FRENCHY BAGUETTE

"Nuovo" - Gianmaria Testa

2012-01-23T12:07:00.003+01:00

I heard that song (plus a long interview) by chance on a French radio yesterday evening.

Nuovo is the new song by the Italian singer Gianmaria Testa, from his new album "VitàMia".

Listen to it, this song is so relaxing and melodious !

Plus, with the clip, you'd like to travel to beautiful Italian landscapes !

Enjoy...

Lyrics "Nuovo"

Nuovo come un giorno che non c'era
Come la sera quando arriva già

Nuovo com'è nuova la stagione
E nuovo il nome che la chiamerà

Nuovo di promessa mantenuta
Nuova la voce sconosciuta
Che la tiene e la terrà

Nuova questa mano che ti tocca
Nuova la bocca che ti parlerà

Nuovo da lasciare un gusto in gola
Nuovo come una parola che non so
Nuovo che se chiamo e non rispondi
Molto forte, molto più forte
Ti chiamerò

Nuovo come un'altra volta ancora
Per chi non c'era e non sapeva già

Nuovo com'è nuova la canzone
Per ogni voce che la canterà

Nuovo che ti lascia un gusto in gola
Nuovo come la parola che non so
Nuovo che se chiamo e non rispondi
Molto forte, sempre più forte
Ti chiamerò

All I want for Christmas is YOUUUUUUUUUU !!!

2011-12-16T14:27:00.002+01:00

"All I want for Xmas is YOUUUUUUUU!"

Love Actually

***

Christmas is a time to be together.
Xmas is a time to go back home.
Xmas is a time to travel.
Xmas is THE time when airports and trains are crowded.

Xmas is a time to celebrate.
Xmas is a time to sing.
Xmas is a time to pray.
Xmas is a time to eat too much delicious food.
Xmas is a time to rest.
Xmas is a time to experience peace.

Xmas has always been a time to watch movies too.
French TV always broadcast many of them between Xmas and New Year's Eve.
We'll have "Gone with the wind" again.
We'll have many cartoon (Disney, Asterix...) too.
We'll have Xmas movies too.

Xmas holidays start today in France.
I wished my friends to enjoy this time with their family.
"Merry Xmas and see you in 2012"

I can't imagine that 2011 started almost a year ago.
Time goes by too fast.
Luckily even when life is hard, you have your relatives.
That's what really matters.

"Love Actually" always makes me feel happy & Xmas-y, laugh, sing and want to live in London.
I know the dialogues by heart.

It gathers most of the best British ~~sexiest~~ actors.

Enjoy !

***

Lo Que Más - Shakira

2011-12-08T22:47:00.000+01:00

"Eres lo que mas he querido en la vida." *

Shakira

***

*English translation :

"You are what I wanted the most in my life."

Lyrics :

Cuántas veces nos salvó el pudor

Y mis ganas de siempre buscarte

Pedacito de amor delirante

Colgada de tu cuello un sábado de lluvia a las 5 de la tarde

Sabe dios

Como me cuesta dejarte

Y te miro mientras duermes

Mas no voy a despertarte

Es que hoy se me agoto la esperanza

Porque con lo que nos queda de nosotros ya no alcanza

Eres lo que mas he querido en la vida

Lo que mas he querido

Eres lo que mas he querido

En la vida

Lo que mas he querido

Cuántas veces quise hacerlo bien

Y pequé por hablar demasiado

No saber donde como ni cuando

Todos estos años caminando juntos

Ahora no parecen tantos

Sabe dios

Todo el amor que juramos

Pero hoy ya no es lo mismo

Ya no vamos a engañarnos

Es que soy

Una mujer en el mundo

Que hizo todo lo que pudo

No te olvides ni un segundo

Que eres lo que mas he querido

En la vida

Lo que mas he querido

Eres lo que mas he querido

En la vida

Lo que mas he querido

Happy Holidays

2011-12-02T01:48:00.002+01:00

Since it's December, 1rst today, there was no doubt that the Thursday quote would be about Christmas. I started listening to Xmas Carols and specially the ones sang by Frank Sinatra.

Here are two of them ("Jingle Bells" and "White Christmas") from the great movie "Happy Holidays" (1957), starring Bing Crosby and Frank Sinatra.

I particularly like the "Jingle Bells" scene.

The comment on Youtube linked to the video of "White Christmas" is really interesting and is worth being read if you like cinematographic history (I hope that this expression is correct in English...).

Anyway...

Enjoy !

***

"Dashing through the snow
In a one horse open sleigh
O'er the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on bob tails ring
Making spirits bright
What fun it is to laugh and sing
A sleighing song tonight

Oh, jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh
Jingle bells, jingle bells
Jingle all the way
Oh, what fun it is to ride
In a one horse open sleigh

A day or two ago
I thought I'd take a ride
And soon Miss Fanny Bright
Was seated by my side
The horse was lean and lank
Misfortune seemed his lot
We got into a drifted bank
And then we got upsot"

***

"I'm dreaming of a white Christmas

Just like the ones I used to know
Where the treetops glisten,
and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white

I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write
May your days be merry and bright
And may all your Christmases be white"

The 5-wish list

2011-11-24T15:47:00.001+01:00

Days are getting sorther.

Today the sky is white in Paris.

It's cold outside.

Winter will be soon there.

On the other side of the Ocean, it's Thanksgiving.

Millions of American celebrate this special day.

Today I invite you to stop 5 minutes.

Take 5 minutes for yourself.

Take a sheet of paper and a pencil.

Write the main 5 things you wish to achieve within the 6 next months.

Realistic goals.

5 things you want to change.

5 wishes you've never dared to say

5 ideas you've always wanted to get real.

5 things you never have time to do.

Then

Write how you could achieve each goal.

Your strengths.

Your weaknesses.

What you could do to succeed.

Write how much time you need for each point.

Keep that paper.

Near you.

So that you can se it regularly.

So that when it's hard, you can focus on your goals.

Then...

ACT

Because with written, clear goals, you'll know "where you go".

I'd written mine almost a year ago.

It helped me even if my 5 wishes did not ALL become real.

I've just written a new list.

My 5 wishes.

My 5 goals.

My 5 forth-coming achievements.

International Skating competition in Paris

2011-11-18T01:25:00.001+01:00

If you're in Paris this week-end and want to attend an international figure skating competition, do not hesitate, RUN buying tickets.
You won't regret it.

The Trophée Eric Bompard is one of the ISU Grand Prix of Figure Skating Competition. Thus (and since it is in Paris), it attracks every year most of the best skaters from all over the world.

I told you, do not hesitate, run attentding it !

Change

2011-11-10T13:38:00.001+01:00

"If you don't like something change it;

If you can't change it,

Change the way you think about it."

Mary Engelbreit

***

"The doors we open and close each day decide the lives we live."

Flora Whittemore

***

"Sometimes it's the smallest decisions
that can change your life forever."

Keri Russell

***

Greek wisdom and proverbs

2011-11-03T19:17:00.003+01:00

Greek wisdom...

"Since we cannot change reality,

let us change the eyes which see reality."

Nikos Kazantzakis

***

"It is during our darkest moments

that we must focus to see the light."

Aristotle Onassis

***

"In order to succeed, we must first believe that we can."

Nikos Kazantzakis

***

"Everything in this world has a hidden meaning."

Nikos Kazantzakis

***

"The language of truth is unadorned and always simple."

Ammianus Marcellinus

***

"I am a citizen,
not of Athens or Greece,
but of the world"

Socrates

***

"In Greece wise men speak and fools decide."

George Santayana

***

Greek Proverbs...

"Danger can only be overcome by more danger"

***

"He who suffers much will know much"

***

"Wonder is the beginning of wisdom"

***

"One minute of patience,

Ten years of peace"

***

"The beginning is half of every action"

***

"Before you can score,

You must have a goal"

***

"After the war, aid."

***

"Act quickly, think slowly."

***

"Eat and drink with your relatives;

Do business with strangers."

***

"Gray hair is a sign of age, not wisdom."

***

"Many men know how to flatter,

Few men know how to praise."

***

"One witness one liar;

More witnesses, all liars."

***

"Pleasure is the greatest incentive to vice."

***

"Success is doing what you like
and making a living at it."

***

"Art is a lie that makes us realize the truth" Pablo Picasso

2011-10-28T16:22:00.005+02:00

"Every child is an artist.

The problem is how to remain an artist once he grows up."

***

"I am always doing that which I can not do,

in order that I may learn how to do it."

***

"Inspiration does exist,

but it must find you working."

***

"It is your work in life that is the ultimate seduction."

***

"Painting is just another way of keeping a diary."

***

"The artist is a receptacle for emotions

that come from all over the place:

from the sky,

from the earth,

from a scrap of paper,

from a passing shape..."

***

"There are painters who transform the sun to a yellow spot,

but there are others who with the help of their art and their intelligence,

transform a yellow spot into the sun."

***

"There is no abstract art.

You must always start with something.

Afterward you can remove all traces of reality."

***

"We all know that art is not the truth,

art is a lie that makes us realize the truth."

***

All those quotes are by Pablo Picasso

***

Two women running on the beach - Pablo Picasso

Le pigeon aux petits pois - Pablo Picasso (1911)

Grand nu au fauteuil rouge - Pablo Picasso (1925)

Colombe - Pablo Picasso

Cavalier à la pipe - Pablo Picasso (1968)

Enfant à la colombe - Pablo Picasso

Lithographie Estampe - Pablo Picasso

Guernica - Pablo Picasso (1937)

Le Rêve - Pablo Picasso (1932)

La Colombe de la Paix - Pablo Picasso (1949)

"Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish." ALWAYS

2011-10-20T22:52:00.003+02:00

"Stay Hungry,

Stay Foolish"

Steve Jobs

***

Think different

Innovate
Create
Find what you love
Know what you truly want to become

Curiosity
Intuition
Love
Change
Faith
Death
Humility
Life

Here is a written transcription of Steve Jobs' speech.

ER reminiscence

2011-10-13T16:38:00.004+02:00

Today's quote is a reminiscence.

No nostalgy.
Not even a word.
Just an old well-known music.
A former TV show opening.

40 seconds which sum up 15 years of French sunday nights, when I used to hurry up ending doing my homework to watch this.

Because there is NO doubt,
ER has been the best medical TV show ever.
A lot of blood
NFS-chimi-iono-blood gases-surgery calling
Very ill and dying people
Open-heart reanimation
Authoritative bosses
Real medical diagnosis
Great ~~sexy~~ actors.

I have been in the south of France for a few days.

By chance I found back an old DVD pack.

I watched 2 episodes last sunday night.

As I usually did.

I had told you : reminiscence.

It was a really good evening.
I felt peace and appeasement.
For the 1rst time after weeks of troubles.
Believe me, calm and peace were all I needed that day.

iSad

2011-10-07T10:04:00.000+02:00

"Why join the navy if you can be a pirate?"

Steve Jobs

***

"Innovation has nothing to do with how many R&D dollars you have. When Apple came up with the Mac, IBM was spending at least 100 times more on R&D. It's not about money. It's about the people you have, how you're led, and how much you get it."

Steve Jobs, Fortune, Nov. 9, 1998

***

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma - which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of other's opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. They somehow already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary."

Steve Jobs

***

"Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower."

Steve Jobs

***

"Do you want to spend the rest of your life selling sugared water or do you want a chance to change the world?"

Steve Jobs to John Sculley, former Apple CEO

***

"A lot of companies have chosen to downsize, and maybe that was the right thing for them. We chose a different path. Our belief was that if we kept putting great products in front of customers, they would continue to open their wallets."

Steve Jobs

***

"Quality is more important than quantity.

One home run is much better than two doubles."

Steve Jobs in Businessweek

***

"That’s not what we think design is. It’s not just what it looks like and feels like. Design is how it works."

Steve Jobs in The New York Times 2003

***

"Being the richest man in the cemetery doesn’t matter to me … Going to bed at night saying we’ve done something wonderful… that’s what matters to me."

Steve Jobs - The Wall Street Journal 1983

***

And if it were happinness

2011-10-06T08:23:00.002+02:00

"Et si c'était ça le bonheur,

pas même un rêve,

pas même une promesse,

juste l'instant."

No et Moi

Delphine de Vigan

***

Carpe Diem...

* English translation
"And if this were happinness, not even a dream, not even a promise, just an instant."

Le Parc - Angelin Preljocaj

2011-10-01T17:16:00.002+02:00

Today the Thursday quote is a part of Angelin Preljocaj's beautiful ballet "Le Parc", because sometimes there is no need using word to express things.

Dance and music are enough.

The end of the ballet is amazing.

When you see it in a theater, you feel that the girl is really flying and you start crying.

