The Formidable French | #3

Part three is famous for his beauty, and he knew it. The face that launched a thousand films, I present to you:
Alain Delon

Anyone who is even vaguely familiar with classical French cinema knows the movie poster for Plein Soleil. It was the film that finally focused the lens on the man's body, rather than the woman's. After nearly a century of objectification, the gaze turned to the man. There are things to be said about Delon not just being the subject of the gaze in Plein Soleil, but also the object, but that's another topic. We're just here for the actor. 
A 30's baby, Delon quickly became known as the James Dean of France (isn't it funny how French actors are all just considered doppelgängers of Americans?). He flaunted his chiseled cheekbones and bathed in the glory of being France's most adored face. He was even called the male Brigitte Bardot. Like most gorgeous French stars, he had a brief marriage with another beauty of the silver screen, Romy Schneider, and a picturesque couple they were.

Like a lot of his predecessors, Delon enjoyed success in Hollywood, and then moved his mind to policiers (much like Gabin) once he started to lose his angelic features.

The Last Straw (Hat) | Cocktails in the Clouds

For my dear friend Lily's 21st birthday, we shot up to the 23rd (?) floor of Beetham Tower for a cocktail masterclass. Given my horrific fear of heights, it's fair to say my knees were slightly weak in the elevator. But we got there in the end, and the cocktail making began.

Manchester from the 23d floor - by night of course, we're not day drinkers!

 By this point, it's probably worth mentioning that we were slightly inebriated, so the photo quality quickly deteriorated. The enjoyment, on the other hand, swiftly increased as we started to make our own cocktails. We all began with relatively girly, fruity looking cocktails, adorned with flowers and with varying gradients of colour. The waitress come teacher strongly advised that only whiskey drinkers should try The Last Straw Hat, so naturally, I did. It certainly wasn't your average cocktail.

The Last Straw (Hat), a fruity whiskey-cased cocktail served in a tin mug. 

My favourite thing about this cocktail (besides copious amounts of whiskey) was the tin mug. Looking over Manchester at night, drinking a whiskey cocktail from a tin mug. What could be more suitable in the world's first industrial city? 

It was a great night, a beautiful view and a lot of delicious cocktails. If only I were rich (or had a sugar daddy), I'd definitely return.

Blurry me with TLSH, taken by Lily (I think!)

Lily and I after a few of our experiment cocktails

The Formidable French | #2

Part two brings us a timeless beauty, a powerful and wonderful woman hailed as one of France's greatest actresses. Simone Signoret. 

Born in 1921, Signoret was another star of the French classic. After starring in Room at the Top, she became the first French person to win an Academy Award, and gained international fame. She's often been called the Marilyn Monroe of France, because of her striking features and blonde hair. In fact, Signoret and Monroe were close.

During her later years, Signoret received a lot of criticism for gaining weight and letter go of her looks (welcome to the Woman's world), but in reality she aged with impeccable grace.

A Different Kind of Film | Pentax

Well, Semester one is hectic, that much is true. When I've not been running between classes or zoning in on assignments, I've revisited an old hobby. Last time I went home, I decided to bring my old Pentax 35mm SLR back with me. I've been snapping here and here, so I thought I'd show you some of the results, along with a few oldies.

The Formidable French | # 1

The start of second year has come, and I'm overly excited to be taking a module in French cinema. I've always loved film (can you tell?) and wanted to take a deeper look into it, so this module seems perfect to me. We're only a few weeks into the course, but so far I've learnt that French stars from the 20th Century were beyond beautiful, so I'm going to do a mini-series to introduce to you the best of the bunch. 
Chronological order probably suits best; in order of beauty would be too tough a decision. So first to the mark is Jean Gabin, the original rough-around-the-edges hunk.
Born in 1904, he rose to fame in French cinemas as the gentleman to end them all, starring in classics like Pépé le Moko, La grande illusion, Le Quai des brumes, La bête humaine, and Le jour se lève. Looking at his portrait, it's no surprise that he and Marlene Dietrich shared a torrid romance for a few years, before it came to an end following the failure of a film they were starring in together. He's come to be considered a father-figure of French acting, and was even made a member of the Légion d'honneur.
As Gabin aged, he let go of the classic genre and turned his hand to policiers (what you and I know as cop films), playing on his new, fatherly reputation amongst French cinema-goers. Definitely prefer the young, dapper version of him.
No one's really sure what it is about Gabin that makes him so heralded, but whatever it is, it definitely worked in his favour.

