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.
The Bayeux Tapestry animated
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.
Download a book of old French fairy tales
Old French Fairy Tales by la Comtesse de Ségur reminded us of the books we used to get at the library as kids… Look to the left and you’ll notice you can download a PDF of the whole book.
Seen @brainpicker.
“When the World Spoke French”
…once upon a time, the ability to speak French properly was considered an absolute essential. In 26 chapters, each focusing on a different colourful Francophile, Fumaroli makes his way across 18th-century Europe. The book is a gallery of Russians, Prussians, Swedes, Poles, Italians and Englishmen; politicians, soldiers, kings and collectors, who all aspired to speak and write the French language beautifully…
Read the rest at The Independent and buy the book at our Amazon store!
Why the Vache Qui Rit is laughing…
During WWI, Léon Bel, creator of La Vache Qui Rit, saw the design above on trucks that transported fresh meat to the troops at the front. The troops named this cow the Wachkyrie, a play on the German word Walkyrie, to annoy their adversaries.
When the time came to design his packaging, Bel recalled having seen this design and decided to use it as a starting point. He asked Benjamin Rabier, the original Wachkyrie artist, to make him a friendly cow that would appeal to the public. Thus the Vache Qui Rit… And it was Léon Bel’s wife who asked them to give the cow earrings!
If you speak French, read the whole story and see some great vintage Vache packaging at Ma culture confiture and learn more about Benjamin Rabier’s role at ROCBO.
Meet French illustrator Blexbolex
French artist Blexbolex has charmed the world with his playful cartoons and illustrations, to which he brings his wonderfully eclectic creative background — classically trained as a screen-printer in 1980s France, inspired by the whodunits of the 1950s and 60s, and having directed a German art studio in the 1990s, he blends elements of cartoons, graphic novels and soft watercolor painting into simple yet endlessly whimsical artwork.
Read the rest at Brain Pickings.
We love his style and have four of his books at our Amazon store: Seasons, Abecederia, People, and Dogcrime.
Diddy’s sexy ad for French vodka brand Cîroc
Diddy is a self-proclaimed Francophile: with an album titled “Last Train to Paris” and premium vodka Ciroc attached to his famous name, you’d think he’d be riding around in a striped shirt, by now, baguette in tow. But it’s precisely this French fascination that recently got the hip-hop mogul and his crew into trouble with customs at Nice’s Cote d’Azur airport last week.
Read the rest at The Boombox.
Francophile blog: Provence Calling
The life and times of an English woman living in Provence with her husband The Artist and her two Scottie Dogs, exploring the food and customs of her adopted home town in Provence. Provence Calling
August giveaway: French stationery products from Exaclair
You could win a pad of G. Lalo vergé de France stationery plus a two-pack of Clairefontaine mini notebooks! Offer ends August 31, 2011.
Exaclair, Inc. is well known as the distributor of Clairefontaine paper products in the U.S. For over 100 years Clairefontaine has been renowned for making the best writing paper in the world. Other French brands distributed by Exaclair include Rhodia, Quo Vadis, Exacompta, J. Herbin, G. Lalo, Brause, and Decopatch. Exaclair’s extensive product lines include notebooks, notepads, journals, weekly and daily planners, social stationery and invitations, note cards, and fine art papers. They also import sealing wax and fountain pen inks made by J. Herbin, the oldest name in pen inks in the world.
Go to the Community home page to see how to win. If you don’t win, it’s OK! You’ll find gorgeous Exaclair products at our Amazon Store!
Iconic French brand G. Lalo, social stationery manufacturer
G. Lalo, the Parisian social stationery manufacturer since 1919, became throughout the years the stationery of reference both in Paris’ high society and in the royal courts of Europe such as Sweden, Holland, Monaco and Belgium.
G. Lalo products and many other French stationery brands are distributed in the US by Exaclair, the company that is providing our August 2011 giveaway. Find Exaclair paper products at the Francophilia Amazon store!
France Telecom bids adieu to the Minitel
France Telecom said today that it was shutting down its ground-breaking Minitel service, the proto-Internet that brought online shopping and chat rooms into millions of French homes in the 1980s.
Read the rest at PCMag.com.
Jean Cocteau’s home movie of la villa Santo Sospir
“Santo Sospir is a tattooed villa,” says Jean Cocteau as he narrates his home-made movie giving a tour of the villa of a friend whose doors and walls he “decorated.”
Read more and watch the fascinating video at U B U W E B.
Paris to cut amount of advertising on streets by 30% | World news | The Guardian
Paris authorities are to cut the amount of advertising on city streets by 30% and ban all adverts within 50m of school gates.
Read the rest at The Guardian. Image, Simon Daval.