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Marion Cotillard
Hopscotch Films, a boutique distributor of movies in Australia, has sent us a press release to annonce its  preview in Sydney on the long week-end in June (10 to 12 of June).
Hopscotch Films have previously released, among others, Mao's Last Dancer, of which I am the lucky owner of a DVD signed by Li Cunxin - the hero of the film, and the Aussie Director, Bruce Beresford.
Here is the story behind Little White Lies:
Starring Academy Award winner Marion Cotillard (La Vie en Rose) LITTLE WHITE LIES follows a group of friends who gather every year at a beautiful beach house, celebrating the birthday of one of the gang. Fun, French Riviera, fine wine and seafood mix with sun and sand as they all leave their city stresses and inhibitions behind.
But this year is different. One of them is badly injured in a serious motorcycle accident just as they are about to leave Paris for their seaside reunion. His friends flock to his bedside, where their unconscious pal is still alive but in intensive care. What to do? Stay in Paris to be by his side, or leave for their vacation having been assured that there is nothing they can do? By the time they return he should be conscious and up for visitors. After some intense discussion, they decide to head off for enjoyment and relaxation. Over the course of the next week, all the tensions within this group erupt into full daylight.
Through a succession of incidents, the group is pulled apart and dragged together by their ties of loyalty and marriage. Their relationships, convictions, sense of guilt and friendship are sorely tested. They are finally forced to own up to the little white lies they have been telling each other...
The Director is Guillaume Canet , also an actor, in the Beach and Love me if you dare, has previously directed Tell no one.
Some of the other actors are Francois Cluzet, Benoit Magimel, Gilles Lellouche, Jean Dujardin, just to name a few...

Hopscotch Films having found our blog (in the first place...) and qualified it as "awesome" have kindly given us 
FIVE FREE DOUBLE PASSES for the preview.
I am in turn offering them to my first five Australian readers subscribing to our Newsletter. (form on the right side of this page)
Hurry up and hopefully we will meet at the Premiere!!!

PS: There will be preview sessions in all major capitals in Australia.
       (Sydney Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth and Canberra)

As a bonus, here are a few clips and images of the film. Enjoy!
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12 Cheeses - 12 Villages