La Ville Lumière | Summer Part 2

So what was the rest of my summer, if work was Part one? Well, the biggest impact on my summer was my birthday present, the fulfillment of a dream (of mine, and of many); Paris! City of love, fashion capital of the world, home of artists and poets and writers and everything else it's famous for, Paris was a dream. My sister and I made an ad-hoc decision to jump on the Eurostar, skip under the Channel and spend a weekend there. We went full tourist, and managed most of the major sights in two short days. Vertigo held me back from climbing La Tour Eiffel, but all in good time. 

Naturally, I fell deeply, desperately, and quite disgustingly in love. A true cliché, Montmarte is the most beautiful quartier of any city I have (and probably will) visit. That said, I'd like to point out that the Eiffel Tower is a glorified piece of metal. It's a wonderful landmark, but it is what it is; a tall, rusty iron triangle. Iconic, yes. Incredible, undoubtedly. Beautiful? Hmm. 
A holiday it might have been, but it wasn't without its benefits. I now have a solid (some might say stubborn) desire to spend the six francophone months of my year abroad at the Sorbonne. It seems that every member of staff at the University of Manchester is determined to put me off, but it's not going to happen. Whats more, Paris gave me back my painter's hand. How could it not? As soon as I got back I cracked out the watercolours.

As is everyone who sets foot in the city of dreamers, I was captivated by the architecture. I set to work on a Parisian window I'd snapped over there. You can see the result on my instagram. I fell back into painting mode and reached to my travels in Berlin for inspirtation.

JUST A WEEKJust a week after returning from Paris, I was off again. Where? Back to the good old rainy city; Manchester. It was that time again: University called, and after a long summer of failures, successes, and repetition, I answered willingly. I moved into my new house [unfortunately not without problems] and threw myself into life as a second year. I've spent the last 12 weeks diving into French Cinema, translating what seems like every literary text in the French speaking world, and haphazardly trying to set my year abroad in stone. It's been a mad one, but God it's been good.

        

  Fallowfield is beautiful as ever [read: Fallowfield doesn't look like a sh*thole when you look at it in the right light], Uni is hectic, Paris is wonderful, and I'm back.

Mr Bluesky | Summer Part 1

 It's been a while. Since the end of happydays, things have been pretty darn hectic, and so regular blog posts became an impossibility. What happened? A bloody whirlwind, that's what. You heard in the last blog post about my summer internship at Dickies, so I didn't get to see much of Mr Bluesky, but I have to say it was one of the friendliest places I've ever worked. The work wasn't particularly challenging as they only had a few weeks to train me, but my language genuinely improved and I met some really wonderful people. I even got gifts when I left - what cuties!

Having a 9 to 5 wasn't something I had done before, and having benefited from the relaxed timetable University offers, I wasn't used to working a full day. I hadn't been since Year 11. I finally got familiar with the phrase "TGI Friday!". But honestly, I couldn't have been luckier, nor could I have asked for a more welcoming team. I managed to put my German language into practice and gain a bucket load of customer relation skills. So that was part one of the summer!

There's no place like home | Days 79-90

Last time we spoke, I was in Germany and under the impression that the dreadful illness had passed. How wrong I was. It continued. I worked for a week, but my time away had gotten off to the worst possible start and my mind set was terrible. So I brushed off the dust, shrugged off potential judgments from everyone else, and made a decision that would benefit my health. I came home. I knew when I made the decision that I'd regret it on and off when I got back, but in the end I knew it was what I ultimately wanted. I've gone through my entire life making decisions according to what people would think of me and how they would react; it was finally time to make a decision for myself. So that's what I did. 
Since I've come home, I've felt infinitely better. I've seen a few friends, burned a lot of incense, had some wonderful bubble baths and generally cleansed myself of a lot of ill will. In response to CVs I sent out before I left for Germany, I've even had a job offer for "Bilingual Customer Service Assistant" at the international desk at a local company. I start on July 1st. So it's home sweet home and quids-in. There have been moments where I've kicked myself for catching that plane back, but I know it was the right decision for my mental well-being, so I don't regret it. The happy days have continued, and here's what's happened since I last saw you guys.

As before, that's all of my instagram snaps since my last post. They were all happy snaps, so why spare you the joy, hey? It's worth noting that they go backwards in chronological order, so from the bottom up you can follow me home from Lübeln to Salzwedel, to Berlin, to the sky over England, and back to sunny Somerset. It's actually hotter here than in Germany, so that's a one up!    Until next time,