Lots going on. Even if these events are not to your taste, it’s worth knowing about them so you can steer clear of traffic and crowds if need be! We once set off for Arles and met police road-blocks – we hadn’t realised there was a feria taking place: not the best day for a peaceful walk around the old town! Here are some events to enjoy or avoid as the mood takes you… (more…)
Posts Tagged ‘Cannes’
Activities This Easter Weekend
Posted in Event, Food, Music, Patrimoine, tagged Aix-en-Provence, Arles, Bandol, Cabries, Cannes, feria, La Ciotat, Musee Granet, Provence, Sanary-sur-Mer on March 30, 2018| 2 Comments »
Cote d’Azur: on TV this week
Posted in Patrimoine, Travel, tagged Cannes, Provence-Alpes-Cote d'Azur on June 9, 2014| 2 Comments »
We were in Cannes last week and as usual I was enchanted by the blue sea, brightly striped umbrellas on the beach and exotic palm trees lining the Croisette. Still I prefer Aix…couldn’t cope with the Riviera traffic. But it’s an interesting area and this week there are two documentaries on TV dealing with it.
‘Cote d’Azur: les dessous d’une cash machine‘ (yes that’s the title) focuses on the beaches. There are, it says, 10m visitors a year to what is one of the world’s top destinations, and the plagistes and restauranteurs have to make their money during July and August. Their story. They also explain how the businesses are allowed to fence off what were public beaches. Channel 8, Wednesday 11th June, 20:50hrs.
Cote d’Azur: l’échappée bleue: more of a travelogue. It is a tour of Porquerolles, the presqu’ile de Giens, St Tropez, vieux Nice and Monaco. This is the way to travel – a glass of wine, a comfy sofa and avoid all that traffic! France 5, Saturday 14th June 20.35hrs.
Films in Aix this week
Posted in Film, Patrimoine, tagged Bel Ami, Cannes, Cannes Film Festival, France 5, Ken Loach, Le Journal de France, The Angel Share on June 27, 2012| 3 Comments »
It’s around this time of year that films from the Cannes Festival get released and this week sees two that look promising. La Part des Anges – or The Angel Share – directed by Ken Loach got excellent reviews from the critics and earned Ken Loach the Jury Prize. Click for review: http://www.guardian.co.uk/film/2012/jun/03/angels-share-ken-loach-review
Interesting that the posters for the different countries have such different positioning. Showing at the Renoir.
‘Journal de France’ is another film from Cannes. The director is 70-year-old photographer Raymond Depardon who was chosen by Francois Hollande to take the official photograph after his election. This is his first documentary film, exploring ‘la France profond’.
He brings his photographer’s eye and sensibility to recording the countryside but also some of the events that have impacted it. At the Renoir.
‘Bel Ami’ is the adaptation of the Maupassant story which despite starring Robert Pattison, Christina Ricci and Kristin Scott Thomas, got poor reviews: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/bel_ami_2011/ At the Cézanne.
I do like the rather unusual films from the Middle East that surface here from time to time. My understanding is cobbled together from the visuals and the French subtitles so subtleties are usually lost on me, but they have original stories and characters – generally quite intriguing. ‘Les Femmes du Bus 678’, an Egyptian film, looks promising. It’s at the Mazarin
And finally, if you can’t get to the cinema, Echappées Belles on France 5 on Saturday evening is featuring Provence – painters in Avignon, Saint-Rémy, Cavaillon and Manosque, animals in the Camargue, and beautiful Luberon villages. Sounds lovely!