Rappelle-toi

Rappelle-toi Barbara Il pleuvait sans cesse sur Brest ce jour-là. Et tu marchais souriante. Épanouie ravie ruisselante. Sous la pluie. Rappelle-toi Barbara - Jacques Prévert

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 Today ends an in-depth exhibition highlighting the life and work of Jacques Prévert at the Montmartre Museum with its stunning Renoir Gardens and small tea room.

From my college days I've fond memories of how my father would recite "Rapelle-toi Barbara" to me because it had my name in it, not realizing that Prévert was much more than a prolific poet. A talented writer, screenwriter and, in his own right, artist whose best friends were notable painters of the day such as Pablo Picasso and Joan Miró, he spent his time in Montmartre welcoming a beau monde from a small studio that overlooked Le Moulin Rouge and was filled with books and scraps of cuttings to create his astonishing surrealist collages.

 Prévert's Wikipedia biography states, "He died of lung cancer in Omonville-la-Petite on 11 April 1977. He had been working on the last scene of the animated movie Le Roi et l'Oiseau ("The King and the Mockingbird") with his friend and collaborator Paul Grimault. When the film was released in 1980, it was dedicated to Prévert's memory, and on opening night, Grimault kept the seat next to him empty. His dog Auto was given to a family friend after his death." - BPJ

 

Musée de Montmartre

12 rue Cortot 75018

  

 

Below: in a spontaneous moment at the exhibition a couple embrace in front of one of Prévert's collages that happened to be just around the corner from a poster of film, "Les Enfants du Paradis" (1945), screenplay by Jacques Prévert

 

Wine Wednesday

 

Champagne, wine, beer and other refreshments set out for an evening screening at one of the many small arthouse cinémas that dot the Latin Quarter.

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Years ago, while living in Spain I’d treat myself to weekend movie marathons in those tucked-away arthouse theaters on Paris’ Left Bank back streets - unassuming small venues that championed obscure international indie films and emerging filmmakers.

The moment I'd arrive in Paris, my ritual began: straight to the nearest kiosk for the latest Pariscope or L'Officiel des Spectacles, those pocket-sized weekly bibles that listed every screening across the city. Over breakfast, pencil in hand, I’d scour the pages, plotting the perfect itinerary, circling titles and noting showtimes - what to see, in what order, at which cinemas - creating the optimal sequence without wasting a single reel.

These were films from everywhere - U.S., U.K., Germany, Japan, Italy, and beyond, and they had to be in their original languages, marked VO (version originale). I (mostly) went for French films and off-the-radar indies. In Barcelona, most mainstream films were dubbed into Spanish or burdened with clumsy subtitles that flattened nuance and stole focus. Paris delivered actors’ real voices, unadulterated, and as so many of the titles were English-language anyway, the French subtitles stayed discreetly at the bottom, never stealing the show. - BPJ

Below: some surviving cinémas

Latin Quarter / Quartier Latin:

Cinéma Le Champo

Cinéma Saint-André-des-Arts

Christine Cinéma Club

Le Reflet Médicis

La Filmothèque du Quartier Latin

Studio Galande

(besides a roster of independent films, "The Rocky Horror Picture Show” in VO w/performances every Friday and Saturday night. Bring a bottle of water and rice

Montmartre:

Studio 28

(must-see interior by Jean Cocteau w/bar / charming tea salon / courtyard area)

 

 

Fouquet Friday

  

Iconic French brasserie Fouquet's, setting for France's annual César Awards for achievement in French cinéma.

 

 99 Avenue des Champs-Elysées

 

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Now in Tribeca in New York at the Hotel Barrière

 

Fashion (fooding) week #1

   Looking back, I realized that this year's autumn Fashion Week might as well have been called "Fashion (fooding) week."

Since September I've been meaning to post some of the many dining and imbibing spots - among old (and new) friends - before, during, and just after Paris Fashion Week.

Above: Fouquet's, with its red awning dominating a corner on the Champs-Elysées, was a fitting, reliable, and très parisien point de rendez-vous

Inside: small plaques next to tables denote some of its star-studded habitués from past and present.

 

Outside: a shining walkway bears the names of recipients of French cinema's coveted César Award.

 

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Founded 1899 / listed a historical French monument 1990

Menu in collaboration with Chef Pierre Gagnaire

Brasserie Le Fouquet's
99 Avenue des Champs-Élysées 75008

  To Michael

 

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Tomorrow
Le Ventre de Paris: Ducasse revisited  

Magic steps

Steps where Owen Wilson's character waits every night to be taken back to 1920s Paris in Woody Allen comedy film, "Midnight In Paris."