Paris In New York

The New President and his inauguration viewed by French people

Last week end, certain American parents got really mad because the administration of the school where they have their kids, the Lycee de Francais de New York, bilingual school, refused to show the inauguration of President Obama on TV to the kids.
Many classes have smart boards, the school have a large auditorium, they have plenty of TVs, so it is not a question of logistics but the reason was that they didn't want "to bring politics in the school".
I guess they haven't understood that it is more an historical moment than just celebrating one party elected.This is the French view of things.In the US, when a President is elected, everybody is for him and try to help him. In France, as soon as someone is elected, the media or the opposite party is trying to destroy him. I'd love to receive your comments on that !
Anyway, some parents pulled out their kids out of the school for 2 hours, so they could see the whole event.

Some great classics at the FIAF in January

Gervaise

Tuesday, January 13 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm
Tinker Auditorium (12:30 & 4pm)
Florence Gould Hall (7:30pm)

René Clément, 1956. B&W. 116 min. 
With Maria Schell, François Périer, Jany Holt 
In French with English subtitles

Adapted from Zola and reminiscent of Greek tragedy,Gervaise chronicles the pain and heartbreak endured over one woman’s lifetime. Gervaise struggles to remain resolute through the trials that savage her and her family. A dazzling recreation of 1860s France and a testament to persistence in the face of unrelenting suffering.

Love Story

Douce 
Tuesday, January 20 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm

Claude Autant-Lara, 1943. B&W. 104 min.
With Roger Pigaut, Odette Joyeux, Madeleine Robinson 
In French with English subtitles

Douce dreams of marrying her father’s steward, yet the steward pines for her tutor. This is only the first of many harsh truths that Douce struggles to accept in this poignant film, equal parts gripping melodrama and wry satire. What follows is a truly moving depiction of courtship and class.

Chiffon’s Marriage

Le Mariage de Chiffon 
Tuesday, January 27 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm

Claude Autant-Lara, 1942. B&W. 103 min. 
With Odette Joyeux, André Luguet, Jacques Dumesnil 
In French with English subtitles

Chiffon’s Marriage stands as Claude Autant-Lara’s first great film and a gorgeous companion piece to Douce. Young Chiffon is caught between the man she is arranged to marry and the man she truly loves. Sumptuous costumes and period detail drape this timeless tale in visual splendor.

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In French with English subtitles unless otherwise noted

Florence Gould Hall 
55 East 59th Street

Tinker Auditorium (Gervaise, Jan 13 at 12:30 & 4pm) 
55 East 59th Street

Ticket Price 
FIAF Members Free* ($2 advance tickets) 
Non-Members $10 
Students w/ ID $7 
*Free tickets are distributed on the day of the event. 
Present your membership card at the box office.

Buy Tickets 
Ticketmaster.com
Call 212 307 4100

Fax the order form (pdf)

Visit the box office

Movie Tonight : Beauty and the Beast with Jean Marais

By Jean Cocteau. 1946, 93 minutes, 35mm. In French with English subtitles. With Jean Marais and Josette Day.

“[P]erhaps the most sensuously elegant of all filmed fairy tales. As a child escapes from everyday family life to the magic of a storybook, so, in the film, Beauty’s farm, with its Vermeer simplicity, fades in intensity as we are caught up in the Gustave Dor? extravagance of the Beast’s enchanted landscape. …Jean Marais is a magnificent beast.” –Pauline Kael

Friday Jan 9 at 7:00 & 9:00 PM - Anthology Film Archives. - 32 2nd Ave  32 2nd Ave (2nd Avenue and  2nd Street)

Sales : Estella - January 22nd to 31st

Estella, an online and New York City children's boutique, is having its Annual Clearance Sale. 

Save up to 75% on winter & summer baby & toddler clothes. 

Sale items include Bon Bon, known in Paris as Bon Ton and owned by the family who started Bonpoint.

