Photo of the Week
Another view of the Centre Pompidou. Photo © Darren Palmer of Paris by Photo.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 00:00
Paris Update What's New in Paris
RESTAURANT/CLUB/CAFE
Wanderlust: Finally, part of Les Docks, Cité de la Mode et Design will open to the public on June 6. Brunch on the terrace, take a yoga class, take in a concert or dance all night. 34, quai d'Austerlitz, 75013 Paris.
SHOPS
Stella Cadente: The designer of very feminine clothing and accessories has a new Paris store that's like a gold-lined tunnel. 102 boulevard Beaumarchais, 75011 Paris.
Ecolo-Chic: Pop-up store in the Marais selling ethically resourced products, from toys and design to organic wine. 90, rue des Archives, 75003 Paris.
SMOKING
A new organization, L'Union pour les Droits des Fumeurs Adultes, has been formed to lobby for the rights of French smokers
JUSTIN ON THE ROOFTOPS
Keep your eyes peeled: Justin Bieber will be filming for the Web TV program live@home in an undisclosed location on the rooftops of Paris on the evening of May 31. Click here to win a pass to the taping.
Wednesday, 30 May 2012 00:00
Paris Update Flash News
CAKE THE WAY WE LIKE IT
Goodies on display at Merce and the Muse.
Nowadays, American expatriates in Paris can easily satisfy almost all their nostalgic food cravings, from hamburgers to Reese’s peanut-butter cups or Oreo cookies. Until Merce and the Muse opened in the Upper Marais, however, it wasn’t easy to find good homemade, American-style cakes. The desserts at this homey, flea-market-furnished café are not just good, they are scrumptious and original, made from owner Merce Muse’s own recipes. The other day I shared a slice of chocolate layer cake with vanilla icing and another of pistachio cake with rose icing with a friend, but in truth I wanted to eat all of both of them. 1 bis, rue Dupuis, 75003 Paris. Tel.: 09 53 14 53 04. Open Tues.-Sun. for breakfast, lunch and coffee; brunch on Sunday. Heidi Ellison
Paris Update This Week's Events
For full details about an event, click on its name to visit the official Web site (in English when available).
 Art Saint-Germain-des-Prés
>Left Bank gallery walk. Collective opening, May 31, 6pm. May 31-June 3.
Carré Rive Gauche
>Another Left Bank gallery walk, with 120 participating galleries. June 1-June 3.
Champs-Elysées Film Festival
>A new Franco-American film festival, presided over by Lambert Wilson and Michael Madsen. Various locations, Paris, June 6-12.
Chartre en Lumières
> The town of Chartres illuminates its monuments and the cathedral with colorful light installations. Through Sept. 15.
Designer's Days
>Design shops, galleries, schools and more participate in a city-wide design event. Various locations, Paris, May 31-June 4.
Festival de l'Imaginaire
> Performances by troupes from around the world, Maison des Cultures du Monde, Paris, through June 17.
Festival de Saint Denis
> Music festival featuring both stars like Sir Colin Davis and young talents; ends with a dawn performance by horse whisperer Bartabas and oud player Mehdi Haddab, Cathedral and Legion of Honor, Saint Denis, through June 30.
Festival Extensions
> Concerts, dance, films and more, various locations, Paris and Val de Marne, through May 31.
Festival International des Jardins de Chaumont-sur-Loire
>"Gardens of delights, gardens of delirium" is the theme of this year's garden festival, Chaumont-sur-Loire, through Oct. 21.
Festival Jazz à Saint-Germain-des-Prés
>Jazz acts ranging from amateur to big names like Ahmad Jamal and Yusef Lateef (together). Various locations, Paris, Through June 3.
Le Court en Dit Long
>Festival of short films. Centre Wallonie-Bruxelles, Paris, June 4-9.
Nomades
>Cultural festival in the third arrondissement; art, poetry, concerts and more. Various locations, Paris, May 31-June 3.
Quinzaine des Réalisateurs
>The features and short subjects entered in this category at the Cannes Film Festival shown in Paris, Forum des Images, Paris, May 31-June 10
Salon du Vin de La Revue du Vin de France
>Annual wine fair. Palais Brongniart, Paris, June 2-3
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Didine
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Film
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/ Drama
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Created on Tuesday, 29 January 2008 23:00
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Published on Sunday, 22 February 2009 21:45
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Written by Heidi Ellison
Not Lookin' for Love
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| Didine (Géraldine Pailhas) claims to love her single lifestyle. |
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Didine, a new film directed by Vincent Dietschy and written by Anne Le Ny (writer and director of the recent Ceux qui Restent) is a pleasingly quirky look at the well-worn subject of a young single woman looking for love.
The eponymous heroine’s strange first name is short for Alexandrine (to give her a touch of poetry?), which, significantly, only one person in her entourage uses. Played by Géraldine Pailhas in her first starring role, Didine is an attractive, slightly spacey and rather frumpily dressed (this is highly meaningful in a French film) young woman who claims to be perfectly happy to be single. If she’s attracted to a man, she sleeps with him – “ Je suis une fille facile,” she tells a lover right at the beginning of the film – but she never calls him back. She vaunts the joys of her single lifestyle to her depressive friend Muriel (Julie Ferrier), who has just attempted suicide because her boyfriend has left her.
The boyfriend, François (singer/songwriter Benjamin Biolay, another young actor to watch), and Didine remain friends and are visibly attracted to each other. This causes tension between all three of them and the new man who enters Didine’s life: Nicolas (Christopher Thompson). She meets the latter through her accidentally acquired new volunteer job working for an association that sends visitors to the homes of older people living alone.
It is obvious to everyone except Didine that she has fallen for Nicolas, whose bitter elderly aunt (Edith Scob) she continues to visit regularly even though the aunt wants nothing to do with her.
While some of the situations in the film, with its judicious mix of comedy and tragedy, seem ridiculous (e.g., the sexy young woman who volunteers for the association because she wants to be adopted by an older man), the characters and emotions generally feel real, only rarely tipping slightly too far toward the saccharine end of the scale. The cast is fine, and Didine’s gradual flowering as she opens up to life and other people and finds some success in her career as a textile designer is subtly and convincingly depicted. You’ll leave the cinema wanting to fall in love.
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Heidi Ellison
© 2008 Paris Update
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