This last well-known part of the ballet was recently re-choregraphed by Angelin Preljocaj specially for Air France new ad.

Here is the Air France new ad, so that you can see the way a ballet can be well adapted to a TV format. Visually, aesthetically and objectively, to me, this ad is just perfect.

Frenchy Baguette is back

2011-09-24T12:05:00.001+02:00

Dear All,

I have been very busy these weeks.
I had a few very difficult problems to solve.
I feel better now.

Autumn is back.
It is my favourite season.
I like its light and quietness.
I can feel its energy.
I have very interesting new projects in mind.

As I usually did, I'll go on with the "Thursday Quote".
Every Thursday.
A weekly meeting with you.

I'll write regularly about Paris.
Photos.
Non-usual places to discover.

Paris is a city to live in.
Paris is a city to experience.
Daily.

Thank you for being there.
Thank you for reading Frenchy Baguette.

DO NOT hesitate in writing to me if you want to suggest new ideas for this blog, to ask for explanations or just to say "hello".

I'll be there.

Enjoy your week-end and take care of you,

Frenchy Baguette

"Ashitaka and San" by Joe Hisaishi

2011-08-26T19:32:00.000+02:00

What's good is that even if all what we have in our life fades away, there remains music.

Thanks God we have Joe Hisaishi's music !

"Riot Clean Up" to act against London riots

2011-08-10T00:15:00.004+02:00

You may know what has happened in the UK and specially in London these days.

Here is the reason why rioters will never win.

People of goodwill, the majority of British people, are willing to act. First they want to protect your family, houses, firms and be safe. And it is absolutely normal.

If you want to help,

You can join the "Riot Clean Up" movement.

It is easy !

Check "Upcoming Clean Ups" and/or suggest places to meet.

Take gloves and a broom.

Join a team and help to clean up the streets and shops.

You'll find news on their Facebook group too. ~~Yes for once I advertize for FB on my blog...~~

MANY THANKS for what you do in the UK and for showing that the majority can act to change things.

I love London more than I can say and I refuse to reduce the image of this city to what I have seen for the last three days. So I wanted to show a positive initiative implemented by some of its inhabitants.

As for rioters... Go to hell.

Here is the reason why you should join the "Riot Clean Up" Movement...

Rehab - Amy Winehouse

2011-08-01T20:45:00.002+02:00

"They tried to make me go to rehab

And I said

No, No, No"

Rehab By Amy Winehouse

Sadly premonitory...

Lyrics :

They tried to make me go to rehab,
But I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black
But when I come back
You'll know know know

I ain't got the time
And if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to Rehab
But I won't go go go

I'd rather be at home with ray
I ain't got seventy days
Cuz there's nothing
There's nothing you can teach me
That I can't learn from mr hathaway
I didn't get a lot in class
But I know it don't come in a shot glass

They tried to make me go to rehab
But I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black
But when I come back
You'll know know know

I ain't got the time
And if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab
But I won't go go go

The man said 'why do you think you here'
I said 'I got no idea'
'I'm gonna, I'm gonna lose my baby
So I always keep a bottle near'
He said 'I just think your depressed,
Kiss me here baby and go rest'

They tried to make me go to rehab
But I said 'no, no, no'
Yes I've been black
But when I come back
You'll know know know...

I don't never wanna drink again
I just ooooh I just need a friend
I'm not gonna spend ten weeks
Have everyone think I'm on the mend
It's not just my pride
It's just til these tears have dried

They tried to make me go to rehab,
But I said 'no no no'
Yes I've been black,
but when I come back
You'll know know know

I ain't got the time
And if my daddy thinks I'm fine
He's tried to make me go to rehab
But I won't go go go

U-Turn - Lili - by AaRON

2011-07-21T23:48:00.001+02:00

"For every step in any walk

Any town of any thaught

I'll be your guide

For every street of any scene
Any place you've never been
I'll be your guide"

"U-Turn - Lili" - by AaRON

I acknowledge that I was not inspired today.

Plus I needed to hurry to attend a free concert at the "Hôtel de Ville" in Paris. You'll find details here concerning the Festival FNAC Live.

It was a very good time.

First it did not rain, which is extraordinary for the November-like weather we have had for many days in Paris.

People were friendly.

Singers were happy to be here and close to the audience.

AaRON was the last group.

Many people were dancing, singing and claping their hands.

Until the following song.

"Yes, they will sing it, they have to sing it..."
Lili...

They sang it.

Everybody sang it with them.

It was just magic !

Here is the official video.

The piano arrangement is great.

The singer is perfect as usual.

The scenes are taken from a very good and emotional French movie, called "Je vais bien, ne t'en fais pas". I recommend you to watch it if you have not already done it.

Before this enjoy THE song !

Lyrics :

Lili, take another walk out of your fake world

Please put all the drugs out of your hand

You'll see that you can breath without not back up

Some much stuff you got to understand

For every step in any walk

Any town of any thaught

I'll be your guide

For every street of any scene

Any place you've never been

I'll be your guide

Lili, you know there's still a place for people like us

The same blood runs in every hand

You see its not the wings that makes the angel

Just have to move the bats out of your head

For every step in any walk

Any town of any thaught

I'll be your guide

For every street of any scene

Any place you've never been

I'll be your guide

Lili, easy as a kiss we'll find an answer

Put all your fears back in the shade

Don't become a ghost without no colour

Cause you're the best paint life ever made

Bastille Day

2011-07-14T18:39:00.001+02:00

"Le 14 Juillet" as we call it in French.

"Bastille Day" as the rest of the world does...

The French revolution started and went on like in this well-known painting by Eugène Delacroix, which you can see at the Musée du Louvre in Paris.

(My) Midnight in Paris...

2011-07-08T00:20:00.021+02:00

A few days ago I went back home later than usually.

I had worked a lot, solving many problems the whole day.

I had only eaten a sandwhich and drunk many cups of tea.

I just needed to rest.

It is true that I had a headache.

But isn't it normal when you work that much ?

It is true that my throat was dry.

But isn't is normal when you face a air conditioner all day long ?

It is true that I had a few spots on my hands and arms.

But isn't it normal when you are stressed by your work and life in general ?

Truth is : I had no time to think at all.

I came back home and met my friends.

I looked and felt tired (euphemism...) with red eyes.

And I started sneezing.

I could not stop for a few minutes.

Then I understood.

I had an allergy.

It was 11 p.m.

I overthrew my whole room.

I only found 4 empty boxes of anti-hystaminics.

There are many kinds of them and only one type is efficient on me (without making me sleeping for 14 hours).

I thought "Luckily I live in Paris."

In a way I was right.

It was 11.30 pm.

I went away to a drugstore not really far from my flat.

It was supposed to close its doors at midnight.

I was there at 11.45 pm.

A big bodyguard was standing in front of the door, which was closed.

Many people were arguing.

The bodyguard :

"No one can come in. There are too many people inside. Go somewhere else."

I said :

"No. I'm sorry but I really need to come in. Here is my medical presciption. I have a big allergy right now. I need my drugd now. So PLEASE let me in. It is not a whim. I DO need them within the next 30 minutes."

The bodyguard :

"As you can see, the door is closed from inside."

Me :

"I really need them. Please. Let me in."

The bodyguard waited then knocked at the door.

Another guy came fast.

They talked together.

At the same moment a customer went out.

Then I was allowed to come in (and the two other waiting people too).

Waiting was not a problem.

BUT

As I saw a pharmacist, he said to me :

"Which medicine do you need : "250mg or 500mg" ? It is not written on the prescription."

Of course I did not know. There is only one kind of box for the medicines I take.

He took time on his computer and added :

"We don't have it now. But we have generics. Which one do you usally take 250 mg or 500mg ?"

I can't take generics.

I'm intolerant to some excipients...

I don't care if I have to pay extra money to get my drugs.

He replied : "Then sorry I can't do anything for you, if you don't want this box. It is the only one that I have."

I felt "!?$!?!" and said :

"I really need them. Where can I find them ?"

He answered : "Sur les Champs."

It was midnight.

I was alone in the streets of Paris.

I had not my drugs.

My allergy was still there.

And it started raining.

I went to the only place in Paris, where you can find anything you want at any time :

The Champs Elysées

There I will break a well-spread cliché.

The "Champs" as we (the French) call them are NOT SAFE at night (specially after the tube station is closed). You have many robbers and tramps at night.

I needed my drugs.

I went there.

I met a little gang in the metro corridors.

I made a U-turn to find another exit.

It was 00.20 in the Champs Elysées.

It was a special day : many young French people celebrated the end of high school and their graduation. They had passed their Baccalauréat ("leur Bac").

As usually there were many US-European-Asian-Saudian tourists, beggars, tramps and open international shops too.

That night I went into 3 differents drugstores.

NONE of them had the drugs I wanted.

But they had generics.

In each drugstore I was proposed different kinds of generics.
In the last drugstore I was even told :
"If you don't find the medicine you need, then it may not exist anymore. So take the generic !"
Pufff...

By this time, being outside, breathing the fresh air of rain (don't laugh !) had decreased my allergy.

I decided to go back home.

I ran up the whole Champs Elysées avenue to catch the last metro.

I missed it...

It was 1 p.m. in Paris.

I was tired.

It was raining.

I was fed up.

There were far less people in the streets.

They did not seem very friendly or were waiting to go clubbing.

I could try to catch a bus then walk to my flat.

But when it's 1.30 am, it's too complicated.

I hailed a taxi.

The Champs Elysées is the only place of Paris where you can find a cab easily.

The driver was talkative and kind.

I just needed 20 minutes to be home.

I went to bed 30 minutes later.
Do not try to count what time it was.

Far too late...

I was afraid to have a new crisis.

It did not happen and I felt asleep.

The day after I almost jumped from my bed to my bathroom, took a good shower and went to the closest drugstore.

They gave me my drugs, complaining a little bit that I did not want generics.
I did not care, I was far to happy.

Now my drugs are next to me.

I'm reassured.

If I have another problem, I have what I need.
I do not sneeze anymore.
My eyes are not swollen anymore.
My snops are almost away.

Morality :

- Midnight in Paris in the real life may not be as rosy as in the latest Woody Allen's movie.

- I DO NOT WANT GENERICS.

- I would say that I rather was not very lucky, not finding the medicines I needed. But had my allergy worsen, I would have bought the first ones I was offered.

- On the box of my usual anti-hystaminics it is written "10 mg". I prefer not to think about what would have happened if I had taken the 250mg or the 500mg box, which I was offered by the 1rst pharmacist.

- I was lucky enough to have two very good friends who SMSed me the addresses of the open drugstores and the schedules of the last Parisian metro.

- Latest but not least : More than ever I DO believe in the role of pharmacists for the society. They study hard, are very good at helping, advising & curing people. But I am happy to see that my intuition was right that night.

It's the time to disco...

2011-06-30T23:20:00.002+02:00

"It's the time to disco !"

Because sometimes you dream of a song/night/dance/movie like this...

Joe Hisaishi 's concert in Paris

2011-06-23T23:58:00.001+02:00

"I usually play the piano solos myself. When I write music I make it a rule to always play the piano myself. Just as a song's dynamic changes with the singer, I believe that I must play my own music so that my flavor is there."

Joe Hisaishi

Tonight I attended the MOST extraordinary concert ever.

Joe Hisaishi was in Paris for a special charity concert, in order to raise money for Japan and Tsunami victims.

The musics are incredible.
Mr Hisaishi seemed glad, smiling all the time or surprised, very kind, close to the public and the musicians.
The public was like crazy-happy fans.
There were many musicians and far MORE chorists.

We (the audience) applauded twice during "Totoro".
We all said "Oh" or "Ah" at the beginning of almost every music.
We stood up between the last four musics.
We cried.
We whispered lyrics and melodies.

It was AMAZING.

If you don't know Joe Hisaishi, you may know
Totoro
Chihiro
Momonoke Princess
Ponyo
...
All those Hayao Miyazaki's masterpieces.
All musics were composed by Joe Hisaishi.

Today I want to say :

どうもありがとうございます久石讓

(Thank you so much Mr Hisaishi)

Just LISTEN and ENJOY :-)

" She loves you and you know you should be glad " - The Beatles

2011-06-17T00:28:00.004+02:00

"She loves you

And you know you should be glad.

With a love like that,

You know you should

Be GLAD !"

"She loves you"

The Beatles

***

"So whenever I hear The Beatles,

I always feel I've got a lot in common with everybody else."

Robyn Hitchcock

***

"I am not the Beatles.

I'm me.

Paul isn't the Beatles...

The Beatles are the Beatles.

Separately, they are separate."

John Lennon

***

"The things is, we're all really the same person.

We're just four parts of the one."

Paul McCartney

***

"All you could do was to see them.

We were backstage when the Beatles were on and you could just about hear a noise.

