#Métro Line 2

[famousinuniverse]

Monceau, Métro Line 2, Paris, France: Monceau is a station on Paris Métro Line 2 near the Parc Monceau on the border of the 8th and 17th arrondissement of Paris. The station is located under the Boulevard de Courcelles at the Place de la République-Dominican, on the edge of the Parc Monceau. Oriented approximately along an east–west axis, it intersects between Courcelles and Villiers stations. Wikipedia

#Monceau #Métro Line 2 #Paris #France

[chickenleggy]

Do other people also torture themselves after giving directions to someone on the street like "wait what if i'm wrong", "what if they didn't understand what i told them", like what if my directions sent them completely off course and now hours later they're wandering the métro like deadalus' maze and they'll never surface???? or is that just me

#mine #listen this girl asked for my help in english #she wasn't a native english speaker and neither am i #so already not ideal #then halfway through my answer my train rolled in and i had to shout the rest while getting #swept into the train by the crowd #it's been haunting me ever since #i've lived in Paris for a year now and i have a handle on precisely 2 métro lines #1 RER line and 1 tram line #oustide of that i'm a fish out of water #i have the weird irrational urge to check up on her lol

[archinform]

Van Buren Street Station, Chicago

1896, Francis T. Bacon, Supervising Architect of the Illinois Central Railroad system

John F. Wallace, Chief Engineer

J.L. Fulton Company, General Contractors

Van Buren Street Station, platform level view

The Van Buren Street Station, 132 E. Van Buren at Michigan Avenue, is a commuter rail station in downtown Chicago serving the southbound Metra Electric Line, as well as the South Shore Line to Gary and South Bend, Indana.. It is the oldest active station building on the Metra Electric line. The station is located in Grant Park to the east of Michigan Avenue at Van Buren Street.

One of the station's entrances is a replica of an Hector Guimard-designed, Art Nouveau-style Paris Métro entrance. The entrance was given to Chicago as a gift by the city of Paris in 2001. The Guimard entrance will be relocated as part of a station renovation to be completed by 2027.

The station was originally constructed by the Illinois Central Railroad (incorporated 1836; operated independently until 1972), and completed in 1896.

Vintage view of the station, with buildings of Michigan Avenue behind.

"Lake Front Improvement No. 98. Van Buren St. Station and Viaduct. Looking N. from E. end Harrison St. viaduct."

The Van Buren Station is the first Metra stop south of the Millenium Station, the northern terminus of the South Shore Line.

The station is completely invisible from the street, constructed below grade, one level below Grant Park. From Michigan Avenue, passengers descend stairs to a long, featureless tunnel about a block long, which splits into up and down ramps that easily confuse the visitor, and are inadequately labeled for the ticket office and main level, or down toward Platform 2 access.

I saw the Van Buren Street Station for the first time when I took a train to Hyde Park, and decided not to depart from Millenium Station, which can be a confusing space to navigate. Nothing prepared me for this underground slice of history, and its largely intact tile and terra cotta waiting areas.

The station is below the level of the park, only its roof surrounded by a balustrade visible from above. The pedestrian viaduct over its center leads to the eastern side of Grant Park and the Lincoln statue. Entrances are from the sidewalk on the west side of Michigan Avenue, and from the Guimard Paris metro and stairs at "Van Buren Entrance" in the screencap above.

The station's placement is illustrated in the above plan, in The Inland Architect and News Record, Vol. XXIX No. 1, February 1897, Special Supplement p. 2.

The station's plan (above) and section (below) were also reproduced in the 1897 Inland Architect.

"Francis T. Bacon was the supervising architect of the Illinois Central Railroad system from the mid-1890s until 1907. Bacon died in Chicago on June 18, 1909, at the age of 43, after having been in private practice for two years." - Wikipedia entry

The Engineering Record, Building Record and Sanitary Engineer, Volume 60, 1909, cited in the wikipedia entry, doesn't reveal any further details of his life.

In this section, the station wall is heavily buttressed on the left, under the ground of Grant Park. A balustrade surrounds the ground-level roof, and the train platform is at right.