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Yes, that's right: our next Newsletter will reveal our 12 favourite cheeses and the villages they are coming from with tasting notes and wines to match!
Don't delay: register now, it is free and you should have access to your own copy as well as our previous newsletter towards the end of the week.
To be first to know follow us on Twitter (@frenchimpresion) and on our Facebook page : www.facebook.com/ourfrenchimpressions
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It is MasterChef season again in Australia, and we get glued to our screens most nights at 7.30pm...
In its third year now, this is an amazing phenomenon, with wide ranging repercussions in the life of many young or older people, as well as a big economical impact, as everybody rushes to buy the (branded...) products used, or visiting the restaurant whose Chefs are invited on the show.
Take the example of this recipe: it calls for verjuice and vino cotto.
These two ingredients are definitely not your top of the list ingredients in your pantry, are they? Do you know what "vino cotto" is? I didn't...
So, here I am, reading the recipe by Maggie Beer, one of our iconic food figure in Australia, following a hint from my ex-colleague Janine, herself a talented amateur cook who was short listed in the 50-strong Melbourne contingent of this year's program contestants, and guess what? verjuice and vino cotto are two of the ingredients that Maggie Beer makes and sells by the gallon (vino cotto is now her most popular product sold via her online shop!).
I had not seen the episode, a Masterclass, and got some help from Janine.
You can find the recipe here: http://www.masterchef.com.au/chocolate-quince-and-almond-tart.htm
I am not very good at pastry, and I struggled to get the dow right - in fact I failed lamentably, but got some consolation out of the fact that my friend did have some similar problems.
The end results were obviously very "eatable" as we both almost missed out taking photographs of the finish products...
So here are a couple of shots of the last remaining slices:
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Janine's Chocolate, Quince & Almond Tart
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and mine...
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Our favourite Cotes-du-Rhone, the Vidal-Fleury 2005, is no longer available (I have to say we have drunk our fair share of the Aussie contingent...), so we tried the 2007 vintage.
Although still very good, it was not as smooth as the 2005 vintage.
This triggered a new search, and we went onto try the Saint-Cosmes 2009, and the Clos Petite Bellane 2007.
Read our review on our Wine page
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Our first newsletter is available.
To get access, please subscribe by filling the form in the right column, and you will receive your password shortly.
Good reading!
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To celebrate our first birthday, we are introducing a newsletter to keep you posted (so to speak...) on anything new on our blog or elsewhere on our website.
We will also from time to time offer our subscribers (and them only...) special promotions on French products or services, either in France, or Australia, or elsewhere, or information on special events like concerts, film festivals or new movies.
For example, our first issue, to go out towards the end of March, will review films we will have seen  as part of the French Film Festival in Sydney:
* Of Gods and Men, http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org/Films.aspx?articleId=4483
* My Father's Guests. http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org/Films.aspx?articleId=4493
* The Women of the 6th Floor. http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org/Films.aspx?articleId=4508
* The Age of Reason. http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org/Films.aspx?articleId=4510
* Potiche. http://www.frenchfilmfestival.org/Films.aspx?articleId=4480
So, fill in the form on the right side below our twitter feed and wait for your weekly dose of French news!
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I had heard of Andrew Guard before, but never had a chance to try any of the wines that he imports mainly from France.
Having lunch today at Fratelli's in Potts Point, one of our favourite Saturday lunch spots (if you can find a table...) we were enticed to try a Domaine Les Genestas 2007, a Cotes-du-Rhone that turned out to be exceptional in its character and suppleness.
Interestingly enough, looking at the label at the back of the bottle (Is there a back and a front to a cylindrical object???...), we found out that it was part of the small collection of wines imported by Andrew Guard. We found out much later over a second cup of coffee taken at the bar, that Fratelli also have a Cotes-du-Ventoux from the same merchant.
Domaine Les Genestas is a relatively new winery, part of the cooperative "Cave des Vignerons d'Estezargues" , where vignerons can contribute collectively, or under their own label. They all practice organic and biodynamic grape growing and winemaking techniques.
This particular wine is 50% Shiraz, 30% Grenache and 20% Mourvedre, an interesting combinaison.
For reference, my favourite Cotes-du-Rhone from Vidal-Fleury is 50% Grenache, 30% Shiraz and 20% Mourvedre and should be rounder than Les Genestas, but the jury is out there to decide which one is going to be my new favourite...
The vineyards are at Southern end of the Appellation and on the Pont du Gard side of the Rhone river, on your way from Avignon to Uzes, and are part of a new appelation created in 2004: Cotes-du-Rhone Signargues.
I have posted links to reviews and corresponding websites on our "links" page.
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Yes, one year already! And over a thousand visitors, most coming from Australia and New Zealand, followed closely by North America and Europe, which were our target markets from the onset.
So thank you everyone for reading our prose, trying our recipes and enjoying our photos and stories.
What is in store for the next 12 months? well, we would very much like to hear from you what content YOU would like to see here! So give us some feedback via our Comments tab or our "Contact Us" page.
We will answer every entry and will try to incorporate your wishes in our future posts.
You can also join our new Facebook page at http://www.facebook.com/home.php#!/OurFrenchImpressions.
And here are a few more photos for your enjoyment!
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Some of the treasures we brought back from Canberra and its surroundings
Well, for most of you, dear readers, it would be winter, but obviously, "Down Under" it is still summer - sort of, if you exclude floods, cyclone Yasi, and no more bananas... - and we had some scorching days here in Sydney.
summer is a very special time in Australia as it coincides with Christmas and no more work than in August in France...
It is only after Australia Day on January 26 that the nation comes back to life, with most tradies coming back to site and children going back to school.
So, what one does during that long period of semi-activity or plain lethargy?
One goes to the beach, one gets to discover other parts of Australia or the World (at any given time one out of every 43 Australians is overseas!), and enjoy company of spouse and children, or extended family and friends sharing seafood and fruits around the "barbie" with a beer or a good bottle of wine,
or one can read:
I thought I would share with you the three books that are relevant to our conversation here as they are about France and/or French people.
I managed to read or finish a few other books as well:
 The Arrival City, by Doug Saunders, which is relevant to us as recent migrants to Australia, Sacred Games by Vickram Chandra Sacred Games by Vickram Chandra, an epic book about life (and death, and lust...) in India: (exhausting...but very well written once you get into it), and The Pregnant Widow by Martin Amis, a mainly narcissist waste of paper and ink at 470 pages, but occasionally interesting as a mirror of one's adolescence if you are a baby boomer (and obviously there are plenty of us out there!)
But now to the ones that are relevant to this blog:

