Category: Travel

Movies at the Louvre

The Louvre and mk2 proposed to revisit eight unforgettable films under a new eye.

[TROISCOLEURS translation Google] Just below the majestic Clock Pavilion and the silent statues that surround it, couples of dancers try their hand at tango and some players improvise a game of ping-pong, while others have decided to go straight to the table. aperitif, a glass of wine and plates in the hand. It is between her royal walls that Isabelle Adjani ran, her hands bloody and her face pale, to escape her destiny in Patrice Chéreau’s La Reine Margot , released in 1994.

And it is in this place full of history and memory film that the Louvre Museum, in partnership with mk2, has chosen to install for a week in its courtyard Carrée ephemeral screen, to offer spectators to see for free at open sky 8 films both popular and demanding. On a canvas 24 meters high, designed as a window to the world where the arid landscapes of Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade parade , the French campaigns of Faces Villages and the romantic New York of When Harry meets Sally , curious and regulars have rediscovered these cult works in a dreamlike setting.

It is 22h when daylight begins to decline. The dance floor suddenly empties, the sound of boules balls stops and the food truck odors are more distant. As an air mixed with nostalgia fleet forward on the faces of the spectators, who are just coming to see this fourth evening a movie-like declaration of love in the 7 th art: Cinema Paradisoof Giuseppe Tornatore. While Alfredo and Totò’s complicit faces, hidden behind their projection booth, invade the screen on Ennio Morricone’s score, we feel that these images resonate between the columns of the palace like distant and intimate memories in the audience , until this magical sequence of the outdoor cinema-club where the storm breaks out, and which suddenly opens a magnificent mise-en-abyme to the audience.

Because it is the idea of ​​a unifying cinema, able to federate all ages and all sensibilities, which forms the thread of the event, and that we feel even more palpable in the forefront. last night, where The Journey of Chihiro from Hayao Miyazaki is shown. For some, it’s an outdoor reunion with a movie that terrorized and amazed their childhood – like Justine, who saw the film when it was released in 2001 when she was only 10 years old. For others, this nocturnal event has the taste of the first time-like Dana, who discovers with amazement the richness of this initiatory tale about the fears of childhood and the power of imagination. Like the spectators who have lost none of their ingenuity and are still trembling at the sight of the witch of Yubaba and know by heart the mimicry of Sans-Face, the film has not taken a wrinkle. It was perhaps only necessary to see him again in this unreal place and out of time to notice it.

Source: Report: Cinema Cinema Louvre Nightlife – TROISCOULEURS

Calanques the Stunning Fjords of Provence

The Fjords of Provence

Just east of Marseille lays the charming coastal town of Cassis, nestled at the bottom of steep, vineyard-covered hills that come almost to the sea. It’s so adorably cute that you might think you are walking into a postcard. There’s nothing better than a stroll through town followed by a bowl of fish soup or some moules-frites at one of the many restaurants that line the docks.

The setting of Cassis is dramatic. Besides those vineyards, Cap Canaille—the highest cliff in France—towers over the town on its east side. And to the west are the beautiful and rugged calanques, the so-called mini fjords of France [ . . . ]

Continue at PERFECTLY PROVENCE: Calanques the Stunning Fjords of Provence

The Best Airbnbs in the South of France

Including Julia Child’s very own cottage (with plenty of kitchen utensils included).

We’ve said it again and again: there’s so much more to France than just a trip to Paris. Case in point? The South of France—a.k.a. the Provence-Alpes-Côte d’Azur region—is home to some of our favorite towns. There are big names like Cannes, Marseilles, and Nice in the area, but there are plenty of smaller towns to enjoy, like Menton, Grasse, and Cassis. If you want to live out your provincial French fantasy—whether it’s smack on the beach, in a historic old town apartment, a multi-acre château, or in Julia Child’s own kitchen—we’ve got some Airbnbs for you to book, spread all across the region.