A glowing contemporary description of the station from The Inland Architect details the Waiting rooms' features and construction materials:

After passing the ticket inspectors, those taking express trains turn to the right and those for local trains to the left, in the central distributing corridor. From this corridor the passengers are ushered into two magnificent waiting rooms, each 34 feet by 106 feet and 9 ½ feet high. These rooms, for beauty, substantiality and completeness of appointments and conveniences, will compare favorably with those of any railway station in the world, even though naturally restricted in height of ceiling. The floors of the wating and toilet rooms, also corridor, are all paved with English floor tile; the foyer, vestibule and south entrance are paved with ceramic mosaic, and the bas throughout is of polished Tennessee marble. The walls are faced with Maw’s écru glazed tile, 3 by 6 inches, patented lock back, and the ceilings are of cast plates of stucco, forming a design of Gothic tracery. The cornices and girders and also finished in stucco, the point of junction with the glazed tile walls being covered with a mahogany molding. There are two rows of cast-iron columns in each room, which are incased in écru glazed terra cotta, elaborately molded and ornamented.

The windows of the ticket offices are covered with elaborate, handmade, wrought-iron grilles, some of which are polished and electroplated with bronze.

Source: The Inland Architect and News Record, Vol. XXIX No. 1, February 1897, Special Supplement p. 2

The station originally featured, apart from two waiting rooms, smoking rooms, a ladies' retiring room and lavatory, and a matron's room at the south end of the building.

The men's lavatory, bootblacking stand, toilet and janitor rooms are at the north end. There are also private lavatories for the attendants and locker rooms for the railroad employees. All these are under the space of 14 feet wide and 300 feet along the park side, and already occupied by the entrances, and are lighted through ceilings of cast iron and glass.

Source: The Inland Architect and News Record, Vol. XXIX No. 1, February 1897, Special Supplement p. 2

The tiles on the walls were manufactured by Maw & Co., of Shropshire, England, and are supplied and set by their agents, Hawes & Dodd, of this city, and are chiefly remarkable for their evenness of color, highly finished glaze, and freedom from the technical fault known as "Crazing."

Source: The Inland Architect and News Record, Vol. XXIX No. 1, February 1897, Special Supplement p. 2

The Inland Architect article also noted the building's fireproof construction, including terra-cotta-clad iron columns, and that the entire interior was washable.

Not all of the station's original features remain. The cast-plaster ornamental ceiling is long gone, as are some of the more elaborate decorative elements, such as scrolled wall brackets and an ornamental drinking fountain shown in a period photo below.

No trace remains of the original marble and bronze recessed drinking fountains or decorative brackets above.

The column bases and bright inlaid flooring, in need of some restoration, are still in place.

The tilework remains intact, but the original ornamental ceiling has been replaced, as well as some other decorative elements.

Original mahogany waiting-room furniture includes this curved corner bench. The benches have brass feet, to facilitate cleaning the floors.

Detail of ornamental floor tile work at the edge of one waiting room

The ticket windows are located in the entrance vestibule leading to the twin waiting rooms.

Van Buren Street Station in 1907; exit stairs from middle platform to the Van Buren viaduct

"The east front of the building, 300 feet in length, shows a wall of one story, faced with cut Bedford stone - pierced with windows and doors." (Inland Architect)

The original awning over the platform was replaced, and is in a state of disrepair.

The recessed central area of the platform is directly underneath the Van Buren viaduct above.

The exterior still features carved stone decorations.

Detail of one of the carved stone elements.

"...even the copper down-spouts and their open heads are veritable works of art." ( Inland Architect)

At the far north end of the second platform, stairs allow passengers to exit to the Jackson Blvd. overpass, just south of the Art Institute.

Other Illinois stations designed by Francis T. Bacon:

Left:

Illinois Central (IC) Railroad Station, Springfield, Illinois; Springfield Union Station, 500 E. Madison St., 1896-98; 1901 view, The Inland Architect

Right:

Illinois Central (IC) Railroad Station, Decatur, Illinois, c. 1890s; View 1901, The Inland Architect

The center or second platform gives access to northbound trains. It's reached by stairs or elevator below the main station.

Click here for a PDF version of The Inland Architect v 29 no 1 of Feb. 1897 article on the Van Buren Station.

Links:

[yesthatssadirichardslove]

'Emily in Paris' season three – Netflix hit loses sight of the real city

LONDON

Everyone in Paris knows it: Emily Cooper (Lily Collins) is at the top of her game.

Since her arrival in the French capital in season one of this immediate Netflix hit, Emily has used her American influencer flair to successfully promote all manner of luxury products to the French market via her viral social media campaigns. And with all the usual drama along the way, she goes from strength to strength in season three.

The show’s love affair with big-name brands makes it a product placement dream. But it is, of course, the city of Paris that is its most successful product by far.

