I would never have seen this movie if Frédérique Bredin, President of Centre national du cinéma, had not invited me to a private screening at the beginning of the summer. « Divines », a new film by Houda Benyamina, will be the talk of the Rentrée in Paris. With a budget of under 3 million € and three fabulous lead girls from the Projects, this first film won a Caméra d’or at the Cannes film festival. And it was bought by Netflix for a record sum of 1 M€.Read More
Sicily, land of contrasts
Spending a week in Borgo Bonsignore, in Southern Sicily, is like traveling through time and history: never had I encountered such contrasts as this year, on my third trip to Casa Platani.
The Ritz Hotel … not quite the same
Paris is full of extremes even on Place Vendôme and before trying out the mood of the new Ritz Hotel, I decided to have a sandwich at the best place in Paris, Le Petit Vendôme, a well known address of the young crowds, including my niece Océane who works in the hotel and food business.Read More
From Warsaw with love
« What do you think of our country? » was the anxious question asked by my host after a four day tour of Warsaw and Krakow. Well this is not so easy to answer, since Poland is so different from the western world I know and yet, it is so familiar. What struck me the most, was the extreme kindness and refinement in manners that I experienced all along my stay, from a dinner guest kissing my hand (a perfect baise-main) and the bed and breakfast lady curtsying to me in Krakow. This reminded me of my childhood in France, when people were nice to each other, picked up their friends at the airport and actually cared.Read More
From Prague to Ottawa, Josef Sudek’s photos
There is something incredibly dark about Josef Sudek’s photography, but this survivor of the First World War and the Czech communist regime, is definitely admirable.
A first book of the Rentrée
As the French come back from vacation, a fascinating novel, “La Chute d’Icare”, by 26 year old Jean François Roseau, about a Corsican aviator during the Second World War, is bound to be the talk of the town for the Rentrée littéraire. It is published by Bernard de Fallois, who surprised everyone four years ago with the huge best seller, « La vérité sur l’affaire Harry Quebert » by Joël Dicker.
Charles Le Brun reigns over Louvre Lens
Charles Le Brun always felt a little boring to me even in the Galerie des Glaces in Versailles. This Royal painter, who worked for thirty years for Louis XIV, is rediscovered at Louvre museum in Lens, thanks to a brilliant staging by Atelier Maciy Fiszer and an easy historiography. The excursion two hours North of Paris is well worth the effort.Read More
Cornwall, old and new
I have been going to Cornwall for 25 years and every time my heart pounds with excitement as I drive from Exeter airport to Penzance and Land’s End. This year was full of surprises with a new sculpture garden in Gulval and more delicious trendy cafés, which took over from the Tate St Ives.Read More