conversation: A French and American take on Emily in Paris

Emily in Paris is everywhere: causing people to rage on social media, making us dream of booking tix to Paris again (someday!) and paused on TV screens, as people WhatsApp their friends to moan about how unrealistic Emily’s (Lily Collins’) stratospheric social media success is – who gets 200 new followers after posting a photo of baked goods? – and then swooning over how gorgeous Frenchie Lucas Bravo (Emily’s neighbour, Gabriel), is.

Critics – in the US, UK and France – have complained that it’s clichéd, ridiculous, lacks diversity and is deeply culturally offensive. However, it’s also totally addictive, even if people are hate-watching it, with a viewership that includes teens, their parents, and every Sex and the City fan who was excited about the premise of sex – and Pat Field styling – in another city.

For those who haven’t seen it, Emily in Paris centres around Chicagoan Emily, who gets sent to Paris to work for a top French marketing agency when her boss falls pregnant. Clueless about the language and culture, she makes a series of faux pas that sees her branded a plouc (a hick) and ringarde (basic). But Paris is soooo beautiful and Emily’s boss, Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) and friend, Camille (Camille Razat), are soooo stylish, and the men are soooo dreamy…

One reason that Emily’s got everyone talking is that it touches on the big cultural divide between France and America. Who better to discuss the show then a Frenchwoman (CW founder Eleonore Dresch) and an American, kids’ editor, Jennifer Barton.
Continue reading “In conversation: A French and American take on Emily in Paris” →

Birds on a Wire in Flying Concerts – Watch the full program | ARTE Concert

Birds on a Wire is the project of singer Rosemary Standley (voice of Moriarty) and cellist Dom La Nena. The two artists weave an entire universe built around song and emotion. A symbiosis that allows them to take back, in their own way, musical monuments ranging from Fairouz to Bob Dylan.Two voices and a cello, that’s all it takes for Birds on a Wire to immerse us in a universe as refined as it is moving.

The words that escape the duo – in French, English, Italian or even Arabic depending on the song – seem to be sung for us, in the hollow of our ears. We find this feeling of intimacy in Birds on a Wire , a first album published in 2014.On the stage of the Concerts Volants ,Rosemary Standley and Dom La Nena come to defend a new album called Ramages .

In this opus published at the beginning of the year by [PIAS], the duo once again have fun hijacking songs from all over the world: “Wish you were here” by Pink Floyd, a traditional Breton song, “Les berceaux “by Gabriel Fauré, a Russian folk song… Nothing can resist Birds on a Wire.

Concert captured on September 21, 2021 at the Institut du Monde Arabe, Paris.

 

Source: Birds on a Wire in Flying Concerts – Watch the full program | ARTE Concert

Pomme in live session at Paris’ La Cartonnerie

Awarded at the Victoire de la musique this year, the young singer Pomme takes over La Cartonnerie for an intimate session!Between Paris and Montreal, the 24-year-old author, composer and performer unveils pop-folk music in a melancholy atmosphere.

Discovered three years ago with her album ” À propos”, her project comes to life on stage when she meets her audience during a tour of over 300 concerts. Back in 2019 with her new album “Les failles” then during her reissue entitled “Les Failles Cachées” in February 2020, the singer takes us into her sensitive and refined universe. Behind his guitar, Pomme recounts his doubts and his wounds using writing as real therapy.

At La Cartonnerie in Paris, Pomme performs the songs “La lumière”, “Les cours d’eau” and “Soleil soleil” live!

Watch the concert at: Apple in live session at La Cartonnerie – streaming video | France tv