It was just literally screaming."

Roger Daltrey

from "The Who"

Who said that fan hysteria started in the 90's ??

Watch that...

Lyrics :

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah

You think you lost your love,
Well, I saw her yesterday.
It's you she's thinking of
And she told me what to say.

She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad.

She said you hurt her so
She almost lost her mind.
But now she said she knows
You're not the hurting kind.

She says she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
And with a love like that
You know you should be glad.

You know it's up to you,
I think it's only fair,
Pride can hurt you, too,
Apologize to her

Because she loves you
And you know that can't be bad.
Yes, she loves you
And you know you should be glad. Ooh!

She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah
She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah

With a love like that
You know you should
Be Glad!

With a love like that
You know you should
Be Glad!

With a love like that
You know you should
be glad!

Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Yeah, yeah, yeah Ye-ah.

Red Velvet Cupcakes from Hummingbird Bakery

2011-06-11T21:26:00.002+02:00

Bon Appétit !

***

If you have ever been to London, you may have already heard from the famous Hummingbird Bakery.

Here is the recipe of their well-known "Red Velvet Cupcakes".

Enjoy !!

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;(c) &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Ingredients :

60g butter at room temperature
1 egg
150g caster sugar
10g cocoa
10ml red food colouring
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
120ml buttermilk
150g plain flour
1/2 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp white wine vinegar
Frosting
300g icing sugar, sifted
50g butter at room temperature
125g cream cheese, chilled

Love in Paris

2011-06-02T22:19:00.003+02:00

"Ajoutez deux lettres à Paris : c'est le paradis."

Jules Renard dans son Journal

(c) "Le Fabuleux Destin d'Amélie Poulain" par Jean-Pierre Jeunet
(c) UGC Images - Tapioca Films - France3 Cinéma - MMC Independant

Quote translation :
"Add two letters to Paris : you get paradise."

"My Name is Khan and I'm not a terrorist"

2011-05-27T19:03:00.010+02:00

"My name is Khan,

and I am not a terrorist. "

Rizwan Khan

***

"Remember one thing, son.
There are only two kinds of people in this world.
Good people who do good deeds.
And bad people who do bad.
That's the only difference in human beings.
There's no other difference.
Understood?
What did you understand?
Tell me. Tell me."

Razvia Khan

"Good people.
Bad people.
No other difference."

Rizwan Khan

***

It is the "Bollywood Week" at the cinema "Gaumont Montparnasse" in Paris. During a whole week, they broadcast a different famous Bollywood movie every day at 8p.m.

I did not know "My name is Khan".

I had just read on the internet that it was the story of "an Indian who is imprisoned in the US after 9.11 because he is suspected to be a terrorist (while he only is a Muslim)".

I feared a violent, complicated movie.

Then I remerbered that it was starring Shah Rukh Khan and Kajol.

And most of all that it had been written, shot and directed by Karan Johan

So I went to watch it.

Alone.

And I was right.

I needed to get a BIG Indian slap yesterday and I got it.

First of all I want to say here that ALL the summaries I read on the internet are FALSE !!!

Razvia Khan is a Muslim Indian, who suffers from Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism). After he grew up in India, he moves to San Francisco, where his younger brother created a cosmetic firm.

I won't tell you the whole story, except that the "jail and trial scene" lasts 10 minutes.

For many good reasons you MUST watch this movie :

1. People who suffer from the Asperger Syndrome can be integrated to the society and have a normal life. Plus they are smart and not stupid.

2. September, 11th terror changed everything in the daily life of the Muslims who live in the US. They started to be stigmatized, suspected to be dangerous people or terrorists and even considered as non-American citizens. This is very well said in the movie : "The occidental world is divided between before and after Jesus Christ was born. In our modern world there is a before and an after September, 11th."

3. People with different religions can marry and live in peace. In this movie, he is a Muslim and she is an Hindu. They love each other and respect the religion of the other. That's all. What a great example of tolerance and love !

4. Shah Rukh Khan is REALLY talented, since he is able to act complex characters, far from "everlasting, usual" Indian Bollywood lovers.

5. Kajol perfectly embodies her character, an attentive mother and loving woman. For two hours she makes us forget that she acted other famous movie characters too.

5. Karan Johar, today's one of the best Indian film director, keeps maturing his scripts and filming technics. 10 years after his 1rst masterpiece ''Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham", he has been able to adapt to more "occidental" standards (shorter movies, US-European film locations, integration of real occidental characters, no Hindi dance-song sequences). Plus he succeeded in keeping what makes the strength of his movies : very well-written scripts, close-to-perfection-aesthetically-speaking photography, full with tolerance-respect-humanity morals, humour, credible love stories. Karan Johar's ability to adapt and mature his stories are stunning.

6. For those who have already watched Bollywoods, the cinematographic couple Shah Rukh Khan - Kajol is more than ever credible than.

Even if the end is far-fetched,
Even if you are not used to watching Bollywood movies,
Even if you don't know the actors or the director,
"My name is Khan" deserves to be watched.

So, Enjoy !

International trailer (English) :

Indian trailer (with English subtitles) :

The Great Dictator Speech (Chaplin)

2011-05-19T19:42:00.005+02:00

Today I decided to choose the final speech of "The Great Dictator" by Charles Chaplin. The movie was shot in 1940...

Why did I choose it ?

Because it is essential to know your classics and understand them (context, messages, moral...).

Because Charles Chaplin's final speech is more than ever valid and relevant.

Because we always need hope.

PLEASE watch and listen.

The whole speech has been written below the video.

A Jewish Barber :

"I'm sorry, but I don't want to be an emperor. That's not my business. I don't want to rule or conquer anyone. I should like to help everyone if possible; Jew, Gentile, black man, white. We all want to help one another. Human beings are like that. We want to live by each other's happiness, not by each other's misery. We don't want to hate and despise one another. In this world there is room for everyone, and the good earth is rich and can provide for everyone. The way of life can be free and beautiful, but we have lost the way. Greed has poisoned men's souls, has barricaded the world with hate, has goose-stepped us into misery and bloodshed. We have developed speed, but we have shut ourselves in. Machinery that gives abundance has left us in want. Our knowledge has made us cynical; our cleverness, hard and unkind.

We think too much and feel too little. More than machinery, we need humanity. More than cleverness, we need kindness and gentleness. Without these qualities, life will be violent and all will be lost. The airplane and the radio have brought us closer together. The very nature of these inventions cries out for the goodness in men; cries out for universal brotherhood; for the unity of us all. Even now my voice is reaching millions throughout the world, millions of despairing men, women, and little children, victims of a system that makes men torture and imprison innocent people.

To those who can hear me, I say, do not despair. The misery that is now upon us is but the passing of greed, the bitterness of men who fear the way of human progress. The hate of men will pass, and dictators die, and the power they took from the people will return to the people. And so long as men die, liberty will never perish.

Soldiers! Don't give yourselves to brutes, men who despise you, enslave you; who regiment your lives, tell you what to do, what to think and what to feel! Who drill you, diet you, treat you like cattle, use you as cannon fodder. Don't give yourselves to these unnatural men - machine men with machine minds and machine hearts! You are not machines, you are not cattle, you are men! You have the love of humanity in your hearts! You don't hate! Only the unloved hate; the unloved and the unnatural.

Soldiers! Don't fight for slavery! Fight for liberty! In the seventeenth chapter of St. Luke, it is written that the kingdom of God is within man, not one man nor a group of men, but in all men! In you! You, the people, have the power, the power to create machines, the power to create happiness! You, the people, have the power to make this life free and beautiful, to make this life a wonderful adventure. Then in the name of democracy, let us use that power. Let us all unite. Let us fight for a new world, a decent world that will give men a chance to work, that will give youth a future and old age a security. By the promise of these things, brutes have risen to power. But they lie! They do not fulfill that promise. They never will! Dictators free themselves but they enslave the people. Now let us fight to fulfill that promise. Let us fight to free the world! To do away with national barriers! To do away with greed, with hate and intolerance! Let us fight for a world of reason, a world where science and progress will lead to all men's happiness.
Soldiers, in the name of democracy, let us all unite!

Hannah, can you hear me? Wherever you are, look up Hannah! The clouds are lifting! The sun is breaking through! We are coming out of the darkness into the light! We are coming into a new world; a kindlier world, where men will rise above their hate, their greed, and brutality. Look up, Hannah! The soul of man has been given wings and at last he is beginning to fly. He is flying into the rainbow! Into the light of hope, into the future! The glorious future, that belongs to you, to me and to all of us. Look up, Hannah. Look up!

Mr. Jaeckel: Hannah, did you hear that?

Hannah: Listen..."

&lt;p&gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/iframe&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;br /&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt; &amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&amp;amp;amp;amp;lt;/p&amp;amp;amp;amp;gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Thursday Blogspot Strike : No Quote

2011-05-17T01:46:00.001+02:00

Last Thursday Blogger was "unavailable".

Last Friday too.

So there was no Thursday quote last week.

There is nothing in common with this but we had a strike in Paris public transports too...

But since you must have been very surprised not to find your beloved Weekly Quote, here is the one I had chosen...

If you were here, you could see me dancing & singing. I have known that song by heart for so many years and sang it so many times when I was younger in front of my TV with my sisters, cousins and friends.

It is the very Best of Bollywood : best actors, best choregraphy, best song, best clothes, best lyrics...

Best Movie !

* K3G is the smaller title of the famous movie "Kabhi Khushi Kabhi Gham"

Just can't get enough - Black Eyed Peas

2011-05-05T17:37:00.001+02:00

"Boy I think about it every night and day

I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love

I wouldn't wanna have it any other way

I'm addicted and I just can't get enough"

Just can't get enough

The Black Eyed Peas

I have been addicted to that song for a week.

I do like the lyrics and the melody.

It makes me wanna dance and forget everything else.

Plus I really appreciate the opening hommage to Japan and the ending link to the Red Cross website.

Lyrics :

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough

Honey got a sexy all steamin
She givin hotness a new meanin
Perfection mama you gleamin
Inception you got a brother dreamin dreamin

Damn baby I'm feignin
I'm trynna holler at you, I'm screamin
Let me love you down this evenin
Love you love you ya you know you are my demon

Girl we could form a team and
I could be the king you could be the queen and
My mind's dirty and it don't need cleanin
I love you long time so you know the meanin

Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough
I just can't get enough

Honey got me runnin like I'm flow joe
Signs her name on my heart with an X-O
Love's so sweet got me vexed oh
I wanna wish it right back like presto, yes

Meantime I wait for the next time
She come around 'fore I toast to the best time
We all the while back and forth on the text line
She got me fishin for her love I confess I'm

Somethin bout her smile and that combo
Got me high and I ain't comin down yo
My heart's pumpin out louder than electro
She got me feelin like Mr. Roboto

Oh baby I can't come down so please come help me out
You got me feelin high and I can't step off the cloud
And I just can't get enough

Boy I think about it every night and day
I'm addicted wanna jump inside your love
I wouldn't wanna have it any other way
I'm addicted and I just can't get enough

*THIS IS MEGA SWITCH UP*

*SWITCH UP* x2

I just can't .... *SWITCH UP*

Not
Sunk in your bed rock
Caught
Up in your love shock
Knocked
Out by your cold shot
I'm stuck in your head li-
*SWITCH UP*

Can't get out won't when
Makin me feign, give it to me
I want it all, know what I mean
Your love is a dose of ecstasy

Addicted
I can't get
Away from
You
Afflicted
I need it
I'm missin
I want your lovin right next to me
And I can't
Erase ya out of my memory

I just can't ... *SWITCH UP*

Westminster Abbey or The Triumph of Love

2011-04-29T23:52:00.036+02:00

How can't you be thrilled by this video ?

I did NOT want to talk about "The Wedding" in my blog.

I had promised it to myself.

But as we often say "Only stupid people do not change their mind."
In this stormy period, it is good to watch such joyful events.

I won't comment, nor publish photos.

The media do it better than me (maybe too much) and most of all I do respect the newly-weds.

Plus, I am a fervent defender of privacy and I didn't want this post be considered as a private intrusion /judgement or - worse - as an additional rubbish gossip.

Everybody will say everything about all what happened today at Westminster Abbey.

I keep Jerusalem's song in mind.

I already loved it, but there...

I was amazed.

If there is one thing to keep in mind, it's that "LOVE IS ALL YOU NEED", as other famous British people used to sing a few decades ago.

The British people I was with were so proud to be British.

There are very few occasions to gather a whole nation.

Wherever you come from, whatever you think of royalty/republicanism/the British monarchy, whoever you are, you can only be very impressed by the cohesion of the crowd, their pride to be British and the royal-perfect-impressive-but-still-natural wedding.
"It is what Britain represents, is known for and does best." as I read somewhere.