The show is not set in the real Paris, the French metropolis of more than 2 million inhabitants, but a parallel “Paris™” – a perfect version. This is Paris the brand, one that has been carefully curated by generations of writers, artists and filmmakers over hundreds of years.

Paris in the global imagination

Paris is everybody’s favorite fantasy city.

There’s Emma Bovary’s imaginary wanderings around the city in Gustave Flaubert’s 1857 masterpiece, and Amélie Poulain’s playful treasure hunt in the eponymous 2001 blockbuster. The Impressionists painted dreamy scenes of outdoor cafes and sunsets on the Seine. And who could forget Juliette Binoche’s firework-illuminated antics in Leos Carax’s 1991 classic "Les Amants du Pont-Neuf " (The Lovers on the Bridge)?

As well as the City of Light, Paris has always been a city of dreams, romance and beauty in the global imagination.

Like its on-screen predecessors, Emily’s Paris is instantly recognizable as “Paris™”. But it is simultaneously unrecognizable, bearing very little resemblance to the real Paris you encounter when you step off the Eurostar at the Gare du Nord. Indeed, even the fleeting representation of this train station in "Emily in Paris" is unrealistic.

When Emily goes to surprise her English love interest, Alfie, on his return from London in the middle of season three, she waits for him outside the station’s main entrance. But anyone who has arrived in Paris by Eurostar knows that travellers from London either vanish underground to the station’s many Métro lines, or turn right to head for the taxi rank at the side-exit. Either Alfie is walking or he is taking the bus – which, given these characters’ addiction to taxis, seems highly unlikely.

In fact, Paris has an efficient, affordable and comprehensive public transport system. The city is served by 14 metro lines, 58 bus routes and three trams. Most Parisians (65%) travel to work by public transport And the numbers who travel to work on foot like Emily and her boss Sylvie (Philippine Leroy-Beaulieu) are much smaller (10%).

Despite the enduring cliche, only about 5% of Parisians cycle to work like Emily’s colleague Luc (Bruno Gouery). Yet except for a couple of fleeting shots of the picturesque above-ground sections of Métro lines 6 and 2, Emily’s Paris is devoid of public transport. It is equally empty of cars.

Despite recent improvements in pedestrian access, especially along the Seine, Paris is still absolutely full of traffic. Taxis, cars, bikes, mopeds, electric scooters, emergency vehicles, dustbin lorries and roller bladers all battle for space on its always congested roads. And yet Emily and her friends spend hours sitting in outdoor café terraces without ever being affected by noise or air pollution.

Where are all the Parisians?

Emily’s Paris is also eerily empty of people. And those who do walk its streets are almost all young and attractive. This gives us dangerously unrealistic expectations of the city. “Paris Syndrome”, the shock experienced by tourists when Paris does not live up to expectations, is responsible for around 50 episodes of serious mental illness per year.

Real Paris is a bustling metropolis whose pavements are always crowded with people of all ages, races and economic status. Like other European capitals, Paris has seen a huge increase in homelessness over the last several decades. Whole areas of the city near the ring road and under bridges have been transformed into makeshift refugee camps.

These harsh social and economic realities are airbrushed out of Emily’s Paris along with rubbish bins, police sirens and the building sites that always seem to proliferate in this city.

During filming for season three, the iconic Notre-Dame cathedral was shrouded in scaffolding following the devastating 2019 fire – yet the cathedral appears completely unscathed in several shots of the river.

Some comfort can be taken in the fact that the show’s characters are refreshingly aware they are living in a fictional Paris. They frequently acknowledge that life in Paris is a dream and compare their lives to a film with a Hollywood (rather than “French”) ending.

Season three even begins with a dream sequence which is repeated in real life later in the same episode. This blurring of dream and reality reminds us that Emily in Paris is a guilty pleasure, a marvel of escapism which is about as good at impersonating Paris as Emily is at speaking French.

#yesthatssadirichardslove

[none-ofthisnonsense]

The métro I'm in has a bell that is ringing semi-randomly. Which is a problem because:

1) This line doesn't have bells on the trains usually.

1a) not only does this train have a bell, it has a BROKEN bell

2) if they added it for accessibility reasons it's not helping anyone by ringing all the time

3) it's annoying

[nice-tipps]

La Sardine 🐟

32 Rue Sainte-Marthe, 75010 Paris Métro Belleville Line 2 & 11

📍A few minutes walk from Belleville, La Sardine is a bar where I often meet my friends. It is located on the pretty Place Saint Marthe, where there are also several other bars

🌞In summer, it's very cheerful, the terraces are often packed and the atmosphere is very festive.

