Paris In New York

Charlotte Gainsbourg is the focus of the month in Manhattan

Not only Charlotte just launched her new album IRM last week here in New York, but she will be the hero of the month at the French Institute Alliance Francaise where some of her most famous movies will be shown every Tuesdays night in February.

Free download of her new album IRM on her website

The daughter of France's mythical couple, pop sensation and provocateur Serge Gainsbourg, and British actress and singer Jane Birkin, Charlotte Gainsbourg has shown both daring and creativity in her rise to the vanguard of France's cultural scene. A natural virtuoso by the age of twelve, her breakout role in Claude Miller's L'Effrontée earned her a first César award for "Most Promising Actress" in 1985. Since then, Gainsbourg has starred in over thirty critically-acclaimed films and has worked with prominent directors such as Agnès Varda, Franco Zeffirelli, Eric Rochant, Michel Gondry, and Todd Haynes, to name a few. Her film work has earned her countless César nominations, including Best Supporting Actress for La Bûche (1999), one of the films to be shown during the FIAF series. The fearless Gainsbourg's most provocative work yet as the grieving mother character in Lars von Trier's Antichrist (2009) won her the Best Actress award at the Cannes Film Festival this past May.

CinemaTuesday at www.fiaf.org

L'Effrontée

February 16 at 4pm

Directed by Claude Miller, 1985. Color. 96 min.

With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Clothilde Baudon, Bernadette Laffont, Jean-Claude Brialy

Note: No English subtitles

Winner of the Prix Louis-Delluc, L'Effrontée earned Gainsbourg the "Most Promising Actress" César for this, her first starring role. As a teenager in rural France, Charlotte (Gainsbourg) is frustrated and bored with home life. But a young pianist upends her world with talk of opportunity elsewhere, far from her family.

 

Charlotte for Ever

February 16 at 12:30 & 7:30pm

Directed by Serge Gainsbourg, 1986. Color. 94 min.

With Charlotte Gainsbourg, Serge Gainsbourg, Roland Bertin, Roland Dubillard

Note: This film contains R-rated material

A rare, not-to-be-missed screening of this notorious and misunderstood film. Serge Gainsbourg wrote, directed, and starred in this dark and fascinating tale of a screenwriter grieving over his wife's unexpected death. Suicidal, he turns for affection to the only remaining link to his wife-his daughter.

 
 

Kung-fu master!

February 23 at 12:30, 4 & 7:30pm

Agnès Varda, 1988. Color. 80 min.

With Jane Birkin, Mathieu Demy, Charlotte Gainsbourg, Lou Doillon

Mary-Jane (Birkin), a divorced mother of two, grows close to a teenage boy she met at her daughter's party. Through conversations, vacations, and video games, the pair's relationship evolves in a way that confuses their families and even themselves. Varda's empathetic direction anchors this delicate, but often powerful story.

Read "A Gainsbourg Moves Beyond her Legacy" " by Jody Rosen in the New York Times

Looking for cute French clothes for your kids...

 

Get rid of the boring Gap clothes and dress your kids "in style" and with "Bon Gout". Good taste can be learned from a very young age...

Ma Cabane sous les Etoiles is a French brand created in the US and inspired by the diversity of the world. 

http://macabanesouslesetoiles.com

Do not miss

WEDNESDAY, JANUARY 20TH and WEDNESDAY 27TH... SAMPLES SALES
 

 

La Maison Francaise at NYU : Presentation of the architect Pierre Chareau's Maison de Verre

Living in a Glass House: Preservation and Presentation of Pierre Chareau's Maison de verre

Thursday, January 28, 6pm

Lecture by  ROBERT M. RUBIN

Retired financier, scholar, and current owner of the Maison de verre, Robert M. Rubin is a doctoral candidate and teaching fellow in the history and theory of architecture at Columbia University. He curated the exhibitions Jean Prouvé: A Tropical House at Yale University and the UCLA Hammer Museum and Jean Prouvé: Three Nomadic Structures at the Museum of Contemporary Art, Los Angeles, both in 2005.

Location:  Center for Architecture, 536 LaGuardia Place

Reservations:  http://cfa.aiany.org

"No house in France better reflects the magical promise of 20th-century architecture than the Maison de Verre. Tucked behind the solemn porte-cochere of a traditional French residence on Rue Saint-Guillaume, a quiet street in a wealthy Left Bank neighborhood, the 1932 house designed by Pierre Chareau challenges our assumptions about the nature of Modernism. For architects it represents the road not taken: a lyrical machine whose theatricality is the antithesis of the dry functionalist aesthetic that reigned through much of the 20th century." – Nicolai Ousaroff (The New York Times, 8/29/07)

Step into 2010 with Happy Feet: Treat yourself with a great Reflexology massage !

 

Podiatrist in France originally, Isabelle Edye has been practicing reflexology for many years here in New York among the community of French expatriates. 

Here are her advice to start the New Year "du Bon Pied" :

" Recall of some basic exercises, do slowly while breathing deeply

To relieve stress: Upright on one foot, shake the other foot while keeping your ankle relaxed (can be done with the hands) it gives an excellent feeling of well-being

To maintain flexibility and to avoid cramps or muscular pain of the feet:

- lying down, upright or seated, ankle flexion, extension, and rotation  to the right and left 

-on your knees sitting on you heels, the toes curled on the floor (be careful can be painful for beginners)  only for a few seconds for beginners increasing the time each day

Play piano with your  toes .!!.but also stretch them wide and  place them one at a time on the floor"

La Galette des Rois...oui, oui, oui, it is this week !

 

Look at this beautiful and yummy golden pastry cake...It is time for Epiphany this week and time for the Kings' cake and its almond cream filling.

Two good addresses where to find it in NYC:

. Payard who has been back with chocolates (one of my next post) but this week only he will go back to his kitchen and will prepare your Galette des Rois...Order your Galette online for pick up at http://www.payard.com

. Another great address : Cuis'in.

They will deliver until the end of January "pour les gourmands"

Call at 646.468.6159. http://www.nycuisin.com/#/galette-rois/4532349611

I tested both and there are both delicious...Bon Appetit !