To be honest I was a little preoccupied with the French elections in April and engaged in much reading and TV viewing to better understand the system. Relief was palpable as Macron saw off Le Pen in the second round, although he has a hard road ahead. In his favour though is that buzz of disruption and maybe he will be the one to really shake things up here. Thankfully he doesn’t seem to have as many narcissistic qualities as you know who. Of course in my town Le Pen gained the most votes and is seen as the saviour of France in these parts. The Front Nationale has always been strong in the Riviera. Anyway with all of the clowns on the world stage at the moment, it’s nice that France has someone at the head who is incredibly able with a firm handshake.
Film : Nothing new here but the best film I saw last month was Room (spoiler alert), the story of a mother and son trapped in a confined space by a Josef Fritzl type. The mother tries to offer her son the best life she possibly can in very constrained circumstances but when they finally escape life is not that easy to adjust to after all of those years of abuse. Other films I saw were the Steve Jobs biopic (the Fassbender version) that was interesting rather than amazing, revealing not only his genius but also his lacklustre abilities as a father. Kate Winslet as always was excellent. The Margaret Thatcher film, The Iron Lady starring Meryl Streep was pretty awful actually and it did seem that more time was spent on her dementia than her time as Prime Minister. I also watched the far sillier How To Be Single and This is 40 that both feature Leslie Mann, married to director Judd Apatow and discovered that I find her highly annoying and in the future will make sure to avoid films she appears in.
Television : A Catastrophe binge was in order. This is a British comedy about a couple who meet, fall in love and rather quickly bring on the kids. Sharon and Rob are absolutely hilarious and there are plenty of rather potty situations that made me laugh out loud. Mad Men finally arrived on Netflix and finally Season 5 could be viewed. Can I just say that I adored the finale. Don Draper has escaped to a spiritual retreat, then the classic Coke ad with I’d like to teach the world to sing closes out the series. Interpret this how you will but in my mind Don goes back to New York and does his best work for Coke.
Books : The Case Against Fragrance by writer Kate Grenville was gifted from a friend in Australia and I was rather enjoying this book that details the problems fragrance is causing e.g. headaches, migraines etc, plus the fact that the industry is unregulated and on the occasions where it is, oh guess what it’s by themselves. Testing of materials is also very limited as there isn’t enough funding. It’s good to be armed with information on this topic and it’s a great read, however I haven’t finished it as the book mysteriously disappeared. It must have fallen out of my handbag, so another one will be ordered. All a little ghostly.
Music : The new album from Benjamin Biolay, Volver is a good Frenchie listen. Think of him as a Gainsbourg / Waits mix. Other than that mostly a lot of old tunes and am loving this a lot right now – Terry Callier, the jazz, soul and folk guitarist with You Goin’ Miss Your Candyman.
Perfume : The highlight was without a doubt the trip to Art et Parfum / Accords et Parfum / Edmond Roudnitska home. This was actually my second trip there but my laptop died and all photos were lost after the first so I was absolutely thrilled to return. The gardens are beautiful but I think it’s more the vibe that emanates from the grounds that makes it feel like it’s the spiritual home of perfumery (or at least one of them).
Plus let’s not forget the first instalment of Mood Scent 4 where I Scent You A Day, A Bottled Rose, Esperessence et moi suggest perfumes around a topic we’ve chosen. Next up will be Wedding Guest perfumes.
Fashion : Can I just talk about frills for a moment. Is there anything for sale that doesn’t have frills on it? I bought one dress with a frill (subtle) but do not need more than one of these in my wardrobe. Loved this piece by Brit beauty journalist Sali Hughes on shopping for those over 35 (and I’m well over that BTW). Admittedly this is from May but if I don’t include it now I’ll forget.
Travel : More weekend walks were in order and the sun started to stream through in Sainte Maxime.
The Lows : Nothing really apart from sinus issues as per usual.
Let me know if you came across anything interesting this month – TV, film, books, music, perfume, food or if you went anywhere uplifting, bizarre or odd or if things were completely crappy as well … And have a great rest of the month. PS Are there any actors that you struggle with?