It was such a lovely day for discrete, generous, dignified and extra-ordinary lovers.

Today 2 Billions of people assisted to The Triumph of Love.

K. and W. love each other dearly.

It is SO obvious.

Eyes don't lie.

I wish them to have a happy and long life together.

Lyrics :

And did those feet in ancient time
Walk upon England's mountains green?
And was the holy Lamb of God
On England's pleasant pastures seen?

And did the Countenance Divine
Shine forth upon our clouded hills?
And was Jerusalem builded here
Among these dark Satanic Mills?

Bring me my bow of burning gold!
Bring me my arrows of desire!
Bring me my spear! O clouds, unfold!
Bring me my chariot of fire!

I will not cease from mental fight,
Nor shall my sword sleep in my hand,
Till we have built Jerusalem
In England's green and pleasant land

God Save The Queen !

2011-04-28T20:49:00.003+02:00

God save our gracious Queen,

Long live our noble Queen,

God save the Queen !

Send her victorious,

Happy and glorious,

Long to reign over us,

God save the Queen !

***

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

British National Anthem

Lyrics :

God save our gracious Queen,
Long live our noble Queen,
God save the Queen!
Send her victorious,
Happy and glorious,
Long to reign over us;
God save the Queen!

O Lord our God arise,
Scatter her enemies
And make them fall;
Confound their politics,
Frustrate their knavish tricks,
On Thee our hopes we fix,
God save us all!

Thy choicest gifts in store
On her be pleased to pour;
Long may she reign;
May she defend our laws,
And ever give us cause
To sing with heart and voice,
God save the Queen!

Not in this land alone,
But be God's mercies known,
From shore to shore!
Lord make the nations see,
That men should brothers be,
And form one family,
The wide world over.

From every latent foe,
From the assassins blow,
God save the Queen!
O'er her thine arm extend,
For Britain's sake defend,
Our mother, prince, and friend,
God save the Queen!

"You must be the change you want to see in the world." - Gandhi

2011-04-21T19:43:00.005+02:00

"You must be the change you want to see in the world."

***

"When I despair, I remember that all through history the ways of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants, and murderers, and for a time they can seem invincible, but in the end they always fall.
Think of it... ALWAYS."

***

"An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind."

***

"Whatever you do will be insignificant, but it is very important that you do it."

***

"Strength does not come from physical capacity.
It comes from an indomitable will."

Mahatma Gandhi

All those quotes are so important to me.

They bring us back to what is essential in life and focus us on it.

Love

Will

Action
Respect

Hope

I keep thinking of them, specially when I have to make difficult choices.

Lain

2011-04-14T18:28:00.004+02:00

I am falling,

I am fading,

I have lost it all

Help me to breathe...

Lain Opening Song

Serial Experiment Lain

I thought of different Thurday Quotes.

I could not made up my mind.

New York, New York by Frank Sinatra ?

No, I am not in NYC and have not journey planned there.

Gimmie ! Gimmie ! Gimmie a man after midnight by ABBA ?

I did not like the videos I found on the web.

Then I thought about Lain, a Japanese cartoon, which my sisters used to watch when we were younger and of which I never understood anything...

"It is because you did not watch ALL the episodes in the right order..."

Or I may not be ready to watch that kind of psychological series.

Anyway.

I have always liked the end of the opening music.

So I posted it today.

As far as I recall, Lain is an allegory for the dangers of a ~~not so new now~~ parallel internet world.

Its creators did not fear to deal with difficult themes like schizophrenia, craziness, consequences of suicide for those who stay (~~there is no suicide scene...~~), non-communication in some families, loneliness of teenagers, dangers of living in a parallel virtual world...

I will eventually try to watch it again and I'll tell you...

Lyrics :

And you don't seem to understand,
A shame you seemed an honest man
And all the fears you hold so dear
Will turn to whisper in your ear.
And you know what they say might hurt you.
And you know that it means so much.
And you don't even feel a thing.

I am falling,
I am fading,
I have lost it all

***

I am falling,
I am fading,
I am drowning,
Help me to breathe

I am hurting,
I have lost it all,
I am losing
Help me to breathe...

Make the force be with you

2011-04-07T16:43:00.002+02:00

"Make the force be with YOU"

Star Wars

Darth Vader

At least once in your life you would have loved to be that child...

Agnes Obel

2011-04-06T01:09:00.004+02:00

Sometimes Deezer is a good way to discover talentuous singers.

Here you have Agnes Obel's first album "Philharmonics".

Because, even if she's been living in Berlin for four years, in 2011 lullabies come from Denmark...

" We want sex equality ! "

2011-04-01T00:39:00.005+02:00

"Equal pay for women is right."

Rita O'Grady

(Sally Hawkins)

***

"You're the best man of my Cabinet."

Churchill to Babara Castle

***

"I have a first class Honors degree from one of the finest universities in the world, and my husband treats me like i'm a fool. Do not give up. "

Lisa Hopkins

(Rosamund Pike)

***

" I am what is known as a fiery redhead. Now, I hate to make this a matter of appearance and go all womanly on you, but there you have it. And me standing up like this is in fact just that redheaded fieriness leaping to the fore. Credence? I will give credence to their cause. My god! Their cause already has credence. It is equal pay. Equal pay is common justice, and if you two weren't such a pair of egotistical, chauvinistic, bigoted dunderheads, you would realise that. Oh, my office is run by incompetents and I am sick of being patronised, spoken down to, and generally treated as if I was the May Queen.
Set up the meeting! "

Barbara Castle

(Miranda Richardson)

***

Official British Trailer :

2nd trailer with French subtitles :

''Cause you had a bad day"

2011-03-25T19:53:00.009+01:00

"Cause you had a bad day.

...

Well you need a blue sky holiday."

Bad Day

Daniel Powter

Today is a "loose day" (a strange, bad one).

From a modern daily French expression :

"C'est la loose ! "

(For a not-too-serious catastrophic situation, when you are convinced that you should have stayed in bed all day long.).

It all started at 1 a.m. (yesterday evening) when I just had enough time to see that my "Thursday Quote" had not directly been posted on my blog, before my internet connexion stopped...

This morning was supposed to be a new, fresh, happy day.

It was only sunny.

"Life belongs to those who wake up early."

I was in adavance so I took my time...

I eventually was late.

I knocked my tea mug over downstairs.

My necklace caught hold of the handle of my bedside table drawer.

Everything that was inside fell downstairs...

Amongst everything there was an open box full of thum-tacks (drawing-pins).

I was barefeet and already late.

I had forgotten to take a very strong treatment against allergies.

I stayed 25 additional minutes at home.

Then ...

As i was waiting for the metro, a old man started to talk to me, then asked me more and more indiscrete questions....

I hate those kind of men and came into a wagon far from him.

A few minutes later, many students wearing pink & green fluorescent wetsuits came INTO "my" wagon at the same time and started to singing "Booh Paris, we are from (another famous school) and we are gonna defeat you at the student inter-school competition".

At this point, I have to censore the other "songs" I heard.

I arrived at work 45 minutes later than I should have.

Nobody said anything to me.

My computer keyboard was blocked.

Then my screen was completely blue.

At lunch time, I went to the shop around the corner.

A Chinese man was with his kid.

Another guy started yelling : "there are too many Chinese people in France. They steal the jobs of French people".

They started arguing.

A 3rd one, from Arab origin, tried to intervene, but was treated as an "Arabe" (which is very VERY insulting in French).

He yelled.

The Chinese replied "Leave me alone, I'm not Indian."

And a 5th guy, from Indian origins, entered into the mess...

In the end, an old man said "Stop it, there are children there".

They all looked to the little Asian boy.

So the Chinese guy went away with his son.

The Indian went on working.

The other ones paid their groceries.

I picked up 2 pears and a carrot-coriander soup, paid and went back to work.

Luckily spring is back to Paris.

Unfortunately pollens are back too.

I worked fast and went out early :-)

I phoned friends who had a train one hour later.

No answer :-(

By this time, two women came into the metro wagon, which I was sitted in.

The younger one had pushed the older.

They started yelling at each other.

They went on insulting each other louder and louder.

I said very slowly to the girl who was sitted next to me
"Oh, I'm fed up."

The older one turned to me and yelled :
"YOU, if you are not happy, you have to do as if you were dumb."

Everybody looked at me and slightly laughed at her.

Both stopped talking.

I finally arrived at the - overcrowded - train station.

My friends were not there.

They were still in the metro, praying to catch their train.

I did not met them before they left Paris.

I bought "Canelés" from Bordeaux.

Canelés are delicious mini-cakes.

After that I had 3,27€ left in my wallet.

I decided to buy "daily" food... which cost me 3,57€.

Not enough coins.

God bless, the inventer of credit cards....

Now I'm back home.

I replied to a very important e-mail.

My computer went blank and the half-written e-mail was sent...

I had to rewrite the whole thing, starting by apologizing.

I read newspapers.
Elizabeth Taylor and her purple eyes passed away two days ago.
The political situation is more and more complex in France.
There is a war in Libya and I fear that it will be long.
The 3rd reactor in Fukushima nuclear plant is damaged...

It is 8.08 p.m. now.
(8 is my favourite figure).

I listen to ABBA songs.
"Gimme ! Gimme ! Gimme a man after midnight !".
It always makes me ~~sing~~ feel happy.

And when I re-read all that happened to me...

NEVERTHELESS...

I am in good health.

So are my family and friends.

We do not starve.

We have a confortable home.

I have enough money to buy food and have a home.

I have a job.

We have not experienced the earthquake + tsunami + nuclear disaster in Japan.

It was a strange day

BUT

It could have been FAR worse.

Talk to you soon and take care of you,

Frenchy Baguette

PS : Today the Euromillion lottery provides the winner with 130 millions of Euros...

I won't gamble.

I won't go out tonight.

I dont think that even if I had gambled, I would have won anything today.

PS2 : Here is the video of "Bad Day" by Daniel Powter.
I really really liked the end with the drawing on the metro poster.

Lyrics :

Where is the moment when we need it the most

You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

They tell me your blue sky's faded to grey

They tell me your passion's gone away

And I don't need no carrying on

Stand in the line just ahead of the law

You're faking a smile with the coffee you go

You tell me your life's been way off line

You're falling to pieces every time

And I don't need no carrying on

Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

The camera don't lie

You're coming back down and you really don't mind

You had a bad day

Well you need a blue sky holiday

The point is they laugh at what you say

And I don't need no carrying on

You had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

The camera don't lie

You're coming back down and you really don't mind

You had a bad day

Sometimes the system goes on the blink and the whole thing it turns out

Wrong

You might not make it back and you know that you could be well oh that

Strong

Well I'm not wrong

So where is the passion when you need it the most

Oh you and I

You kick up the leaves and the magic is lost

Cause you had a bad day

You're taking one down

You sing a sad song just to turn it around

You say you don't know

You tell me don't lie

You work at a smile and you go for a ride

You had a bad day

You've seen what you like

And how does it feel for one more time

You had a bad day x3

Princess Mononoke

2011-03-17T19:40:00.003+01:00

There is no need to remind you of what is currently happening in Japan.

All my thoughts and hopes are for Japanese people.

Today the Thursday Quote is a video.

The end of "Princess Mononoke".

Why have I been obsessed by it for almost a week ?
All the more as I have not seen this movie for years...

Maybe because it shows that Nature will always be stronger than human beings.

Maybe because it shows how human activities or mistakes can destroy everything.

Maybe because allegories are better than words.

Maybe because Hayao Miyazaki is a genius and understood far before everybody what really matters.

Maybe because I needed hope and a happy ending.

The video is in French. I didn't find it in English (nor in Japanese with English subtitles).

Mononoke Main Theme

"Il en faut peu pour être heureux !"

2011-03-10T17:00:00.002+01:00

"Il en faut peu pour être heureux

Vraiment très peu pour être heureux

Chassez de votre esprit

Tous vos soucis

Prenez la vie du bon côté

Riez, sautez, dansez, chantez

Et vous serez un ours très bien léché !"

Le Livre de la Jungle

(Disney)

Paroles :

Il en faut peu pour être heureux
Vraiment très peu pour être heureux
Il faut se satisfaire
Du nécessaire
Un peu d'eau fraîche et de verdure
Que nous prodigue la nature
Quelques rayons de miel
Et de soleil.

Je dors d'ordinaire sous les frondaisons
Et toute la jungle est ma maison
Toutes les abeilles de la forêt
Butinent pour moi dans les bosquets
Et quand je retourne un gros caillou
Je sais trouver des fourmis dessous.
Essaye c'est bon, c'est doux, oh!

Il en faut vraiment peu,
Très peu pour être heureux !
Mais oui !
Pour être heureux.

