Academy Award winning French actress Juliette Binoche tell us about her latest project, a theatrical dance production. It was designed in partnership with the celebrated choreographer Akram Khan.
Tags: Akram Khan, Juliette Binoche
Nick Higham takes a tour of a new artistic centre in Paris - housed in the city’s former funeral home.
Autumn is well into its stride now and the landscape is painted in the most wonderful golds, oranges, pinks and reds and on the plus side the days are still very warm, in fact so warm we can still have the windows open.
Fingers (and toes) crossed, it looks set to be a short mild winter. This should compensate in some way for the rather dull summer that we’ve had this year. It would be nice to spend Christmas day down at the beach.
Tags: Autumn
Tags: Mylene Farmer
THELEMA’S lively, all admire
Her charms, but she’s too full of fire;
Impatience ever racks her breast,
Her heart a stranger is to rest.
A jocund youth of bulky size
This nymph beheld with tender eyes,
From hers his humor differed quite,
Black does not differ more from white.
On his broad face and open mien
There dwelt tranquility serene;
His converse is from languor free
And boisterous vivacity.
His sleep was sound and sweet at night,
Active he was at morn like light;
As day advanced he pleased still more,
Macareus was the name he bore.
His mistress void of thought as fair
Tormented him with too much care:
She adoration thought her due,
And into fierce reproaches flew;
Her Macareus with laughter left,
And of all hopes of bliss bereft.
From clime to clime like mad she ran
To seek the dear, the faithless man:
From him she could not live content,
So first of all to court she went.
There she of every one inquired,
“Is Macareus with you retired?”
Hearing that name the witlings there
To laugh and smile could scarce forbear.
“Madam,” said they, “who is this squire
Macareus, for whom you inquire?
Madam, his character display,
Or else we shan’t know what to say.”
“He is a man,” returned the fair,
“Possessed of each endowment rare,
A man of virtue so refined,
He hated none of human kind;
To whom no man e’er owed a spite,
Who always knew to reason right,
Who void of care lived still at ease,
And knew all human kind to please.”
The courtiers answered with a sneer,
“You are not like to find him here,
Mortals with such endowments rare
But seldom to the court repair.”
The fair then to the city bent
Her way, and stopped a convent.
She thought that in that calm retreat
She might her tranquil lover meet.
“Madam,” then said the under-prior,
The man for whom you thus inquire
We long have waited for in vain,
To visit us he ne’er did deign.
But such a loss to compensate,
We’ve idle time and vigils late;
We have our stated days of fasting
With discord and divisions lasting.”
A short monk then with crown shaved o’er,
Said, “Madam, seek this man no more;
For I’m by false reports misled,
Or else your lover’s long since dead.”
What the monk insolently said
Made Thelema with rage grow red:
“Brother,” said she, “I’d have you know
The man who has caused all my woe
Was made for me, and me alone,
He’s in this world on which I’m thrown;
With me he’ll live and die content,
I’m propery his element:
Who aught else told you, on my word,
Has said a thing that’s most absurd.”
This said, away the fair one ran,
Resolved to find the inconstant man.
“At Paris, where the wits abound,
Perhaps,” said she, “he may be found,
The wits speak of him as a sage;”
On of them said: “You by our page,
Madam, perhaps have been misled;
When there of Macareus you read,
We spoke of one we never knew.”
Then near she to the law-court drew,
Shutting her eyes, quick passed the fair,
“My love,” she cried, “can’t sure be there;
There’s some attraction in the Court,
But who’d to this vile place resort?
Themis’ black followers needs must prove
Eternal foes to him I love.”
Fair Thelema at Rameau’s shrine,
Where the muse utters strains divine,
The man who her so much neglected
There to meet, was what she expected.
At those feasts oft she was a guest,
Where meet gay people richly dressed;
Such people as we all agree
To call the best of company.
People of an address polite,
She looked upon at the first sight
As perfect copies of her lover;
But she soon after could discover,
That striving most to appear the same,
They still were widest of their aim.
At last the fair one in despair,
Finding how vain was all her care,
And grown of her inquiries tired,
To her retreat would have retired:
The object which she there first spied
Was Macareus by her bedside;
He waited there, hid from her eyes,
That he the fair one might surprise:
“Henceforward,” said he, “live with me,
From all inquietude be free,
Do not, like vain and haughty dames,
Be too assuming in your claims;
And if you would henceforth possess
My person and my tenderness,
Never more make demands more high
Than suits me with them to comply.”
Who’s understood by either name,
Both of the lover and the dame,
The folks who are profound in Greek
Cannot be very far to seek.
Taught by this emblem they’ll relate
What’s to be every mortal’s fate,
Thee, Macareus, though all men choose,
Though much they love thee, oft they lose;
And I’m persuaded that you dwell
With me, though this I fear to tell.
Who boasts that with thee he is blessed,
By envy oft is dispossessed;
A man should know, to make thee sure,
How to live happy while obscure.
Tags: Voltaire
Tags: Michel-Ange Houasse
Nine suspected Somali pirates have been captured by the French navy and handed over to regional officials.
Tags: Somali pirates
Our first every controle technique took place yesterday. We drove to the CT centre behind Norauto in Narbonne and got booked in. After a wander around the shops at Bonne Source we headed back at the appointed time of 4.30pm to find the tester putting the CT sticker on our windshield. Painless and a snip at 63 Euros!!! I must admit there should have been no reason for our little Toyota Yaris TS to fail, it’s only got just over 30k on the clock and leads a quite life but that did not stop us checking the lights and fluid levels that morning, just in case!!! 2 years until we need to worry about the Yaris again.
Our Yaris after passing its first test…
Tags: Controle Technique, CT, Narbonne, Toyota Yaris TS
Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, who currently holds the rotating post of EU president, is spearheading efforts to formulate a new financial world order to prevent a reoccurence of the current global financial crisis.
Sarkozy has outlined the EU’s response to the stock market vacillations and bank collapses, calling for the implementation of a global system of regulation and a ban on banks with state money working through tax havens.
Next week, Sarkozy is due to visit Beijing and is expected to call on both China and India to join in efforts to work towards resolving and preventing more financial market turmoil.
Sarkozy and Jose Manuel Barroso, the European Commission president, said they would use an Asia-Europe Meeting (ASEM) to urge the two fast-growing export countries to join in taking responsibility for stabilising the world economy in the wake of the credit crisis.
At this point, China and India are reluctant as they cannot see many incentives to induce them to do so.
France paid a warm tribute to Sister Emmanuelle, a much-loved 99-year-old nun who dedicated much of her life to the service of the poorest of the poor in both Egypt and her homeland.
Tags: Sister Emmanuelle
Nicolas Sarkozy has threatened to sue a publishing company if it does not withdraw from shops a “voodoo doll” in his image.
Tags: Nicolas Sarkozy, voodoo doll
Tags: French cooking, French Food, French Recipe
Tags: French cooking, French Food, Recipe
Tags: Joseph Parrocel