BORDEAUX CHATEAUX - A HISTORY OF THE GRANDS CRUS CLASSES SINCE 1855 - Flammarion
A beautiful complement to "The Heart of Bordeaux" previously featured on our Wine page, magnificent photos, well researched text and lots of historical documents like the original hand-written notes of the original 1855 classification and beyond.
You will find here some of the most famous wines and chateaux, like Ducru-Beaucaillou, my favourite St Julien, and I will share with you the notes for 1982, of which I drank many a bottle:
Start of harvest: September 13
Yield: Very large
Quality: Exceptional
Comments: Magnificent wines that will age well into the 21st century - well, if you can find any left, that is...
If you do, let me know!

The Gourmet - Une Gourmandise - by Muriel Barbery - Gallic Books - Gallimard

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The book itself is a "gourmandise"!
The back cover tells it as it is:
"France's most celebrated food critic is dying, after a lifetime in pursuit of sensual delights. But on his deathbed, Pierre Arthens is in torment as he struggles to recall the most delicious food ever to pass his lips..."
The translation in English is extremely good, but I am dying (lol...) to read it in French, as I am sure, I would find another level of insight and humour in the original Muriel's prose.
And it is like a degustation menu: although it looks very small, it fills you up very nicely.
I can't recommend it more.

PARISIANS - An Adventure History of Paris - Graham Robb - Picador

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What a great idea and a great read!
Take a period in the history of Paris, find a true anecdote or story about it, and explore the City of Lights for the clues left over by this event in today's Paris.
Here are some of the chapters/stories:
"The Man Who Saved Paris"
"Madame Zola"
"The Notre-Dame Equation"
"Sarko, Bouna and Zyed"

Maybe I should translate it French...
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Tucked away in bushland north of Sydney, along the Hawkesbury River, and accessible only by water, this restaurant has been an icon of the Sydney food scene for a very long time under the guidance of Gay Bilson originally and until 1995, and since 2007 by Dietmar Sawyere of Forty One fame. (I had a chance to dine there about 10 years ago and thought that was the best meal I had in Australia at that time...).
During Gay Bilson tenure, my wife and her Australian business partner sent hundreds of high profile French corporate clients to BWI and they all raved about it. But until now, none of us had a chance to experience the place first hand: c'est chose faite maintenant!

I took our 24th wedding anniversary as an excuse to surprise my wife with lunch at this amazing place:
Rebuilt years ago under the baton of Glen Murcutt (who I have the privilege to know well and work with) and refitted recently by Koskela Design, the place strives on a 27deg summer day, cooled by a strong breeze coming through the smart glass louvres covering the entire facade. The decor breathes a kind of understated elegance of light leather and Australian timber. The 4kms drive down to the Hawkesbury river is magnificent and then, you have the added bonus of a short ferry ride to the restaurant. You could choose to come by seaplane and have it parked just it front of the building, or come with your own boat...
Then, you can sit down confortably, and design your own degustation menu from a dozen or so courses,  sipping a glass of French Champagne, and browsing through the extensive wine list, until you find the perfect match...Heaven on Earth!
You can read my full review on our "restaurant" page.
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