Il en faut peu pour être heureux
Vraiment très peu pour être heureux
Chassez de votre esprit
Tous vos soucis
Prenez la vie du bon côté
Riez, sautez, dansez, chantez
Et vous serez un ours très bien léché !

Cueillir une banane, oui
Ça se fait sans astuce
Aïe !
Mais c'est tout un drame
Si c'est un cactus
Si vous chipez des fruits sans épines
Ce n'est pas la peine de faire attention
Mais si le fruit de vos rapines
Est tout plein d'épines
C'est beaucoup moins bon !
Alors petit, as-tu compris ?

Il en faut vraiment peu,
Très peu, pour être heureux !
Pour être heureux ?
Pour être heureux !

Et tu verras qu' tout est résolu
Lorsque l'on se passe
Des choses superflues
Alors tu ne t'en fais plus.
Il en faut vraiment peu, très peu, pour être heureux.

Il en faut peu pour être heureux
Vraiment très peu pour être heureux
Chassez de votre esprit
Tous vos soucis ... Youpi
Prenez la vie du bon côté
Riez, sautez, dansez, chantez
Et vous serez un ours très bien léché !
Waouh !
Et vous serez un ours très bien léché.
Youpi !

The King's Speech

2011-03-03T00:59:00.002+01:00

"King Edward VIII: Sorry, I've been terribly busy.

King George VI: Doing what?

King Edward VIII: Kinging. "

***

"Bertie: What are you doing? Get up! You can’t sit there!

Lionel: Why not? It’s a chair.

Bertie: No, it’s not, that is Saint Edward’s Chair...

Lionel: People have carved their initials into it!

Bertie: That chair is the seat on which every King and Queen-

Lionel: It’s held in place by a large rock!

Bertie: That is the Stone of Scone, you are trivialising everything-

Lionel: I don’t care. I don’t care how many Royal arses have sat in this chair

Bertie: Listen to me !

Lionel: Listen to you?! By what right?

Bertie: Divine right, if you must! I’m your King!

Lionel: Noooo you’re not! Told me so yourself. Said you didn’t want it. So why should I waste my time listening to you?

Bertie: Because I have a right to be heard!

Lionel: Heard as what?!

Bertie: A man! I HAVE A VOICE!!!

...

Lionel: Yes you do. You have such perseverance, Bertie, you’re the bravest man I know. And you’ll make a bloody good king."

I chose this movie today...

Because Colin Firth deserves his Oscar.

Because Helena Bonham Carter and Geoffrey Rush are amazing.

Because the movie is really well-written.

Because Tom Hooper is a great film director.

Because King George VI was a Good king.

Because stamerring can be cured.

Rhapsody in Blue

2011-02-24T21:53:00.001+01:00

"I don`t want to be just a concert pianist.

I want to use the piano as a stepping stone !"

***

"It`s only with my music that I can prove my right to live.

I must write !"

George Gershwin

Clair de Lune - Debussy

2011-02-19T20:23:00.002+01:00

"Come on Barbie, Let's Go Party !"

2011-02-17T19:40:00.004+01:00

"I'm Barbie Girl,
In a Barbie world.
Life in plastic is fantastic.

You can brush my hair,

And dress me everywhere,

Imagination,

My life is your creation."

Barbie Girl
Aqua (1997)

Today Paris is grey.

It's cold outside.

There has been fog all day long.

Summer is far from us.

Today I want summer to be back.

Today I want to sing.

Today I want to be 15 again (without teenage pbs).

Today I want to dance on the songs I used to hear.

Then I started thinking about summer parties I had when I was a teenager.

"Barbie Girl" is the most emblematic song of the 90's.

So much derision and a well-done satire of our consumption society.

I hope that you will laugh as much as me when you'll watch this video.

Even more than 10 years after, I still know the lyrics by heart...

Have fun !

Lyrics :

Hi Barbie

Hi Ken!

Do you wanna go for a ride?

Sure Ken!

Jump In...

I'm a Barbie Girl, in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

I'm a blond bimbo girl, in the fantasy world

Dress me up, make it tight, I'm your dolly

You're my doll, rock'n'roll, feel the glamour in pink,

Kiss me here, touch me there, hanky panky...

You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

(uu-oooh-u)

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

Make me walk, make me talk, do whatever you please

I can act like a star, I can beg on my knees

Come jump in, bimbo friend, let us do it again,

Hit the town, fool around, let's go party

You can touch, you can play, if you say: "I'm always yours"

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

I'm a Barbie girl, in the Barbie world

Life in plastic, it's fantastic!

You can brush my hair, undress me everywhere

Imagination, life is your creation

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(Ah-ah-ah-yeah)

Come on Barbie, let's go party!

(uu-oooh-u)

Oh, I'm having so much fun!

Well Barbie, we're just getting started

Oh, I love you Ken!

"Without music life would be a mistake" - Nietzsche

2011-02-10T21:14:00.003+01:00

"Without music life would be a mistake."

Friedrich Wilhelm Nietzsche

***

"Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life."

Berthold Auerbach

When I was young, we had audio tapes in my Mum's car. Every single day, when she was driving us to school, we would listen to the "classical musicians' lives".

Our favourite was Tchaikovsky's. So we almost listened to it every day. We were ''singing'' his concertos and my Mum used to follow the rythm by pushing a little bit her horn.

I still know by heart Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto n°1... It's been an hour that I try to find the most appropriate video.

Tchaikovsky Piano Concerto n°1 always brings me back a flood of happy memories.

Lady Gaga protects her privacy

2011-02-05T14:32:00.004+01:00

She is such a musical phenomenon.
Everybody has talked about her for months.
Some people criticize her "marketed" music.

But...
In the following video...

Listen to her voice !!
See how talented she is when she plays the piano.

No Lady Gaga is not ~~only~~ a marketing musical product.

Yes, she is excentric.
Yes, she does all what she wants.
Yes, she is a real artist.

In Taratata, she is close to people : smiling, answering questions, joking, trying to speak French.

I prefer Lady Gaga here, whereas when she wears meat-made dresses.

She has nothing to prove.

She deserves media and people interest just for her songs.

She should not need to be provocative to attrack the attention of the media.

Lady Gaga is famous.

Lady Gaga is different.

As an artist, she knows perfectly how to melt the codes of fashion, music, writing, art , photos and video... so that the result is always innovative and unique.

Yes, Lady Gaga is unique.

Who could claim to be like her today ?

No one.

She is an artistic model because she dares to do all what she wants, without restrictions.
And by doing this she encourages people to be "themselves".

Nevertheless...

Her songs may be marketed.

Her video clips may be shocking.

She may manipulate the media the way she wants.
She may have many people around her.

She may have millions of fans around the world...

She recently declared in an interview in the French Glamour (don't judge the magazines I read in the train...) : "I'm perpetually lonely. I'm lonely when I'm in relationships. It's my condition as an artist."

Being an artist is not easy.
You expose yourself and use your sensibility to create.
Sometimes you don't even decide.
You feel the need to create.
Art or inspiration are inside of you.
They need to get out of you.
You can't control them.
You did not chose to be an artist.
But you ARE.
You build an image of yourself so that you can express what you want to.
The only choice you have is to realese or not what you have just created.

Everybody knows Lady Gaga, her excentricities, her songs, her video clips. But who really knows her as a human being ?

To me, the main question is :

What does she want to hide, by exposing herself as a pop/musical/artistic icone or myth ?

I may be wrong, but exposing herself the way she does every time she goes out is at the same time a way to protect herself as a human being too.

For sure, she chose the good strategy to protect her privacy.

"Someone like you" by Adele

2011-02-03T20:25:00.004+01:00

"Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.

I wish nothing but the best for you too.

Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you said :

Sometimes it lasts in love

But sometimes it hurts instead"

Someone like you

Adele

Remember her name.

Adele.

She's only 21.
And she's THE greatest singer of tomorrow.

Lyrics :

I heard that your settled down.
That you found a girl and your married now.
I heard that your dreams came true.
Guess she gave you things I didn't give to you.

Old friend, why are you so shy?
It ain't like you to hold back or hide from the light

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I'd hoped you'd see my face & that you'd be reminded,
That for me, it isn't over.

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.
I wish nothing but the best for you too.
Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you said:
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead"
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

You'd know how the time flies.
Only yesterday was the time of our lives.
We were born and raised in a summery haze.
Bound by the surprise of our glory days.

I hate to turn up out of the blue uninvited,
But I couldn't stay away, I couldn't fight it.
I'd hoped you'd see my face & that you'd be reminded,
That for me, it isn't over yet.

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.
I wish nothing but the best for you too.
Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you said:
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead".

Nothing compares, no worries or cares.
Regret's and mistakes they're memories made.
Who would have known how bittersweet this would taste?

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.
I wish nothing but the best for you too.
Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you said:
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead"

Nevermind, I'll find someone like you.
I wish nothing but the best for you too.
Don't forget me, I beg, I'll remember you said:
"Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead"
Sometimes it lasts in love but sometimes it hurts instead.

Interview JK Rowling

2011-01-27T19:34:00.003+01:00

Dear Reader,

Today is not a "normal" day.

~~It has been the second time that I am writing this message because of a computer bug.~~
The Thursday quote won't be a usual one.

Today, for once, you'll have a series of quotes.

Everybody knows the Harry Potter books and movies.

I found interesting to show you an interview of JK Rowling.

The following video is the first one I found on Youtube.

And this interview of JK Rowling by Oprah Windfrey stroke me.

They are both so natural, so "normal", so clever...

They behave just like old friends and seem to have so much in common.
And it is true.

At the end Oprah Winfrey even answers JK Rowling questions.

Since I was young, I have always watched the "behind the scenes" movies and listened to authors' interviews.

This time it is quite the same and it helps to know who is this amazing writer.

My aim has never been to spy or to be curious.

As I have already said in a previous message, I care for privacy.

But I have always felt that artistic creations (writing, movie making, painting, singing...) are much more interesting when explained by their authors.

So today you have a series of 4 videos, all coming from the same interview.

I really hope that you'll like them and feel happy after watching them as I was.

The first (big) quote is the most important one.
JK Rowling puts words on the moment that every artist has to experience : when you let the characters go away and when your creation is done.

The video is in English.
There are French subtitles too.

Part 1

"- It was a bereavement. It was huge. But I think, one way, although I knew that it was coming... We all know that the people we love are mortal, we all know that we are mortal. We know it is going to an end. You can not prepare yourself for it. So even though I had always known that there would be only seven books, that was it. I knew how it would come to an end, when it ended I was in a harsh state of shock.

- What did you do after you finished writing ? (Oprah Winfrey's question)

- Initially I was delighted. But there came a point, I cried as I had only cried once before in my life, when my mother died. It was uncontrolable. And I am not a big crier. (...) For seventeen years I had had many tumultuous times in my life and I had always had that. And if it is an escape for all those children, you can imagine what it has been for me ? And it was not just the world, it was the discipline of working. It was the structure it gave to my life. I knew that I would still go on writing. But I had to mourn Harry."

Part 2

"Love is the most important thing in the world."

JK Rowling

Part 3

"When I knew that it was time to go, I left"
(about her first mariage)

JK Rowling

Part 4

"I had an old typewriter and a big idea."

"It is impossible to live without failing at something,

unless you live so cousciously
that you might have not lived at all."

JK Rowling in her "Harvard Speech"

Monet Exhibition in Paris

2011-01-25T22:15:00.003+01:00

Yesterday I went out of work later than what I had expected.

But I run in the streets to the nearest tube station.

I had just two hours and a half before the doors would close.

I was going to the Monet Exhibition at the Grand Palais (near the Champs Elysées), which was closing definitely its doors at 9 p.m.

I finally arrived.

But I had no ticket.

People had been waiting for hours and hours to buy them.

Others had bought tickets earlier on the internet.

The guard confirmed that it was too late, that the waiting line was closed.

Surprisingly I did not feel sad.

Maybe I already knew.

And I was right.

Near me, there was a woman.

My Angel !!

She had an extra ticket, which a friend of hers had given to her earlier that day.

And she offered it to me, telling me that it would be useful.

So I was LUCKY enough to meet her and spend the next three hours inside the museum with her.

She was a journalist.

She liked art, culture, literature... just like me.

This meeting was so unpredictable.

Yes, miracles DO happen.

The Exhibition was fantastic.

There were many paintings, coming from all over the world, including amazing and "famous" ones.

The scenography was well-done.

Many similar paitings had been hung side by side, so that we could see Monet's genius and detail-orientation : he could catch the "instantaneity" of things. At the same time, those paintings were so different, that no one could have said they were copies with only different colours.

This latest painting stroke me so much, that I stayed at least 3 minutes without saying nothing in front of it.

