The longest day

It was a sunny Sunday. The weather was nice and I didn't have special plans for that day. "What can I do today", I thought. "I know! I'm going to wait 7h in queue to visit a building".

It's sad, but it's true. I spent almost half-day just waiting to enter the official french presidential residency.
With the Europeans Heritage Days public can enjoy events and unusual visits, because many public and private sites are open to everyone.
These Heritage Days happen during a weekend, all over Europe. In France, the most popular visit is the official residence of the President of the French Republic: the Élysée Palace.
Here, people can visit the Presiden't office, the room where Council of Ministers meets and the big dinning room for galas and receptions.

But, as this visit is so so popular, usualy people have to wait several hours before passing security. So, thanks to my bright idea, I spent 7 hours (!!) just waiting to enter. It was my longest day... :-P

At least I've learned a good hint. If you want to visit a popular place and you want to avoid crowds, just go with a pregnant woman. They have priority... and almost a red carpet! ;-)

Live from the red carpet

The most popular movie festival in France is in Cannes, of course. Besides movies, people can enjoy sun and sea.

But there is another movie festival, on the other side of France, which is not that different. Only its size.

Recently I decided to visit Deauville, one nice and small coast city in north of France. Very popular during summer but also during its famous American Film Festival.
As you can imagine, at this festival you only have american productions, from movies to TV shows.

I had the opportunity to discover some premieres like "Waking Sleeping Beauty" (a documentary about Disney), "Charlie St. Cloud" (a cheesy movie for teenagers) and "Buried" (one of the best thrillers in recent years). More details in my Tweeter ;-)


The movie festival at Cannes is very elitist, not very open to the public audience. Deauville festival is the opposite, they try to catch general public attention by selling 1-day or 1-week passes. Still, some movies are invitation only.

It was a weekend of sun, wind (a very windy region) and movies. There were other highlights, but I leave that for another post. :-P