With much of the world in lockdown, Paris Update continues to seek out French or France-related virtual content for our readers.
History buffs and anyone who loves Paris will enjoy four wonderful short video clips from films made by André Sauvage in 1928, recently posted by Le Figaro. They offer a snapshot of life in the city’s busy streets – what a contrast with Paris in lockdown! – in 1928. Each one has a different topic: Paris from above, the clothing people wore (for women, fox furs – even in warm weather – knee-length skirts and cloche hats, and, for men, felt hats or straw boaters and suits), the city’s children at play (the toy boats on the pond in the Luxembourg Garden are still exactly the same today) and urban transport.
The My French Film Festival, which streams French movies every year, is more than ever welcome this year. It is offering over 50 French short subjects, subtitled in a number of languages, for free through April 27, 2020.
Last week, the magazine Atabula asked its readers in which French restaurant they would choose to be in lockdown and with which chef. The winner of the most votes out of 1,700 respondents was the Roellinger family’s Le Coquillage in Brittany. The top Parisian restaurant, at number eight, was Pierre Gagnaire. I would go along with Gagnaire, or perhaps the three-star restaurant of the amiable chef Guy Savoy, with its wonderful setting in the elegant salons of the Monnaie de Paris, decorated with contemporary art and overlooking the Seine. Which one would you choose? Let us know in the comments section at the end of this article.
If you want to support your favorite French restaurant during these difficult times, you can buy a coupon for the bistros listed on the site J’Aime Mon Bistrot, redeemable when the crisis is over and the restaurant reopens.
And, the Paris restaurant Les Bols d’Antoine has started a crowdfunding campaign to support the cooking and delivery of vegan meals to hospital staff and homeless people.
Parisians who want to celebrate Easter in style can have a gourmet meal delivered by Epicery.com, along with some amazing creations from the best chocolate-makers, like the dark-chocolate dog by Joséphine Vannier pictured above.
Warning: this event may incite cheese-envy in those of you who are not currently in France: a live tasting called “Questions pour un Frometon” (“frometon” is a slangy way of saying “cheese”), during which you can eavesdrop on the comments of connoisseurs who have ordered in advance a prepared box of five cheeses from Nouveaux Fromagers. Anyone can sit in for the experience on the Facebook page of Le Cheese Geek at 7 pm Paris time on Thursday, April 9, 2020.
In case you missed previous weeks’ “Francophiles’ Guide to Quarantine” (free films, audiobooks, music, comedy, SOS Help hotline, and more) read them here, here and here.
Buy French Cheeses: The Visual Guide to More Than 350 Cheeses from Every Region of France.
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