How is it possible to paint such a delicate, pure, evanescent, foggy landscape with a focus on details and at the same time evanescence... and without ANY brush trace on the painting ?

How did he succeed in finding and showing the extraordinary in the most daily, ordinary, "flat" landscape ?

Claude Monet was definitely a genius.

At this exhibition three points stroke me, which I never heard anybody to talk about :

- The extraordinary light inside Monet paintings.

- The overwhelming presence of nature, sea, landscapes and the tiny, discreete place of characters, which shows evidence the humility of the painter towards nature.

- The proficiency in painting foggy and snowy landscapes.

913.000 people attended this exhibition.

Many others had not the chance to have tickets.

Sometimes fate is unfair, when we think that Claude Monet was so poor that he had not enough money to by drugs for his wife, when she was ill.

But to me, yesterday was a very good day. Without this French woman, I would not have had the amazing priviledge to see all those paintings.

So, even if you won't probably never read this,

Dear Madam,

Wherever and whoever you are, THANK YOU so much for your kindness and generosity.
I will never forget this.

Frenchy Baguette

Flash Mob Black Eyed Peas

2011-01-20T19:18:00.002+01:00

"I Gotta Feeling,

That Tonight is gonna be a good night..."

The Black Eyed Peas

I discovered this video a few days ago.

I sang.
I smiled.
I laughed.
I danced.
I was impressed.
I was delighted with Oprah Winfrey's astonishment.
I wanted to be part of the "surprise".
I felt happy.

For 5 minutes, that day was a really good one...

Enjoy !

De la Démocratie en Tusinie

2011-01-14T23:28:00.004+01:00

Aujourd'hui, Tunisie rime avec Démocratie !

"The One" performed by Vanessa Carlton & Stevie Nicks

2011-01-13T20:47:00.001+01:00

Who is gonna be the One in your life ?

"But you'll always be my golden boy.

And I'm the summer girl that you enjoy.

Some melodies are best left undone."

The One

Written and Performed by Vanessa Carlton

Lyrics :

Ahhh

Holiday and I come home
I hope to see this boy I know
I can't wait for us to be alone
Flippin' through the radio
We sing along to the indie show
The songs they play mean more than I can say

And the tape I made you,
Hope you think of me when it plays through
I'm kinda sad now that it's done
You think my time is for free
In all the ways you say to me,
Sweet versions of let's wait and see

You're always a golden boy
And I'm the girl that you enjoy
My parents say isn't he a gifted son
Time is always passing
By but still I have to wonder why
You can't come to tell me I'm the one

Summer goes and we have grown
We have our friends,
Live on our own
Still I'm not the girl you want me to be
Say gravity can bend the time,
Funny, I always liked your mind
But this whole thing is crushing me

But you're always a golden boy
And this girl's heart that you destroy
You smile at me and then you have your fun
Time is always passing by,
Still, I give you another try
And hope that you will see that I'm the one

You say you're scared to get too close
Come let's see how it goes
I see you now at the show,
The 7th in,
The 7th row.
Now you look at me
And see what I've known for so long
Sad that you could be so lovely and so wrong

Came to say that I moved,
I see your face you don't approve
Guess, you could say that I'm already gone

But you'll always be my golden boy
And I'm the summer girl that you enjoy
Some melodies are best left undone

I feel the time pass away
But in my songs you will always stay
I don't need you to tell me I'm the one
I don't need you to tell me I'm the one

You'll never know that I was the one.

Un avant-goût de mon passage éclair à Etretat

2011-01-09T16:59:00.000+01:00

Ou les joies simples de se retrouver en famille...

"Both Sides Now" by Joni Mitchell

2011-01-06T19:27:00.003+01:00

"I've looked at life from both sides now

From win and lose, and still somehow

It's life's illusions I recall

I really don't know life at all"

Both Sides Now

Joni Mitchell (1969)

Lyrics :

Bows and flows of angel hair
And ice cream castles in the air
And feather canyons everywhere
I've looked at clouds that way.

But now they only block the sun
They rain and snow on everyone
So many things I would have done
But clouds got in my way

I've looked at clouds from both sides now
From up and down, and still somehow
It's cloud illusions I recall
I really don't know clouds at all

Moons and Junes and Ferris wheels
The dizzy dancing way you feel
As every fairy tale comes real
I've looked at love that way

But now it's just another show
You leave 'em laughing when you go
And if you care, don't let them know
Don't give yourself away

I've looked at love from both sides now
From give and take, and still somehow
It's love's illusions I recall.
I really don't know love at all.

Tears and fears, and feeling proud
To say "I love you" right out loud
Dreams and schemes and circus crowds
I've looked at life that way

But now old friends are acting strange
They shake their heads
They say I've changed
Something's lost but something's gained
In living every day

I've looked at life from both sides now
From win and lose, and still somehow
It's life's illusions I recall
I really don't know life at all

No New Year's Resolutions for 2011

2011-01-02T23:34:00.005+01:00

This year, I decided that I would not take resolutions.

Because everybody knows that New Year's Resolutions disappear after January.

Instead, I decided to list the most important 5 things that I want to realize in 2011.

Five realistic goals.

Five personal goals.

Five important goals to me.

Because Life is so short.

Because no one but you can live your OWN life.

Because it is time to curb this gloomy occidental mood.

Because 2011 is totally new and allows everything to happen.

Because this year I want to see life as a HALF-FULL glass.

I wish you all the BEST for this New Year.

May 2011 bring you Love, Happiness, Joy, Good Health, Prosperity, Good Fortune, New opportunities to travel and to meet interesting people from different countries.

In 2011...

CARPE DIEM !

"Est-ce qu'une vie meilleure nous attend dès demain ? Ne doute pas puisqu'il est l'heure."

2010-12-30T20:21:00.007+01:00

"Est-ce qu'une vie meilleure, nous attend dès demain ?

Ne doute pas, puisqu'il est l'heure !"

Anastasia

Dessin Animé Fox (et non Disney...)

Non, ce n'est pas un Disney.

C'est Fox qui a créé Anastasia.

Écouter cette chanson me donne confiance en l'avenir.

Et c'est bien de ça dont on a besoin en ce moment.

Le monde bouge.

Le monde est incertain.

Le monde semble tourner sans nous.

Et pas forcément bien rond...

Et si la clef était de se mettre en mouvement ?

Le premier pas est toujours le plus difficile.

Les suivants viennent tout seuls.

C'est la dernière Citation du Jeudi de 2010...

Cette vidéo est une invitation à faire ce fameux premier pas.

A faire avancer les choses.

Quelles qu'elles soient.

***

Paroles :

Est-ce qu'une vie meilleure,
Nnous attend dès demain ?

Ne doute pas puisqu'il est l'heure.

Je sais que pourtant,

Il faut faire souvent des choix qui font vraiment peur.

Oh comme le monde me semble grand,

Quand je voyage dans le temps.

Au bout du chemin,

On me tendra la main,

Il me semble que ma vie change.

Je serai choyée, protégée, désirée,

Comme ce rêve me semble étrange !

Oui et pourtant je l'entreprends,

Ce beau voyage dans le temps.

Songerais-je d'une vie,

Où j'aurais une enfin une famille à mon tour ?

Songerais-je quelle vie,

J'aurais moi aussi droit à mon rêve d'amour ?

Doucement pas à pas,

Marchons vers l'avenir,

Sur la route du bonheur.

Est-ce qu'on m'aimera ?

Ai-je raison de partir ?

Tant de questions dans mon cœur.

Oui, c'était bien un signe,

Un monde se termine.

Que le chemin du printemps

Soit ma victoire...

Sur le temps !

"Hark ! The Herald Angels Sing !"

2010-12-24T19:20:00.002+01:00

Merry Christmas to All of you,

wherever you are...

May this day bring you

Joy, Peace, Love and Hope !

"All I want for Christmas is YOU"

2010-12-23T01:18:00.004+01:00

"All I want for Christmas is YOU !"

(c) "All I want for Christmas" performed by Olivia Olson
(c) Song by Vince Vance & The Valiant (1993) - Waldoxy Label
(c) Love Actually (2003)
(c) Movie : 2003 WT Venture LLC

Des fleurs et des idées

2010-12-20T01:15:00.000+01:00

En attendant d'avoir plus de temps pour vous écrire, ~~que mon ordi arrête de planter,~~ voici une photo de la vitrine du fleuriste devant lequel je passe tous les matins...

"Mistral Gagnant" - Les Enfoirés 1998

2010-12-16T18:04:00.004+01:00

"Que si moi je suis barge, ce n'est que de tes yeux

Car ils ont l'avantage d'être deux

Et entendre ton rire s'envoler aussi haut

Que s'envolent les cris des oiseaux

Te raconter enfin qu'il faut aimer la vie

Et l'aimer même si

Le temps est assassin et emporte avec lui

Les rires des enfants

Et les Mistrals Gagnants"

Mistral Gagnant

Renaud

Paroles :

Ah m'asseoir sur un banc cinq minutes avec toi
Et regarder les gens tant qu'y en a
Te parler du bon temps qu'est mort ou qui r'viendra
En serrant dans ma main tes p'tits doigts
Pis donner à bouffer à des pigeons idiots
Leur filer des coups d' pieds pour de faux
Et entendre ton rire qui lézarde les murs
Qui sait surtout guérir mes blessures
Te raconter un peu comment j'étais, mino
Les bombecs fabuleux
Qu'on piquait chez l'marchand
car-en-sac et Mintho
caramels à un franc
Les mistrals gagnants

A marcher sous la pluie cinq minutes avec toi
Et regarder la vie tant qu'y en a
Te raconter la Terre en te bouffant des yeux
Et parler de ta mère un p'tit peu
Et sauter dans les flaques pour la faire râler
Bousiller nos godasses et s' marrer
Et entendre ton rire comme on entend la mer
S'arrêter, repartir en arrière
Te raconter surtout les carambars d'antan
et les coco-boërs
Et les vrais roudoudous qui nous coupaient les lèvres
Et nous niquaient les dents
Les mistrals gagnants

A m'asseoir sur un banc cinq minutes avec toi
Et regarder l' soleil qui s'en va
Te parler du bon temps qu'est mort et je m'en fous
Te dire que les méchants c'est pas nous
Que si moi je suis barge, ce n'est que de tes yeux
Car ils ont l'avantage d'être deux
Et entendre ton rire s'envoler aussi haut
Que s'envolent les cris des oiseaux
Te raconter enfin qu'il faut aimer la vie
Et l'aimer même si
Le temps est assassin et emporte avec lui
les rires des enfants
Et les Mistral gagnants
Et les Mistral gagnants

Star Wars in NYC Subway/metro

2010-12-13T20:07:00.005+01:00

Just a funny idea in NYC subway...

Just for fun !

"Qui a le droit ? - Les Enfoirés "

2010-12-08T18:16:00.027+01:00

"Qui a le droit de faire ça ?
A des enfants,
Qui croient vraiment ce que disent les grands.
On passe sa vie à dire merci.
Merci à qui ? A quoi ?
A faire la pluie et le beau temps,
Pour des enfants,
A qui l'on ment."

Qui a le droit ?

Patrick Bruel

Perdition dans les rues de Paris : La Butte aux Cailles

2010-12-05T17:50:00.023+01:00

Voici quelques photos de mon avant-dernière "Perdition dans les rues de Paris", à l'époque bénie de l'été indien, où il y avait encore des feuilles (vertes !) sur les arbres et où on pouvait se balader en veste.

Cette fois-ci, mes pas m'ont portée dans le dédale des rues de la Butte aux Cailles.

La découverte d'un village en plein Paris, quoi de mieux pour un dimanche ensoleillé ?

On accède à la Butte aux Cailles depuis la station Corvisart (ligne 6 du métro).

Puis, on emprunte cet escalier

Oui, il y en a des marches, car comme son nom l'indique, nous nous dirigeons vers une butte...

Les ruelles, qui rendent ce quartier si atypique

Ci-dessous, la Place de la Commune de Paris

La Commune de Paris est un mouvement révolutionnaire contre le gouvernement de Louis-Philippe, qui se déroula du 26 Mars au 28 Mai 1871. Gouvernement insurrectionnel principalement ouvrier, la Commune de Paris est d'abord née d’un sentiment patriotique parisien issu de la guerre franco-allemande de 1870. Elle s'est rapidement transformée en un mouvement social radical, qui aspirait à une république basée sur l’égalité sociale. Dans plusieurs villes de France (Paris, Marseille, Lyon, Narbonne, Toulouse, Saint-Étienne, Grenoble, Limoges), les représentants locaux du pouvoir en place furent renversés par un mouvement ouvrier, qui établit un gouvernement prolétarien. Cette révolution se termina dans un bain de sang, lors de la "semaine sanglante" du 21 au 28 Mai 1871.