As a bonus, all of the Airbnb selections are run by Superhosts, who each have a rating of 4.8 or above, a record of zero cancellations, and at least a 90 percent response rate, meaning they’ll get back to you ASAP. Read on to find the perfect Airbnb for your vacation along France’s southern coast [ . . . ]

Continue at: The Best Airbnbs in the South of France – Condé Nast Traveler

Americans In Paris

A weekly public radio program and podcast. Each week we choose a theme and put together different kinds of stories on that theme.Many Americans have dreamy and romantic ideas about Paris, notions which probably trace back to the 1920s vision of Paris created by the expatriate Americans there. But what’s it actually like in Paris if you’re an American, without rose-colored glasses?

Listen at THIS AMERICAN LIFE: Americans In Paris

Can The French Still Afford To Eat Their Own Food?

Aside from wine sales, the French agricultural sector is struggling to compete with cheaper, more intensively-farmed goods from overseas—are French people finding it difficult to buy French food?

France is incredibly protective of its agricultural sector—it has been the sticking point between France and the U.S. in the negotiation of their new trade agreement, the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP).  President Donald Trump has been threatening to increase tariffs on French food as a result of France not agreeing to include the agricultural sector in the trading agreements (France wants only non-auto “industrial goods” included and specifically not meat, fruit or wine).

Part of the problem is that France is resistant to allowing food to be mass-produced or intensively farmed; it wants to preserve the traditional ways of farming, of which it is proud. This means though, that food is much cheaper when it is produced by farmers in other European countries who don’t adhere to as strict agricultural standards as the French.

Christiane Lambert, chairwoman of the French Farmers’ Union reported in The Times, that President Emmanuel Macron’s approach to agriculture was pricing French food out of the market. “He told us to go upmarket but in the first six months of this year we imported a lot more poultry from Poland and Germany because it is cheaper,” she said. It has come to the point when French people cannot afford to buy their own food.

The deficit to the French economy is about €300 million, but many believe it’s a worrying sign and a marker of the health of the agricultural sector in general—even French cheese is suffering as consumers are increasingly turning to cheese from Ireland or the Netherlands (the growth appears to be in more “industrially-produced” cheeses for pizza toppings).

The only part of the food and drinks sector which is buoyant is the alcohol industry, where sales of wine and cognac are still far outselling imports, notably due to a huge increase of sales in the U.S and China of French wine. The French government reported in May that this success might be masking a more dire warning for the French agricultural sector in general.

Source FORBES: Can The French Still Afford To Eat Their Own Food?

Send in the clowns – and send me, too!

By: Michael Stevenson

My wife Linda and I enjoyed such a wonderful vacation in France this past month.

We began our trip in Paris’ Butte-aux-Cailles neighborhood in the underappreciated 13th arrondissement. Butte-aux-Cailles was a pleasant surprise, with its amazing street art, local bistros, and funky bars. We had a groovy night of Afro-Pop and dancing the evening of the Fete de Musique!

Next we took a train to Avignon where we rented a car to drive to the seaside village of Cassis. This was perfect timing, as the temperatures climbed over 110 degrees. We cooled ourselves with an ocean swim and boat ride through Cassis’ beautiful calanques.

We then drove three hours north from Cassis to Vienne to attend their annual Jazz Festival. There, in the magnificent outdoor Theatre Antique, we watched a fantastic show performed by Canadian piano man Chilly Gonzales. We drove south again to our favorite village in Provence, Venasque, meeting-up with our friends Jim and Shirley, who are our neighbors back come in Rhode Island, USA.

It was in Venasque that I was fortunate to be introduced to “Compagnie Née au Vent,” in a street performance by the company’s two “clowns”/actors, Claire Néel and Alexandre Florent.

A bus crashes Cyrano and the clowns show their mercy

The two clowns, in character as “Bombyx” and “Luna”, performed scenes from the classic novel “Cyrano de Bergerac,” as well as skits from the Hollywood movies Dirty Dancing, Titanic, and (my favorite) the spaghetti scene from Disney’s Lady & the Tramp.

Walking through the winding streets of the tiny village, I loved every minute of their twilight performance.

It was hilarious, magical and unforgettable theater!

My only regret was that during the several requests for audience participation, I was too embarrassed by clumsy francaise to volunteer.

On the Compagnie Née au Vent website are these words from the beloved author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry:

“Make the dream devour your life and that life does not devour your dream”

Next summer, I promise to improve my French and to raise my hand to volunteer once invited to “send in the American clown!” C’est moi!