Following his sold out performance in April, French funny man Gad Elmaleh is returning to the D.C. area and to the Birchmere this Septembre. The comedian will kick off and close his fall US tour in New York (September 2, 3 & October 3, 4, 6 and 7). In between those dates, he will make stops in Boston (September 8), Burlington (September 9), Portland (September 11) and Philadelphia (September 12), Washington (September 16, 17, 18) and Miami Beach (September 28). Don't wait too long to get your tickets!! ps: no clue who Gad Elmaleh is? You may recognize him from Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris where he played Détective Tisserant. You can also rent some of the French films he's been in ...
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Sneak Peek: Isabelle Marant for H&M
A few weeks ago, Swedish retailer H&M announced that it would collaborate with French fashion designer Isabel Marant for fall high-fashion mini collection. The collection will include clothes and accessories for women as well as, and this is a first for Marant, some children and men's wear too. The collection won't hit the stores worldwide until November 14th (mark your calendars now) but H&M has been tweeting some sneak peeks for the past few days... In one of them, the former model can be seen checking out her own design in the mirror. In the other, a male model is wearing a long sleeve shirt in similar black and white colour patterns. Isabel Marrant cited Paris as one of her ...
Vive la revolution (française)
Well, July 4th is behind us and that means only one thing: July 14th is just around the corner! Cocorico. Dust off your béret and French maid costumes... it's time to parté*!! I'll be updating this post as more events are announced but for now, here is a guide, in chronological order, to all things Bastille Day in Paris on the Potomac: FRIDAY, JULY 5-SUNDAY JULY 14 Bistrot Lepic is one of my favourite little French restaurant in the city and they're celebrating France's Fête Nat' with a special 3-courses $34.95 special menu the whole week leading up to le quatorze juillet. Chose from soupe de légumes et haricots au pistou (soupe de pistou is the best thing ever, trust me), pied de cochon ...
Veuve Clicquot Airstream RV Rolling into Town
In addition to wheeling down at the Dupont Circle Hotel on Thursday, the Veuve Clicquot Airstream RV will also stop at the W Hotel on Friday (5-10PM, who wants to toast the weekend with me??) and in Annapolis on Saturday (1-5PM at Lemongrass - 167 West Street, Annapolis, MD.) Cheers to that!! ...
A Look at the District’s Artistic Bike Racks
In honor of Bike to Work Day 2013, which is this Friday, May 17th, here are some of my favourite artistic bike rack from around Washington, D.C. From left to right: “Equality Bike Rack” outside of the Human Rights Campaign HQ; part of “Bike Here” outside of Dupont Metro station’s south entrance; one of the 28 racks designed by local artists in 2009. "Duck, Duck, Bike!" at 1776 G Street was inspired by the mama duck and her ducklings that nest in the National Geographic courtyard each spring. ""(Re) Cycle" at 1901 Pennsylvania Avenue NW provides parking for up to 10 bikes and is made out of used parking meter heads. It was designed by local firm Design ...
L’Heure de l’Apéritif – Green Hat Gin
Feels like I haven't done a cocktail post in ages... probably because that's the case. But last Saturday, after the Shortcut to Europe Embassies Open House event, I was inspired to branch out of my usual French wine and try something a little more "exotic." Like Bulgarian wine. Well, wouldn't you know, it is not easy to find Bulgarian wine in D.C.! But what I did find while I hopped from liquor store to liquor store, was a bottle of limited release seasonal Green Hat Gin. Probably a better choice than Bulgarian wine anyway ;-) I visited D.C.'s first legal distillery since prohibition back on November 24, 2012 during American Express' Small Business Saturday promotion. John Uselton, who runs ...
Film Series – 50 Years French-German Friendship
Though it kicked off last Monday, May 8th seemed like a more appropriate day to write about a Franco-German film series happening in D.C. over the next few months... 50 years after Konrad Adenauer and Charles de Gaulle signed the Élysée Treaty, establishing the foundation for German-French friendship and cooperation, l'Alliance Française and the Goethe-Institut are celebrating this post-war reconciliation with a film festival showcasing films that were created through collaborations between filmmakers and actors in the two countries. The series kicked off on May 6th with the screening of Truffaut's classic Jules and Jim. Set between 1912 and 1933, it tells the story of two kindred spirits, ...
Luck of the French
Le premier mai c'est pas gai / Je trime a dit le muguet Dix fois plus que d'habitude / Regrettable Servitude*. ~ George Brassens May 1st is a national holiday in France. We celebrate workers by not working, but we also spring and our Fête du Travail is also known as La Fête du Muguet. The tradition is to give the ones you love a little bouquet of lily-of-the-valley for good luck. And of course, if you're a union worker, then there's some demonstrating in the streets involved too ;-) This year, I'm looking forward to trying out my luck at the Willard Hotel which is celebrating Lucky Lily Day™ on May 3, from 5:30PM to 8:00PM, with a courtyard event of wine, beer and authentic tastes of ...
Daft Punk Themed Bike Ride
Parisian duo Daft Punk is back in my playlists with the release of "Get Lucky," the first single from their highly anticipated new album "Random Access Memories." Now the whole album doesn't drop until May 21st, but D.C. Bike Party is given us a little something to help us wait in the shape of a robot-themed Daft Punk bike party. This is pretty much just (techno) music to my (French) ears! The details? The D.C. Bike Ride Robot Ride will take place May 8th. Like most of the other D.C. Bike Rides, it will depart at 8PM from the middle of Dupont Circle. Riders are encouraged to channel Tron (Daft Punk composed the score for that soundtrack), grab some reflective tape, glow in the dark gear ...
French Films at FilmFest DC 2013
Filmfest DC, the DMV's International Film Festival, is back for its 27th edition. Last year, the festival had a huge "French touch," opening and closing with two French language comedies, Quebec's Starbuck (which you can currently see at E Street) and France's Les Intouchables (available on Netflix.) This year, between April 11 and April 21, Washingtonians will be treated to some 80 films and shorts, from over 35 countries, at some of the area's best venues and many of its embassies. There's fewer French language movies showing in 2013, but there's still a good number of interesting offerings. I personally have only seen a few of them myself, but here is a quick recap of French finds at ...