Pour Karl Marx, il s'agit de la première insurrection prolétarienne autonome.

Ou comment revoir son Histoire de France en se baladant dans les rues de Paris...

Après cet intermède pédagogico-historique, nous arrivons Rue de la Butte aux Cailles.

Les murs des bâtiments sont peints.

Ci-dessous ma photo préférée.

La Rue de l'Espérance

Ou comment toucher l'espoir du bout des doigts...

Demi-tour !

On retourne dans la Rue de la Butte aux Cailles, bien plus animée.

Une crêperie à tester...

Une taverne à tester...

Un café du sud-ouest (!), à tester...

Un Salon de thé, où j'irai...

Perdition dans la Butte aux Cailles, où comment soudainement mourir de faim en 100 mètres...

Résistons à la tentation...

Engouffrons nous dans une petite rue, attirés par le beau lampadaire suspendu.

La photo suivante était centrée dessus...

S'engouffrer donc dans un rue calme, pour se retrouver nez à nez avec... encore un restaurant.

Perdition dans la Butte aux Cailles, où comment avoir soudainement envie de tapas à quatre heures de l'après-midi...

Avançons plutôt dans les rues résidentielles...

Un bâtiment art déco...

Des maisons en plein Paris !

Un peu plus loin, une rue pavée, piétonne, dans laquelle une maison de 6 chambres (!) était à vendre...

Prix : "Nous contacter"...

Promis, je le ferai... Il ne manque "plus" que de gagner à l'Euro-million...

Au bout de cette rue, le Centre Commercial Italie 2.

Où se trouve un Carrefour Market...

Où, j'ai mis 55 minutes pour acheter une pommes, un paquet de gâteaux et une bouteille d'eau.

Où j'ai vu ~~super-connard~~ le plus beau goujat de tout Paris : un homme d'une trentaine d'années a cassé une bouteille d'huile d'olive juste aux pieds d'une jeune fille qui faisait la queue derrière lui à la caisse. Eh bien, je vous le donne dans le mille, il ne l'a même pas aidée à ramasser, ni à essuyer...

Sortie de là, je suis arrivée Rue de Tolbiac, puis ai découvert le Parc de Choisy.

Ses terrains de sport bondés...

L'entrée du Parc de Choisy et ses allées verdoyantes...

L'aire de jeux

L'institut dentaire et de stomatologie George Eastman

Les massifs de fleurs d'automne...

Dernière photo du Parc de Choisy, avant d'être chassée dehors par les gardiens qui le fermaient pour la nuit...

Et déjà les prémices dorés de l'automne, qui s'annonçait...

Fin de cette Perdition dans les rues de Paris, dans le China Town parisien.

Cet immeuble m'a beaucoup fait penser (en plus petit) au "Flatiron Building", l'immeuble "fer à repasser" de New York.

"Chaka Khan !" Bridget Jones

2010-12-02T19:24:00.007+01:00

"MÂarc, MÂarc...
Les traiteurs nous ont fait un travail de Mmerde !"

"Pour finir par mourrir grosse et seule,
et on me retrouverait 3 semaines plus tard
à moitié dévorée par des berges allemands"

"Chaka Khan !"

"And that was it.
Right there.
That was the moment.
I suddenly realised that unless something changed soon
I was going to live a life
where my major relationship was with a bottle of wine...
and I'd finally die, fat and alone,
and be found three weeks later half-eaten by Alsatians.
Or I was about to turn into Glenn Close in Fatal Attraction."

"At times like this,

continuing with one's life seems impossible...

and eating the entire contents of one's fridge seems inevitable.

i have two choices :

to give up and accept permanent state of spinsterhood

and eventualy be eaten by alsatians...

or not, and this time i choose not.

i will not be defeated by a bad man and an American stick insect!

instead, i choose vodka,

and

chaka khan !"

Happy Thanksgiving !

2010-11-25T18:52:00.003+01:00

Since the Americans celebrate Thanksgiving today, my LCDJ (or Thursday Quote) was not difficult to think about.

You will find below three quotes.

The 1rst one reminds us that Thanksgiving is the most familial celebration in the US.

Thanksgiving is the occasion to showing one's gratitude for the blessings that we are showered with. So the 2nd quote is a small prayer of gratitude.

The 3rd is an ironic quote from the movie Sweet November. It reminds us that the Pilgrims prosecuted the Native Americans when they arrived to the US...

"Forever on Thanksgiving Day

The heart will find the pathway home."

Wilbur D. Nesbit

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.
Ralph Waldo Emerson

"Happy We-Stole-Your-Land-and-Killed-Your-People Day!

Thanksgiving toast"

From "Sweet November"

On this special day, I advise you a wonderful ecards website I've just found.

It is Jacquie Lawson's website

She creates fabulous cards : the best I've ever found on the web !

And believe me, I went on many websites to find original ones.

Here is my favourite Thanksgiving ecard,

I'm sure, you'll love it too !

Happy Autumn !

2010-11-22T23:41:00.000+01:00

Parce que l'automne ce n'est pas seulement le froid, la pluie, le vent du nord et le brouillard...

"Ceux qui ne connaissent pas leur histoire s'exposent à ce qu'elle recommence..." - Elie Wiesel

2010-11-18T18:50:00.003+01:00

"Ceux qui ne connaissent pas leur histoire s'exposent
à ce qu'elle recommence..."

Elie Wiesel

Une bien sage citation.

Quelques jours après des commémorations du 11 novembre.

En plein débat sur l'enseignement de l'histoire-géo au lycée.

Rappel Historique :
Le 11 novembre 1918 a été signé l'Armistice mettant fin à la Première Guerre Mondiale, juste après la capitulation de l'Allemagne devant les Alliés.

Le métro parisien vintage

2010-11-14T18:52:00.005+01:00

Non, vous n'êtes pas sur le Quai n°9 3/4.

Non, ce train ne va pas à Poudlard.

Non, ce n'est pas le train d'Harry Potter.

~~Dommage~~

Il s'agit d'une ancienne rame du métro parisien (datant des années 30).

Pour célébrer les journées du patrimoine, la RATP en avait remis en service quelques unes exceptionnellement pour l'occasion.

A l'époque, il y avait deux classes ~~comme dans les trains.~~

La première ~~pour la "France d'en Haut"~~

Wagons rouges, sièges en cuir, nombreuses places assises, grands filets et compartiments à bagages.

Wagon aéré.

La seconde pour les autres, ~~la populasse, les gueux, les gens normaux~~

Wagons verts, sièges en bois, peu de places assises, minuscules filets à bagages

Wagons bondés.

Inutile de vous dire que ce soir-là, attirés par le coté "rétro", les parisiens en goguette se sont tous rués sur ce métro vintage, toutes classes confondues.

Une trop belle occasion de sortir du quotidien...
Et quoi de plus aliénant et répétitif que les trajets en métro ?

Le métro des années 30 était archi-bondé comme au bon vieux temps.

Grand succès et fin de la folle Journée du Patrimoine.

"Roméo kiffe Juliette" de Grand Corps Malade

2010-11-11T01:04:00.002+01:00

"Mais Juliette et Roméo changent l’histoire et se tirent

A croire qu’ils s’aiment plus à la vie qu’à la mort

Pas de fiole de cyanure, n’en déplaise à Shakespeare

Car l’amour a ses horizons que les poisons ignorent"

Roméo kiffe Juliette

interprétée par Grand Corps Malade

Un très beau slam découvert récemment sur M6.
Un beau texte.
Une belle histoire revisitée.
Une magnifique mélodie.
Une belle chorégraphie.

Paroles :

Roméo habite au rez-de-chaussée du bâtiment trois

Juliette dans l’immeuble d’en face au dernier étage

Ils ont 16 ans tous les deux et chaque jour quand ils se voient

Grandit dans leur regard une envie de partage

C’est au premier rendez-vous qu’ils franchissent le pas

Sous un triste ciel d’automne où il pleut sur leurs corps

Ils s’embrassent comme des fous sans peur du vent et du froid

Car l’amour a ses saisons que la raison ignore

[Refrain]

Roméo kiffe Juliette et Juliette kiffe Roméo

Et si le ciel n’est pas clément tant pis pour la météo

Un amour dans l’orage, celui des dieux, celui des hommes

Un amour, du courage et deux enfants hors des normes

Juliette et Roméo se voient souvent en cachette

Ce n’est pas qu’autour d’eux les gens pourraient se moquer

C’est que le père de Juliette a une kippa sur la tête

Et celui de Roméo va tous les jours à la mosquée

Alors ils mentent à leurs familles, ils s’organisent comme des pros

S’il n’y a pas de lieux pour leur amour, ils se fabriquent un décor

Ils s’aiment au cinéma, chez des amis, dans le métro

Car l’amour a ses maisons que les darons ignorent

[Refrain]

Le père de Roméo est vénèr, il a des soupçons

La famille de Juliette est juive, tu ne dois pas t’approcher d’elle

Mais Roméo argumente et résiste au coup de pression

On s’en fout papa qu’elle soit juive, regarde comme elle est belle

Alors l’amour reste clandé dès que son père tourne le dos

Il lui fait vivre la grande vie avec les moyens du bord

Pour elle c’est sandwich au grec et cheese au McDo

Car l’amour a ses liaisons que les biftons ignorent

[Refrain]

Mais les choses se compliquent quand le père de Juliette

Tombe sur des messages qu’il n’aurait pas dû lire

Un texto sur l’i-phone et un chat Internet

La sanction est tombée, elle ne peut plus sortir

Roméo galère dans le hall du bâtiment trois

Malgré son pote Mercutio, sa joie s’évapore

Sa princesse est tout prêt mais retenue sous son toit

Car l’amour a ses prisons que la raison déshonore

Mais Juliette et Roméo changent l’histoire et se tirent

A croire qu’ils s’aiment plus à la vie qu’à la mort

Pas de fiole de cyanure, n’en déplaise à Shakespeare

Car l’amour a ses horizons que les poisons ignorent

[Refrain]

Roméo kiffe Juliette et Juliette kiffe Roméo
Et si le ciel n’est pas clément tant pis pour la météo
Un amour dans l’orage, celui des dieux, celui des hommes
Un amour, du courage et deux enfants hors des normes

[Refrain]

Roméo kiffe Juliette et Juliette kiffe Roméo

Et si le ciel n’est pas clément tant pis pour la météo

Un amour dans un orage réactionnaire et insultant

Un amour et deux enfants en avance sur leur temps.

Le Musée de la Vie Romantique

2010-11-06T15:05:00.010+01:00

Troisième et dernière étape de mes Journées du Patrimoine...

Le Musée de la Vie Romantique

Je sais, ça commence à faire un bail, mea maxima culpa, mais les photos sont belles et le lieu unique.

Un havre de paix au cœur de Paris, niché dans une rue tranquille du 9ème arrondissement.

Pour tout savoir sur l'histoire du Musée, je vous invite à aller sur le site des Amis du Musée de la Vie Romantique. En quelques phrases, ils vous diront tout mieux que moi.

Sachez juste que dans cette demeure se croisèrent des artistes tels que Liszt, Chopin, Delacroix, George Sand, Gustave Moreau, Ernest Renan et Ary Scheffer (heureux propriétaire des lieux...).

Le Tout Paris artistique et intellectuel du XIXème siècle.

Ca fait rêver !

Mais reprenons la visite, ci-dessous l'allée pavée et arborée qui mène au Musée

Le Musée en lui-même. Belle bâtisse rose pale aux volets vert amande.

Non, cher lecteur, tu ne rêves pas, nous sommes toujours en plein Paris !

La dépendance du Musée (à gauche quand on est face au Musée)

A droite du Musée, un petit chemin mène au Salon de thé so british

La cour en plein air du Salon de thé ~~bondée en été~~. L'ombre y est vraiment bienvenue.

La verrière du Salon de thé...
On se croirait dans un roman de Jane Austen...

Le Salon de thé : les pâtisseries sont typiquement British et délicieuses.

Au fond, il s'agit bien d'une vraie cascade (avec de l'eau qui éclabousse partout, de vrais rochers, du lierre et tout, et tout).

Les murs d'une des salles du Musée, en tapisserie d'époque romantique.

Le salon de la "maison", meublé et décoré comme quand George Sand s'y rendait. Seule pièce qui selon moi vaille vraiment le détour quand il n'y a pas d'exposition temporaire.

Le portrait de George Sand

La Boutique du Musée (porte en bas à gauche), minuscule mais où on trouve tout un tas d'affiches, livres et cartes postales.

La cour en plein air du Salon de thé vue du premier étage du Musée

Le perron qui amène à la porte d'entrée. J'adorerai en avoir un aussi fleuri dans la maison de mes rêves !

