RIP Robert Redford

My piece in The Times

My piece in The Times today www.thetimes.com/comment/colu...

Official. 39 year-old Sébastien Lecornu appointed France’s PM. For once, President Macron was swift.

Imminent announcement of France’s next PM. Defence Minister Sebastien Lecornu? A man appreciated by all parties…

Back with Yalda Hakim live from Paris at 9pm GMT. We shall discuss #France’s troubles… #SkyNews

With just three days before the government falls, am wondering what President Macron is thinking. He has had lunch with four party leaders and then with the President of the Senate… #France

Hey! An open double spiral staircase made in wood (the world’s biggest of its kind) is now gracing #NotreDame’s South tower ! Opening day for visitors: 20 September !

Now. « Europeans are now ready to give the security guarantees that Ukraine needs » just announced Emmanuel Macron. Troops on the ground therefore. #FromParis

Quizz. Their daughter has just been appointed new editor of Vogue…

Bonsoir Paris!

Don’t want to be overtly dramatic but #France is facing a major crisis on September 8. The Far Left, Far Right and the Socialists are about to sink the ship. As if they had any answers to France’s problems. To be continued.

French PM Bayrou has just announced he will ask for a confidence vote from the National Assembly on 8 September. What a gamble. His way to defuse the 10 September « insurrection day » called by both Far Right and Far Left? Bonne chance. #France

French thinkers still exist! Check out Gérald Bronner, Sorbonne professor, in a thought provoking dossier in this week’s @LEXPRESS He has a new book out « A l’assaut du réel ». Here is a teaser.

Saint Thomas is back on #NotreDame's spire. He joined another 15 statues dating back to 1850s which had been removed for restoration only days before the fire. In a month, Notre Dame's #flèche will be visible from miles away. 📷Romaric Toussaint©RebâtirNotreDame

#Local news trivia In which you learn that The #Camembert Museum in #Normandy has had to close after a fire damaged the roof.

A paean to the Paris Métro | @agnescpoirier.bsky.social engelsbergideas.com/notebook/a-p...

On tonight’s BBC Front Row we revisit the horror of making Apocalypse Now & Fitzcarraldo, Kasim Ali on his excellent novel Who Will Remain, Agnes Poirier on Macron’s culture policy, & Errolyn Wallen on composing for the First Night of the Proms. 715pm R4 or on the link www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

Allons enfants! #BastilleDay

President Macron spoke for two hours with Vladimir Putin this afternoon. For the first time since September 2022. 🧐

A #wedding today in #Venice Simple and beautiful.

"Bezos’s plan to party at a 16th-century hall in the centre of #Venice during his three-day bash was called off after protesters threatened to leap into the canals around the venue with inflatable crocodiles to stop guests arriving." www.thetimes.com/world/europe...

Does our future depend on technology? Is truth always convincing? Do we need art? Are we always free? This morning, 530,000 French 18-year-olds started their baccalaureate exam with the Philosophy dissertation. 4 possible subjects to choose from. #Bac2025 #Philo www.leparisien.fr/etudiant/lyc...

Van Gogh by Toulouse-Lautrec, Paris, 1887

Above a door in #Venice

Interphones in #Venice have personality.

The French National Assembly has just unanimously promoted Alfred #Dreyfus to the rank of general 130 years after he was denied a well deserved promotion (after being abjectly accused of and wrongly sentenced for treason.). Feeling strangely emotional.

Iran has summoned France's ambassador after Iranian film director Jafar Panahi won the Palme d'Or in #Cannes2025, for what the Mollahs consider as insults. More on the winning film #JustAnAccident in my Cannes piece here: engelsbergideas.com/notebook/the...

Magnifique ! Iranian Jafar Panahi wins the Palme d’Or for a Simple Accident, a giant of a minimalist film. #Cannes2025

On how Iranian film director Saeed Roustayee navigates State censorship. His film #WomanAndChild in #Cannes2025 shows his careful manoeuvering. His previous film, Leila and her brothers, was more powerful in its attack but he was banned from filming for 5 years for it. variety.com/2025/film/fe...

Tell me this is satire. Here is the beginning of an article on Gen Z daily routines in The Times today.

Variety, darling please, stop this non-sense of timing every single standing ovation (all films get one). Let your film critics do their thing. #Cannes2025 variety.com/2025/film/fe...

Here is Iranian film director Jafar Panahi, back in Cannes after imprisonment and hunger strikes in Tehran. His film in competition, A Simple Accident, is my Palme d’Or. #Cannes2025

In other news, it is pouring with rain in Cannes with occasional lightning. The Gods of Cinema are angry, or impatient. #Cannes2025

And the first truly ridiculous, hysterical, pointless, and terribly pretentious film in #Cannes2025 competition comes from France and Julia Ducournau! If you are going to use Beethoven’s Seventh, you’d better measure up to it. #Alpha

Here we go again, for the Olympic Games of Cinema. Watching films you don’t know anything about, from dawn to night. #Cannes2025

Listening now to this marvel. #Bizet on.ft.com/3GNTWIX

Some trivia. Am finally trying #Zoe. Heard of it? The latest scientifico bobo craze, well, at least in North London. The cookies you must eat on first day of testing are an abomination. Zoe would never fly in France.

Gérard Depardieu found guilty of sexual assault and sentenced to 18 months (suspended). His attitude and that of his lawyer during the trial were seen as aggravating.

Dio! An American Pope?! #LeonXIV

I was wondering why the bells of Notre Dame were in full swing… Habemus Papam!! (Pic via Libération)

Non Habemus Papam

To be read with a glass of good red! 🙏

My dear old professor Jean Tulard, France’s Master in everything Napoleonic, has just published #Napoléon, myths and truths. « Was Napoleon wrong to sell Louisiana to Americans? », « Could Napoleon vanquish England?, », « Was Napoleon a misogynist? », amongst the many questions he answers.

In The Times this week (looking forever 30)

Au revoir #Tokyo !