Chez Tim

All right I know the owner / manager of this place so you're going to think I'm partial... Tim used to be a regular at the French-English conversation group at Book in Bar. He first started his business as a meals-on-wheel for companies. All organic . A few months ago Tim opened a restaurant along the Lez near Richter Library (yes, where is the American Library). There is a terrace which unfortunetely at lunch time right now is far too sunny... But the inside is quite pleasant and confortable. Nice, original food. Only down point I think it is a bit expensive. Let's see what will happen from the 1st July when VAT rate is going to be 5,5 % (eat in and take away) instead of 19,6 % (eat in)...
For more info see :
http://www.alfalfa.fr/uk/

Jazz concert last Friday

Carré Ste Anne is a disused church where they held exhibitions. You might know this square too (Place du Petit Scel) because there is a pub there... But there is as well the Music Academy of Montpellier. And a very active association "l'Association Ste Anne" organizes events all year round. In the summer they invite musicians. The concerts are free and in the open. Last Friday a trompetist, Eric Luter and a jazz band played a very nice programme : international standards (or less known) from the 50s-60s.

Les Nuits Ste Anne

Alfons Mucha Exhibition at Musée Fabre

Alfons Mucha (1860-1939) is one of those artists whom you know without knowing him. Mucha is famous for his Theater Posters (Sarah Bernhardt...) and drawings for ads (Nestlé...). This exhibition is fairly comprehensive over all his works who are actually very varied. Alfons Mucha was from Moravia (nowadays a region of Czechoslovakia) but he lived many years in Paris where at some point he shared an apartment with Paul Gauguin.
For more info see :

http://www.ot-montpellier.fr/musee-fabre/en

Amerrika

Last movie seen with OVS. USA / Palestine by Cherien Dabis. A divorced mother, Mouna, and her teenage son living in a Palestine / occupied territory got a visa to go to the States. They are hosted by Mouna's sister and family who have been living in Illinois for 15 years.
Obviously the integration is much more difficult that what they dreamt of.
It is a moving film, all the characters have their own say in this story which rmains - against all odds - optimistic.

From Fondation Maeght 1

From Fondation Maeght 2

From Fondation Maeght 3

Fondation Maeght 1

Fondation Maeght 2

Fondation Maeght 3

Fondation Maeght 4

Fondation Maeght 5

Fondation Maeght 6

Fondation Maeght 7

Fondation Maeght 8

Fondation Maeght 9

Fondation Maeght 10

Fondation Maeght

After lunch we went up the hill to visit the Fondation Maeght. The settings are incredibly beautiful. And the art pieces match perfectly with the balanced and original building. For more info see :
http://www.fondation-maeght.com/

Saint Paul de Vence

Antibes

After Marseille I went on to Antibes to visit my friend Poppy. We had a day out in St Paul de Vence. We had a very nice lunch at "Le Tilleul". When get in the village it's on the square immediately on the left on side after the arch way.

From Antibes Harbour

Le Corbusier's Cité Radieuse in Marseille

My friends in Marseille run a frame worshop. They had done some framing jobs for the opening of a new art gallery in the Cité Radieuse. What the Marseillais call "la Maison du Fada" (the house of the nuts person). It is far more than a residential building. It has been conceived as a village with streets lined with shops and services. There are a lot of recreational activities and there are 2 public kid garden classrooms at the top.
For more info see :
http://www.galinsky.com/buildings/marseille/index.htm

From Cité Radieuse (1)

From Cité Radieuse (2)

Cité Radieuse : roof terrace (1)

Cité Radieuse : roof terrace (2)

Marseille

My childhood friend X. is living in Marseille. And as his mother L. from Orléans - who's a very good friend of mine too - was visiting for the week, I hoped on a train Thursday morning. I had booked in a hotel on the Vieux Port. In fact the hotel itself is not along the harbour but has a roof terrace dominating the famous place. Hence the photos !

Vieux Port (1)

Vieux Port (2)

Vieux Port (3)

The Job by Douglas Kennedy

The downfall of a successful executive salesman. Which color is it when it is blacker than black ?! lol ! Saying that Douglas Kennedy is a wonderful story teller and there is a moral and nice twist at the end.

Café Babel

Every Tuesday from 8:30 p.m. to 11:30 (but you can come and go when you like) at the Brasserie le Dôme (Corner of Bd Clemenceau and Cours Gambetta, 5 minutes on foot from Place de la Comédie) there is a multicultural language exchange. The idea is to be able to practice any language depending on who is attending.
I went last Tuesday to brush off my Spanish. There was only one Spanish mother tongue person but we had a very nice chat between us.

Abrazos Rotos

Pedro Almodovar's last movie is as usual a masterpiece. It's about a screen play writer who had a car crash accident where he lost the lady of his life and his sight. Before that he used to be a film director too. It is as a same time a drama, a comedy and a thriller.

The Guernsey Literary and Patato Peel Pie Society

By Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows. I had no idea that the Channel islands were occupied by the Germans during World War II. This novel sounds so real that you'd wish it was a true story. The characters are most interesting and likeable (maybe except one). It is set right after the War. Juliet is looking for a topic for her next book to write. And then one day she hears about the Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society...

Looking for Eric

The last Ken Loach film is quite different from his previous ones. It is still set in a tough environnemnt where people are strugling. But then it has a light touch as well and it is optimistic. One way to sum up the story could be : how your idol can inspire you to change your life for the better.
For more info see www.cinediagonal.com

T.D. Lemon Novecento

Last night I went to the theater La Vista (see http://theatrelavista.free.fr/). The only actor - Fred Tournaire - told us the story of Novecento, a genius pianist born on a cruise boat in the 1920's and where he spent all his life. Very good acting for a fascinating story.
This one man show will be played at the festival d'Avignon.

Printemps des Comédiens

Saturday night I went to an OVS outing. Every year in Montpellier there is a festival called "Le Printemps des Comédiens (see www.printempsdescomediens.com). It in fact includes about every type of Art and the venue is in a huge park with different outside arrangements areas.
We went to see a circus show played by students from a circus school based in Montpellier (see www.balthazar.asso.fr/ ). It was very original, witty, with some political messages mainly concerning the Green Issues.

How far some Americans are ready to go to eat French bread

My friend P. sent me this item from th New York Times. It's a nice true story of cross-culturism.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/01/us/01land.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

Lille, Grand Place (1)

Lille, Grand Place (2)