Irma La Douce was a childhood francophile favorite! Just unearthed, the amazing storyboards for the movie’s animated trailer. See them all on Michael Sporn Animation, and at the bottom a video of the trailer itself.
via Drawn
“Bref. J’aime bien cette photo.”
An entertainment phenomenon is taking France by storm. Bref. is a hilarious and racy TV series, each episode of which lasts about 1.5 to 2 minutes (as the name implies). The format is a high-speed montage of experiences in the life of the endearingly pathetic protagonist played by Kyan Khojandi.
Bref. depicts the modern daily life of single, late 20- and early 30-somethings in Paris and is full of great slang. A hip and creative professor could come up with some fun activities around this series for advanced — university/adult — language learners.
The show airs weeknights in France during Le Grand Journal (prime time variety show), and if you’re not in France, you can watch them all here. But be warned, most of these videos are probably NSFW. You can follow the show on Twitter too: @BrefSerie.
Be looking for spinoffs in your own country (though I doubt they’ll be nearly as spicy). It’s only a matter of time!
“Metropolisson” by photographer Janol Apin
Photographer Janol Apin does a series of photos in the Paris métro consisting of visual puns based on the names of the stations. Above: one meaning of boulet is “ball and chain.”
Red rooster bottle stopper
The perfect francophile stocking stuffer! Buy this rooster bottle stopper at the Francophilia Amazon store! Only about $8.50!
Interactive French geography games
Some entertaining interactive games on this site. We failed miserably at the cheese game, (shot above), but had fun nonetheless!
“Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man”
A fascinating documentary on the story of the iconic Paris bookstore Shakespeare & Co.
From Google videos: Portrait of a Bookstore as an Old Man.
Antique French carnival art exhibit in Paris
Auction sale of the Fabienne & François Marchal Collection of Fairground Art at Drouot Montaigne on September 28-29, 2011. Held by Cornette de Saint-Cyr with nearly 900 lots including a portable Alfred Chanvin & anon. carousel with wooden horses. The entire collection will be displayed at the Porte de Versailles exhibition centre from Sept. 23-26.
Read the rest at Morbid Anatomy.
Gallica, France’s digital library
We could wander these virtual stacks for days! So far, the Bibliothèque nationale de France has digitized more than one million works, including books, maps, manuscripts, images, periodicals, scores and sound recordings, and made them available for free to the public at the Gallica digital library. This is France’s answer to Google Books, and the result of the big fight from a couple of years ago.
Air France’s and other airlines’ gorgeous uniforms
Air France flight attendants wear Christian Lacroix. See other great uniforms from around the world at L’Internaute Voyager.
Hugh Jackman to be Jean Valjean in Les Mis musical movie
Guess all those Lipton commercials convinced someone he was the right man for the job…
Read the rest at Javert Update.
Mullin Automotive Museum in LA preserves French Art Deco cars
The Mullin Automotive Museum, a Southern California institution dedicated to the preservation of French Art Deco era art and automobiles, announced today that its latest book, French Curves: Delahaye ∙ Delage ∙ Talbot-Lago, will be unveiled to the public this August at the 2011 Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance.
We covered the first volume in this series, The Art of Bugatti, here. French Curves is the second volume, and you can buy them both through the Francophilia Amazon store: The Art of Bugatti – French Curves.
Build your own Paris
We just love the look of Paper City Paris! | Made by Joel. Cut out the Eiffel Tower and more, in addition to these little people and the classic car. Rainy-day fun for your little francophile? We’re sure you can think of many more uses for these adorable–and free–paper cutouts!
The Bayeux Tapestry animated
The Bayeux Tapestry famously offers a pictorial interpretation of the Norman Conquest of England (1066), a pivotal moment in medieval history, and the events leading to the invasion itself.
Read the rest at Open Culture.
Matthew Rose “GOD and COUNTRY” exhibit and vernissage
If you don’t know Paris-based collage artist Matthew Rose, we want you to! New works on paper from his series “GOD & COUNTRY” will be available for purchase at the new concept store STORIE in Paris from August 30th through September 30th. Signed, dated posters will be available.
Join us at the vernissage on September 1st!
See the interview with Matthew Rose on France 24 (in English). A high resolution PDF of the poster above is available (free) at MATTHEW ROSE ART WORKS.