🍻Beers cost 5€ and 🍴there are several tapas to share which are good! The cheese boards are generous 🧀 and there are also boards with charcuterie 🐖

A typical Parisian bar as I like them and also very nice to celebrate birthdays 🎂

#paris #paris10 #sardine #placesaintmarthe #belleville

[scu-broncos-in-france]

Transportation in Paris

Written by Rachel Chung, July 2022

Public transportation in Paris is extremely convenient. In the States, most people often rely on a car to get around. However, Paris’ accessible modes of public transportation make it very easy to get around the entire city – oftentimes without even having to deal with any traffic. 

My personal favorite is the Métro. Trains usually depart every 2 to 5 minutes, but may depend on the specific line you’re taking. The Paris Métro usually runs from 5:30am to 12:30am Sunday through Thursday and from 5:30am to 1:30am on Fridays and Saturdays. The RATP website is a great resource for live information regarding each line’s arrival times, operating hours as well as any delays and important updates. 

When it comes to purchasing tickets, you have a couple of options. In Paris, “RATP” is the massive transportation network that operates the Métro, buses, trams, and the RER. “T+ tickets” grant you access to all of these transportation types and often come in either single-use form or bundle packs. If you are staying in Paris for more than a week, I would highly suggest getting the Passe Navigo Découverte, which costs 5 euros. The Passe Navigo itself doesn’t get you anywhere as you need to charge it at one of the kiosk machines. Based on your own traveling needs, you can charge your Passe Navigo for a week, month or year. Once charged, you can use your Passe Navigo for an unlimited amount of times during your charge duration. Just remember that the weekly charge period begins on Monday and ends Sunday while the monthly charge period begins on the first day of the month and ends on the last day of the month. Thus, in some cases, the Passe Navigo may not be worth it if it is already the middle of the week, month or year. Don’t forget to add your full name and a profile picture on your Passe Navigo. Occasionally, officials will do random ticket checks. If you don’t have your validated T+ ticket with you or your Passe Navigo that matches your identity card, you will be fined. 

Some other things to keep in mind:

Be aware of pickpocketing, especially when it is crowded and/or at larger stops and transfers.

Some Métro lines are older. The doors won’t open automatically at each stop; you will have to manually open the door by pushing up the lever.

Some Métro lines will not announce the name of every stop via the automated intercom. You will have to keep an eye on each stop so that you don’t accidentally miss yours.

Each Métro line goes in 2 opposite directions. You want to make sure you hop on the right one by checking the name of the line’s last stop. 

For buses and trams, remember to validate your ticket upon entering. Also, don’t forget to press the “stop” button before your desired stop. If the driver doesn’t get the message and there is no one waiting at the bus stop to get on, he/she will simply pass through.

Tickets can be bought at practically any Métro stop outside the entrance gates. You can either buy them on your own at one of those kiosks or talk to an employee at the ticket window. However, the physical Passe Navigo Découverte card can only be bought at one of those ticket windows. 

Make sure to stand on the right side when going up and down escalators. The left side is supposed to be for people who are walking up the escalator rather than just standing.

Say “pardon” if you need to get through or pass by someone. 

#france #paris #study abroad #scubroncosabroad

[skirtmag]

#Barbès–Rochechouart #Metro #Paris Métro #line 2 #line 4 #maxi skirt #cheeta print #Rouje Paris #Lesfillesenrouje #Esther Rollande #Actress #Parisienne #a Paris #detail

[cricketnationrise]

Books I read in quarantine: Part 1

So on Friday, March 13, 2020 something not that chill happened. We all know what that was. Anyway for me the silver lining was that I got a lot of my TBR knocked out by not being at work. I read over 150 books from mid-march to mid-october.

1. We Should All Be Feminists by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie: yes, it had been on my list for a while, yes it was awesome, yes, its still worth the read

2. Dragonquest by Anne McCaffrey: eh. listen. she’s one of the most prominent women in fantasy/sci-fi writing and that’s great. and maybe some the later books aren’t quite such a product of their time. but there are some aspects to the dragon “bonding” that feel especially uncomfortable and there’s a lot of violence toward women. so.