Un dernier tour pour profiter encore un peu de la magnifique verrière du Salon de thé...

Notre longue et bien remplie Journée du Patrimoine s'est terminée par une visite éclaire de la cour de la Bibliothèque municipale du 9ème arrondissement (également Rue Chaptal).

Comme il faisait beau, beaucoup de jeunes, qui venaient d'emprunter des bouquins, les ont entamés en plein soleil, assis dans l'herbe ou sur un banc... Joie !

Verdict :

Cher Lecteur,

Si par une belle journée tu te trouves un jour à Paris, que tu es à Montmartre ou vers Pigalle, et/ou que tu veux visiter un musée calme et sympa qui change des traditionnels ~~bondés~~ Louvre, Orsay... va au Musée de la Vie Romantique.

De préférence un jour où il y aura une exposition temporaire (en ce moment tu pourras en voir une sur La Russie Romantique). La collection permanente n'est pas très fournie à mon goût, on fait vite le tour du musée...

Vas-y surtout un jour où tu as grand faim (et au moment du goûter), car le cadre et l'offre culinaire du Salon de thé valent à aux seuls le détour.

Profites-en bien et bonne visite !

Frenchy Baguette

"L'entreprise 12/20" selon Flore Vasseur

2010-11-05T01:02:00.005+01:00

" Entreprise 12 sur 20 "

" Un patron, c’est un homme qui rêve et a peur. Il dort mal, se réveille souvent avec l’actionnaire qui hurle au téléphone. Alors, il s’entoure d’un management 12 sur 20. Des bons petits, juste un peu moins moyens que les autres, pas les plus intelligents, les plus dociles, installés au premier rang. Tellement honorés d’avoir été choisis, ils acceptent : sautes d’humeur, incohérences, dossiers refilés le vendredi soir. Surtout ne pas se laisser impressionner par leurs airs pressés et leurs tons suffisants. Ce sont des copies conformes, des copies qu’on forme et que, donc, on déformera. "

Une définition tirée d'Une Fille dans la Ville

Une Fille dans la Ville est l'excellentissime (et même plus encore !) premier roman de Flore Vasseur.

C'est acide, addictif, cynique, sans langue de bois, drôlement bien écrit, drôlement bien vu et surtout tellement vrai... Ça décape et ça nous donne de nouveau la pêche !

Pour moi, Flore Vasseur est une des meilleures romancières sur les années 2000.

Alors, non, je ne regrette pas d'avoir à moitié traumatisé un vendeur de la FNAC de Toulouse, en lui demandant ~~en le harcelant pour savoir~~ où se trouvait ce roman le matin même de sa sortie. J'en avais trouvé la critique dans ELLE la veille (que voulez-vous, on ne se refait pas...) et il m'était devenu indispensable de lire cet ovni littéraire. Ce matin-là, j'ai acheté le premier Flore Vasseur de la ville rose (en obligeant le vendeur à ouvrir tous les cartons en attente pour me le trouver). Tout chaud, tout juste sorti du carton! Je l'ai lu comme une aventure, une découverte, un cadeau.

Et c'était vraiment un très très beau cadeau...

PS : On en a de la chance, depuis Flore Vasseur a sorti un deuxième roman, Comment j'ai liquidé le siècle, tout aussi génial, addictif et encore plus acide.

Happy Halloween !!

2010-10-31T01:10:00.001+02:00

Happy Halloween !!

Especially to all my anglosaxons friends, for whom Halloween had a real cultural sense...

Happy Birthday Frenchy Baguette !

2010-10-29T00:43:00.010+02:00

Happy Birthday

Joyeux Anniversaire

Buon Compleanno

Compleaño Feliz

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag

Feliz Aniversário

С днем рождения

Frenchy Baguette souffle sa première bougie !

Comme tout blogger qui se respecte, je pourrais vous dire que je ne pensais pas que ça durerait aussi longtemps, que je m'y tiendrais aussi assidûment, que j'y prendrais autant goût...

Je l'assume...

J'aime profondément blogger.

J'aime l'anonymat (entre nous, cher lecteur, je ne m'appelle pas Frenchy Baguette dans la vraie vie !).

J'aime faire partager mes idées ou mes coups de cœurs.
J'aime vous raconter mes "Perditions dans les rues de Paris".

J'aime penser aux "Citations du Jeudi".

J'aime avoir ce repère dans ma vie.

Se lancer dans un blog est une belle aventure humaine, stylistique et technologique.

Une belle aventure qui demande du temps, de la patience, de la ténacité, des idées, quelques grands moments de solitude face au code html

Une belle aventure qui rend heureux, qui permet de s'exprimer, de nouer de belles rencontres, de conserver des amitiés.

Blogger, pour moi, c'est exprimer sa générosité d'une autre façon.

Au début, mon blog m'a sauvée.

Cela fait un an, il y a prescription.

Ce 28 Octobre 2009, j'ai appris que je ne resterai pas dans l'entreprise où je travaillais.
Je ne savais pas si j'allais être réacceptée à la Sorbonne.
Je ne savais pas si je pouvais rester dans mon logement.
Je passais du Tout au Néant.

Alors, j'ai sauté le pas et créé ''Frenchy Baguette".

Pour avoir un repère dans ma vie.
Pour ne pas me focaliser sur moi.
Pour parler de choses positives.
Pour discuter des petites choses, si essentielles, de la vie quotidienne.
Pour accepter que je ne peux pas tout maîtriser.

Aujourd'hui,"Frenchy Baguette" c'est :
Une bloggeuse qui peut vous répondre en Français, Anglais, Allemand ou Italien.
Des messages en anglais ou en français.
Un grand rendez-vous hebdomadaire : la Citation du Jeudi (LCDJ)
28 Citations du Jeudi (elles ont commencé début Janvier...)
126 messages publiés
2734 visites (!!!)
Des lecteurs des quatre coins du monde.

Aujourd'hui, franchement, "Frenchy Baguette", ça m'espante !
* espanter = étonner en Toulousain

Alors, de tout mon coeur,

MERCI

Merci pour votre fidélité.
Merci pour les messages que vous me laissez.
Merci pour le temps que vous consacrez à "Frenchy Baguette".
Merci de suivre mes aventures depuis tout ce temps.

"God only knows what I'd be without you"

Beach Boys - Love Actually

Place à la fête :-)

Les incontournables Fraises Tagada
Parce qu'Haribo, c'est beau la vie...

Les nounours colorés !!

"C'est jaune, c'est moche, ça ne va avec rien, mais ça peut vous sauver la vie."

2010-10-21T17:43:00.001+02:00

"C'est jaune, c'est moche, ça ne va avec rien,

mais ça peut vous sauver la vie."

Campagne de prévention routière 2008

Cette affiche a été placardée un peu partout en France lorsque le gilet jaune et les triangles sont devenus obligatoires dans tous les véhicules.

Une pub drôle, ironique et efficace qui fait mouche !

"God only knows what I'd be without you" - Beach Boys - Love Actually Movie

2010-10-15T09:23:00.005+02:00

Today is a Day of Strike, a Day of Joy, a Day of ''Good-Bye-Take-Care-of-You'' for me since a very good, dear friend of mine goes back home.

To curb this current French gloomy mood, anger and sadness, my dear readers you'll be given two ''quotations of the day'' by way of an exception.

Because life should be more often like the arrivals gate at Heathrow Airport.

"Love actually is all around"

"God only knows what I'd be without you"

The Beach Boys

"God Only Knows" performed by the Beach Boys

The last minute of this movie is so emotional and so well-thought. One of my favourite end of a movie. The idea of a loop (very end similar to the very beginning) urges us to focus on essential things of life.

Richard Curtis is definitely a genius, such a talented and an amazing film maker :-)

"Mr Ang Lee, of foreign extraction, who most unexpectedly appeared to understand me better than I understand myself. " Jane Austen's letter by Emma Thompson - Golden Globes 1995

2010-10-07T13:04:00.005+02:00

"I think that everybody involved in the making of this film knows that we owe all our pride and all our joy to the genius of Jane Austen. And, um, it occurred to me to wonder how she would react to an evening like this... This is what I came up with."

Introduction to the letter, which could have been written by Jane Austen, had she been there.

Winner of the Best Motion Screenplay
for "Sense and Sensibility"

Letter transcription :

Four a.m., having just returned from an evening at the Golden Spheres, which despite the inconveniences of heat, noise and overcrowding was not without its pleasures.
Thankfully, there were no dogs and no children. The gowns were middling. There was a good deal of shouting and behaviour verging on the profligate, however, people were very free with their compliments and I made several new acquaintances.

Here is Lindsay Doran of Mirage, wherever that might be, who's largely responsible for my presence here, an enchanting companion about whom too much good cannot be said.
Mr Ang Lee, of foreign extraction, who most unexpectedly appeared to understand me better than I understand myself.
Mr James Shamis, a most copiously erudit person and Miss Kate Winslet, beautiful in both countenance and spirit.
Mr Pat Doyle, a composer and a Scot, who displayed the kind of wild behaviour one has learnt to expect from that race.
Mr Mark Kenton, an energetic person with a ready smile who, as I understand it, owes me a great deal of money.
TRUE !!
Miss Lisa Henson of Columbia, a lovely girl, and Mr Garrett Wiggin, a lovely boy.

I attempted to converse with Mr Sydney Pollack, but his charms and wisdom are so generally pleasing, that it proved impossible to get within ten feet of him. The room was full of intresting activity until 11 p.m. when it emptied rather suddenly. The lateness of the hour is due, therefore, not to the dance, but to the waiting in a long line for horseless carriage of unconscionable size. The modern world has clearly done nothing for transport.

PS : Manage to avoid the hoyden Emily Thompkinson, who has purloined my creation and added things of her own. Nefarious Creature ! Thank You.

Les Journées du patrimoine (2)

2010-10-06T17:29:00.004+02:00

Après avoir visité France Télévisions, nous avons été au Grand Rex, cinéma et salle de spectacle mythique située sur les Grands Boulevards.

D'accord, je dois bien vous avouer qu'avant nous sommes allées (oui, c'était une journée filles !!) déjeuner rapidement ~~et pas du tout diététiquement~~ des frites, des hamburgers et du coca chez McD. C'est mal, je sais, mais on était samedi et c'est si bon ~~et gras, et sucré, et salé.~~

Mais revenons à nos moutons...

Tout d'abord, voici la belle façade du Grand Rex, tout juste rénovée et qui rappelle tant les glorieuses années du cinéma d'entre les deux guerres.

Le Grand Rex est l'oeuvre d'un grand producteur et spécialiste du septième art des années 30 : Monsieur Jacques Haïk. Visionnaire, il décide de construire la plus grande salle d'Europe, le Rex, inaugurée en grande pompe le 8 décembre 1932. Haut lieu de spectacle et de cinéma de Paris, c'est au Grand Rex par exemple que Charlie Chaplin , repéré par M. Haïk, débute sa carrière internationale.

Mais l'histoire du "Rex", comme on disait à l'époque est aussi marquée par les heures sombres du XXème siècle. Réquisitionné pendant la guerre par les Nazis qui y diffusaient leurs films de progande, il était alors interdit aux Français. Puis à la fin de la guerre, il accueillit les soldats français et anciens travailleurs-prisonniers du STO.

Aujourd'hui, le Grand Rex encore sa salle de spectacle mythique, où se tiennent encore de nombreux évènements de premier plan. Je n'ai pas pu la photographier, mais elle est à voir. Immense, on se croirait dans un jardin méditerranéen : son plafond bleu rappelle le ciel étoilé des belles journées d'été sur la Cote, sur ses murs sont peints des façades à l'italienne. A voir absolument !

Voici des photos du halls qui amène vers la salle mythique et de l'escalier.

Mais, chers lecteurs, si vous allez au Grand Rex, ne passez pas à coté du Musée "Les Etoiles du Rex".

Je vous vois déjà râler, "encore un musée !!"

En bien, non, ce n'est pas un musée comme les autres.

C'est LA chose à faire au Grand Rex !!

Vous en sortirez conquis, heureux, le sourire jusqu'aux oreilles (c'est la stricte vérité).

Vous apprenez comment se passe un tournage de film et y participez.

C'est vraiment très bien fait et plein de rebondissements !

Alors, par un samedi de grand froid ou pluvieux, vous n'avez rien à faire et/ou pas d'idée de sortie, au lieu de vous morfondre chez vous à regarder une série débile en avalant un pot de glace ou une baguette avec du nutella, courrez visiter le Musée du Grand Rex, vous ne serez pas déçus !

PS : A l'entrée du Musée se trouve un mur d'autographes des plus grands acteurs, réalisateurs, chanteurs de ces 60 dernières années. On sent alors qu'on est dans un lieu vraiment exceptionnel.