The best and the worst, make your choice

parisdiaArt, Movies, PhotographyLeave a Comment

What a relief to see at last a good painting exhibition at Lafayette Anticipations with the Chinese artist Xinyi Cheng show “Seen through others” and how sad to see the nightmarish “Pionnières” (pioneers) at Musée du Luxembourg. At least we have the choice not to go… I watched the new series on Netflix, “Drôle” (Standing Up),  written by Fanny Herrero, who is … Read More

“Notre Dame on fire”, by Jean Jacques Annaud, what a film!

parisdiaMovies5 Comments

I was so terrified by the film that it took me a brisk 30 mn walk to calm down. The music by Simon Franglen is poignant, the images very strong, and the filming in the Bourges, Sens and Amiens cathedrals perfectly credible. Produced by Jérôme Seydoux and written and directed by Jean Jacques Annaud, 78,  “Notre Dame on fire” is … Read More

Do not miss, this week!

parisdiaAuction, Flowers and gardens, Movies3 Comments

The new film written and directed by novelist Marc Dugain after Balzac’s literary chef d’oeuvre “Eugénie Grandet”, which seemed like another cliché adaptation on the posters, is actually incredibly subtle and wonderful. All actors, Joséphine Japy, Olivier Gourmet, Valérie Bonneton and César Donboy are excellent in their sensitive acting and this story of a stingy winemaker near Saumur, who eventually … Read More

“Eiffel” the film and the tower

parisdiaMovies3 Comments

The very much awaited film of Gustave Eiffel (1832-1923),  building his tower, should be one of the first to come out in May. It is the romantic story of the genius engineer who built an iron railway bridge over the Garonne in Bordeaux in 1857 as a young man and contributed to the structure of the Statue of Liberty with … Read More

Amos Gitaï and Yitzhak Rabin, a 25 year long story

parisdiaBooks, Movies, Photography1 Comment

It was incredibly poignant to meet film director Amos Gitaï at Bibliothèque Nationale de France this week. A small group of journalists were invited to visit the new exhibition of his archives on Yitzhak Rabin‘s assassination on November 4, 1995. Films, interviews, a play and a book, and numeric archives, the result of 25 years of research, are being bequeathed by … Read More

To do and not to do

parisdiaAuction, Furniture, Movies, Photography, TechniqueLeave a Comment

  Auctions are the new sport from your sofa and you should not miss this week the sale by Ader Entreprises et Patrimoine of Palais de la Découverte’s (Museum of Science) old furniture and scientific instruments. It takes place on Saturday, November 21 at 5 pm and 130 lots will be auctioned on Drouot Live where you have to register beforehand. … Read More

To do and not to do

parisdiaArt, Furniture, MoviesLeave a Comment

If you are curious of the new artistic scene, go to Magasins Généraux in Pantin to discover “Un plus grand lac” (a bigger lake) an exhibition of students’ works from Ecole des Beaux Arts and Arts Décoratifs: Elisa Florimond, Victoire Gonzalvez, Lauren Januhowski, César Ropponen Brunel, all have interesting works to show under the excellent curatorship of Simon Grainville. Do … Read More

Frédéric Mitterrand enters the Académie des Beaux Arts in great pomp

parisdiaHappy moments, Movies7 Comments

It was a jolly afternoon that we all spent at the Institut de France, to celebrate Frédéric Mitterrand‘s “installation” in Jeanne Moreau’s armchair at the Académie des Beaux Arts. His career was very diverse with a start as a history teacher at Ecole Bilingue Jeannine Manuel, followed by the management of two cinemas, l’Olympic, salle Marilyn and salle Pigozzi in … Read More