Notes : Images : All by Megan In Sainte Maxime apart from Film photos
Megan In Sainte Maxime 
Fantastic overview, Megan! Love the end of Mad Men as well and just saw it too. I have started reading books by Sebastian Barry which are fabulous, family history intertwined with Irish history. Very well written both literary and psychological. Nice you mentioned MoodScent4 too. Visiting the house of Edmond Roudnitska must be quite an experience. XXXE
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Ps I think Don returns to NY too and creates the Coca Cola add, read on the internet what the creator says about this, very nice actually. The series ending positively and the importance of connection.
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It was a brilliant ending to the show. They tried to tie everything up but I liked this part the best. Mood Scent coming up again too. xx
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I was relieved to see Macron win, too, and amused by the handshakes! Can’t say I’ve ever noticed French politics before! How the world is changing (me). Thanks as always for the recommendations; Terry Callier has been the perfect accompaniment to this slow holiday Monday.
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Hey there! Glad you like the track too. Very funky and cruisy. The handshake thing is getting out of control! Hope you had a good holiday. x
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Nothing extraordinary to report for my month of May but as they say “no news is good news”….and working my way through many of my perfume samples and also doing some experimental layering of different scents. Am enjoying DSI Banks on TV and will begin reading Victoria Thompson Murder Mystery series which take place in turn of the century NYC….I hope to like the first one as there are 20 books in the series and that will get me through my summer 🙂
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Hello there! You’re right sometimes it’s better when everything is smooth sailing. 20 books on the series. Wow that will keep you busy. Am rather partial to historical fiction too. 😉
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Hello Megan, glad you watched Room. Superb! I also recently saw How To Be Single. I don’t mind Leslie Mann so much. But Katherine Heigl…. Started watching Twin Peaks. Maybe I was tired, but I could not get into it. Quelle horreuer! I would recommend Spotlight as a film. It’s about how The Boston Globe exposed the child abuse by Catholic priests. Great cast and script and made its point without being sensationalist.
PS: I thought there were lots of nice people on the Riviera.
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Hi Rich. Yes I watched Room thanks to your recommendation. Funny that you also watched How To Be Single. Katherine Heigl is definitely annoying. Did you watch the new Twin Peaks? I actually saw Spotlight last month and enjoyed it. The tip of the iceberg … Terrible abuse everywhere by the Catholic priests and nuns in Australia as well who used children as slave labour. Anyway moving on. Yes there are many nice people here but I’m always unpleasantly surprised about how popular Le Pen is in France. x
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Started watching the new Twin Peaks but it didn’t hook me. I have to be in the right mood to enjoy it. Racism is now mainstream.
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I still haven’t seen it yet. I’d forgotten how many episodes there are for the original. It’s taking me ages to get through and I want to see it before I start the new. So far I’ve heard good and bad things. I know what you mean about the right mood. Perfume is the same! And to your second point – agree and not a good place to be.
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Yip, perfume is also so mood-influenced. That’s way I try to take my many moods into account when judging a fragrance.
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That’s a good way to think about it. Sometimes I think a fragrance is incredibly beautiful and compelling but I don’t end up wearing it that much eg Shalimar. I love it and hardly wear it. So it never seems quite right for any of my moods … do you have fragrances like that?
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Absolutely. I have quite a few of those. For example, some of my Comme des Garcons perfumes. Some fragrances have that special occasion vibe, while others bring us everyday joy.
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Nothing good happening here. I haven’t watched much that I’d recommend but I agree with fragroom’s suggestion of Spotlight.
If a book against fragrance disappeared I’d take that as a sign. 😉
I’m still waiting for spring. Still needing to turn the heat on a bit too and found my boiler died the other day. I’m hoping it’s a minor fix but have a feeling we may need to replace the whole thing. It might be warm today. They say we may see something they call “the sun” as well. I don’t believe them.
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Hey Poodle. Yes Spotlight is good – just saw it. The book disappearing was very odd. I really looked everywhere for it and it’s never turned up. It was quite interesting actually seeing things from another perspective – I’m well aware of the other side but I do think it’s good to understand the variety of viewpoints. Still cold where you are?? The sun needs to hurry up and arrive for you. xx
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