The annual Festival mondial des théâtres de marionnettes of Charleville-Mézières is an international event. And the posters are spectacular! You can buy past years’ posters through the Shop tab on the site, as well as calendars, special-edition porcelain charms, and the requisite t-shirts, totes and mugs. Help support this festival and the craftsmen and craft of puppetry in France!
Cute, but does it make you want to buy Chanel cosmetics?
Spiders and robots? We were bored till the last “character” appeared in a shirt made of different rouges, a frilly skirt, a cigarette holder… We liked her.
Seen @MryEmery
Meet francophile designer/illustrator Chesley McLaren
Her francophile style has been seen everywhere: on scarves for DKNY and The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in the “Vive La France” campaign for Bloomingdale’s, in her redesign of Saks Fifth Avenue children’s department and the list goes on….
Buy Chesley McLaren’s Zat Cat! A Haute Couture Tail at the Francophilia Amazon store.
Marcel Marlier, illustrator of “Martine” books, dies at 80
Marcel Marlier illustrated the stories of Martine, an icon of 20th-century French pop culture. Written by Gilbert Delahaye, there were 60 titles published with more than 65 million copies sold in French and 35 million sold in other languages.
Know a little francophile? You can buy Martine titles (in French!) at the Francophilia Amazon store.
French icons can have their cigarettes back
The Cultural Affairs and Education Committee of the National Assembly, the lower house of Parliament, voted Wednesday to exempt “artistic or cultural works” from a 1991 law that prohibits tobacco advertisements, but that also prevents the presence of tobacco in advertisements for goods of any kind.
Seen @ParisBuff, via NYTimes.com
EU tells French to take better care of their hamsters
A top EU legal adviser has warned the French government that it must do more to protect endangered hamsters living near Strasbourg in eastern France.
via BBC News
French mansion a time capsule opened 100 years later according to owner’s will
A late 19th Century town-house in central France that was sealed up for more than 100 years has finally been opened to the public in accordance with its owners last wishes.
Watch a BBC video tour of the house.
Michael Caine gets highest French Arts & Letters award
Evidently he thanked France for his Legion of Honor award, which only French citizens can receive!
via National Post
Serge Gainsbourg: Deluxe 20th Anniversary Collection 20th
If you’re a fan of Serge Gainsbourg, who is arguably one of the best French songwriters of the 20th century, you won’t want to miss the soon-to-be-released 20th anniversary collection.
- 270 songs (21 unpublished titles or versions)
- 60-page illustrated biography
- 20 photos and manuscripts (295 x 295 mm)
- 17 CDs of his entire studio repertoire
- 2 CDs of movie songs and music
- 1 CD of radio and TV archives (INA et Europe1)
Pre-order on the official Serge Gainsbourg site.
Embarrassing Sarko biopic to come out while he’s in office
The movie, which portrays his rise to power in the five years before he was elected, opens with Mr Sarkozy waking up alone at a hotel on the Champs-Elysees after celebrating his election victory.
via Metro.co.uk
GQ France’s “Man of the Year” is Basque babe Bixente Lizarazu
Bixente (pronounced bee-shent-ay) is a pro soccer player. Watch a video of the GQ photo shoot on the GQ Magazine site. (Have plenty of ice handy.)
French Resistance hero says “Indignez-vous !”
A 93-year-old former French Resistance spy who was once tortured by the Nazis says his runaway best-seller is a call to action to protect human rights and combat the yawning gap between rich and poor.
Buy Indignez-vous on the Francophilia Amazon store.
via NPR, image le-mont-parnasse.fr
Get the Emmanuelle Alt look (new French Vogue editor)
Alt is more tomboyish and trousered, less obviously sexy and pencil-skirted than her predecessor Carine Roitfeld. She is the Keith Richards to Roitfeld’s Jagger.
via The Guardian
French most pessimistic* in the world
The French live in one of the richest and safest countries in the world, yet they are global champions of pessimism, fearful of the future and longing for the past, according to a survey published this week.
*We say it’s realism rather than pessimism.
via AFP
Paris château of megalomaniacal African dictator sold
During his 13 years at the helm of the resource-rich African nation, Bokassa forged a reputation for ruthlessness and megalomania. In 1977, he had himself crowned “emperor” in a multimillion-dollar ceremony modeled on the coronation of France’s Napoleon Bonaparte.