Cargo corduroy pants $55, now $15; Okkies printed thermal tees, $40, now $19; One Kid down vests, $62, now $29; Album di Famiglia hoodies, $125, now $75.

Shop online & get free domestic shipping on clothing, footwear & accessory purchases over $50.

 

When: Thurs. Jan. 22nd. to Sun. Jan. 31st

 

Where: 493 Sixth Avenue, Between 12th & 13th Streets, NY NY 10011

 

www.estella-nyc.com

Savon de Marseille, the famous soap

Yesterday, I was shopping at Conran Shop when my eyes got attracted by a display of Savon de Marseille soaps blocks and liquid hand soaps.

I used to see those big creamy blocks of Savon de Marseille at my Grand Mother's. I always found that they were smelling bad and ugly looking. And here we are, nicely packaged with wonderful fumes (Verbena, Cherry, Lavander, Ylang-Ylang), our Savon de Marseille is in New York City...

My mother used to say : " when you have a bad stain on your shirt, rub it with Savon de Marseille, let it soak over night and it will go away.." So I tried. I brought back my Savon de Marseille from the South of France and used it whenever I had a stain on my kids' clothes and... it WORKS !

So what's about Savon de Marseille ? Why are they still crafting it after one thousand years?

"Totally biodegradable, the white soap is made with palm oil, the green with at least 50% olive oil. Both varieties are exquisite, ultra-moisturizing skin care. Marseille Soap is recommended by dermatologists throughout the world for dry skin and other ailments. Its incredible purity and moisturizing properties make it ideal for sensitive skins. In France it has been trusted for generations to cleanse everything from linens to little faces.

Big blocks of olive oil based soap have been crafted for one thousand years in the South of France. 

It takes the Maitre de Savon (soapmaster) two weeks to make Marseille Soap. The delicate mixture of olive and vegetable oils, alkaline ash from sea plants and Mediterranean Sea salted water are heated for ten days in antique cauldrons. Know-how passed down through the generations will reveal to the soapmaker the right moment to pour the mixture into open pits where it slowly hardens. Cut into cubes and stamped, the soaps are then set out to dry in the sun and cool winds. Only a few savonneries (soap factories) near Marseille still make this legendary soap in the traditional manner. But Savon de Marseille is once again being rediscovered for its extraordinary purity and gentle skin care, and its popularity is again on the rise worldwide." www.marseillesoap.com   

Also at Conran Shop, the old fashioned soap "dispensers" that were originally designed for French public schools. A perfect solution for busy hand washing centers like the kitchen sink, children's bathroom and outdoor showers...A simple chrome bracket mounts on the wall and the lightly scented vegetable soap slides onto the rod and is held with a sturdy cap screw. The soap lasts for a long, long time, and we'll soon be offering refills just in case you go nuts and use yours up quickly

Savon de Marseille is also available on www.amazon.com

Galette des Rois

January 6th, Day of Epiphany, but also in France, time to get your Galette des Rois. It's a golden pastry cake filled with an almond cream filling called frangipane, but what's original about it is that the baker put a small china called la fève. Back in the day, a dry fava bean was used instead of a figurine. The fève is baked into the cake, and the person who finds it in his slice becomes King or Queen for the day.

Where to find a Galette des Rois in Manhattan

. Ceci Cela Patisserie

55 Spring Street, New York NY 10012 (b/n Mulberry and Lafayette); 212-274-9179

166 Chambers Street, New York NY 10017 (b/n West Broadway and Greenwich); 212-566-8933

. Payard Patisserie and Bistro

1032 Lexington Ave, nr 73rd; 212-717-5252

. Gavroche

212 W. 14th St., nr. Seventh Ave.; 212-647-8553

But my favorite comes from

. Cuis'in by Eric Delalande

Order at 646 468 6159 ou [email protected]. Delivery and shipping within the US and Canada

Any other locations ? send me your best addresses...

Guess what is it ?

This picture was taken in front of a famous monument in Paris.

Be first to guess which one and win a Galette des Rois

[email protected]