Paris Update
PHOTO OF THE WEEK
Favorite
Salon de l’Agriculture 2009
The Quête for Aiguillette You’ll find everything from four-ton bulls to duck suprême at the Salon de l’Agriculture. I feel about the Salon de l’Agriculture, France’s annual agricultural fair, the same way I feel about Bangkok: it’s noisy, crowded, visually … Read More
Le Petit Marché
Reflections on Rip-offs Lotte with a spicy pear chutney. I have just been exercised by a grimly entertaining piece in the London Daily Telegraph about the food at Disneyland Resort Paris. The writer had no high expectations of the food … Read More
Portrait of a Wine Man on a Mission
Soil in the Glass Hervé Lethielleux, right, sharing a glass of organic wine with American David Costa, manager of La Cave Café, a bistro/wine bar specializing in organic wines on Rue Marcadet in the 18th arrondissement. “Earthiness is the most … Read More
Obscure vegetables of France
Back to the Roots Cerfeuil tubéreux (tuberous-rooted chervil), on the right, next to the multicolored carrots, is in season in the late fall and winter – now, in other words. They’re great simmered with shallots and butter or olive oil. … Read More
Pour Elle
Gun-Toting Teacher Springs Wife from Jail
The most successful French movie exports in recent years have been psychological thrillers, led by Michel Haneke’s 2005 Caché (Hidden), Jacques Audiard’s De Battre Mon Coeur S’est Arrêté (The Beat That My Heart Skipped, 2005) and Ne le Dis à … Read More
Les Plages d’Agnès
Mirrors in the Sand
Agnès Varda, the great filmmaker and one of the few women associated with Nouvelle Vague cinema, has reached the age of 80. And, if her new movie is anything to go by, there are no signs of her slowing down. … Read More
The Q Factor
Worth the Wait The Ultimate Cheese Guy can be found on the Square d’Anvers on Friday afternoon and next to Saint Eustache on Sunday morning. The best wine store I ever found in Paris closed a few years ago when … Read More
Les Bureaux de Dieu
Re-creating Reality
All French filmmakers seem to be climbing onto the documentary bandwagon at the moment. My recent Paris Update reviews have certainly been dominated by both real documentaries (J’Irai Dormir à Hollywood and La Vie Moderne) and documentary-style movies (Entre les Murs).Claire Denis’s … Read More
J’Irai Dormir à Hollywood
Road Trip à la Française
In recent years, British film- and documentary-makers have made it something of a habit to visit the United States and make fun of the many weird and wonderful characters to be found on those shores. Louis Theroux, and before him … Read More