3. Briar’s Book by Tamora Pierce: I was in the midst of a Circle of Magic reread. Unfortunately for me, this one is about a plague. It’s still one of the best CoM books and I enjoy it immensely. Its definitely going to be harder to read from now on

4. The Tiger’s Daughter by K. Arsenault Rivera: loved this. empress and ruler of the steppes as lesbians that also battle demons? i needed a family tree, but that’s normal for me. still need to get to the next one in this series.

5. Fablehaven by Brandon Mull:  middle grade fantasy novel. i hesitate to say lighthearted because there are definitely some heavy themes, but all the fantasy creatures you encounter are cool AF and this one at least doesn’t end on a cliffhanger.

6. Magic Steps by Tamora Pierce: less strong than some of the others in the Emelan series, but has some cool worldbuilding that got better fleshed out in the Beka Cooper Tortall books. featuring UNMAGIC. v dark. also dance magic. and romance between two older characters

7. The Bookshop on the Corner by Jenny Colgan: delightful romance, not super explicit, very wish fulfillment if your wish is to run away from your life in london and live off the proceeds of a mobile bookstore in a tiny town. which. is not unappealing.

8. Street Magic by Tamora Pierce: features 9 cats, street urchins, and a VERY TERRIFYING wealthy widow straight up murdering kids for fun and games, stone magic

9. Scythe by Neal Shusterman: okay so take our world and then solve all physical ailments and have everything run by the cloud. except that death is still a thing but only if you are picked by a Scythe. first book in a trilogy. fast paced, amazing, violent (someone gets their head cut off), standard dystopia stuff. you’ll want to have the next two books ON YOUR SHELF

10. Wink Poppy Midnight by April Genevieve Tucholke: there is definitely someone out there who will like this more than me. one of them is my roommate. it was just too dark of a friendship/enemyship for me. lots of unreliable narrators. and like, they were just kind of horrible to each other? the actual plot was kinda cool and i definitely would have liked it more if it ended lighter

11. The Word for World is Forest by Ursula K. LeGuin: a giant of fantasy and science fiction. this was my first of her sci-fi stuff and the first of the hainish cycle that i’ve read. quick read. definitely makes you think.

12. The Haunting of Tram Car 015 by P. Djèlí Clark: number two in a series, but i didn’t know that going in. absolutely going to read the others. a cairo where all sorts of spirits and demons exist and actively interact with the “normal” world.

13. The Girl Who Reads on the Métro by Christine Féret-Fleury: i’ve never been to france but this feels VERY french. magical realism about bringing the right book to the perfect reader. super cute.

14. Fire Starter by P. Anastasia: first of a series. i wanted to like this better based on the magic system. romance felt forced. also it turned out to be aliens. which like, not a problem, but don’t spend 100 pages telling me its magic and then boom alien virus. maybe the others are better, but i’m not going to find out.

15. The House on Mango Street by Sandra Cisneros: i had to read this in middle school and definitely didn’t appreciate it enough. highly recommended.

16. A Witch’s Guide to Escape: A Practical Compendium of Portal Fantasies by Alix E. Harrow: a fantastic short story about reading, libraries, magic and supporting teenagers who need it. you can read it online or as part of Apex Magazine Issue 105 from Feb 2018.

17. On a Sunbeam by Tillie Walden: really long graphic novel about a found family in space trying to do a good job repairing various buildings and stuff. enough queer content for anybody really. gorgeous art.

18. Doughnut by Tom Holt: book 1 in the YouSpace series. very discworld-esq except that its our own world plus a pocket dimension that’s only accessible with a lot of math and a prayer. hilarious at times, but a decidedly darker tone than discworld so just be aware if that’s not what youre looking for

19. The Girl Who Could Move Sh*t with Her Mind by Jackson Ford: teenage girl in california has powers that let her move things with her mind. works as part of a government program with a whole band of misfits. she thought she was the only one and then someone else starts doing crime (TM) and murder with telekinesis and she has to stop them. found family toward the end. graphic violence toward the end. wildfires.

20. Ballad of the Whiskey Robber: A True Story of Bank Heists, Ice Hockey, Transylvanian Pelt Smuggling, Moonlighting Detectives, and Broken Hearts by Julian Rubinstein: what it says on the tin, basically. NONFICTION. this dude in europe had way too many day jobs that were actually crime and his story is WILD. last update i saw was that he was still alive, paroled from jail, and making pottery??

21. The Priory of the Orange Tree by Samantha Shannon: 800+ pages of epic eastern fantasy. some dragons. a witchy big bad. betrayal. queer romance as a main plotline. magic. seriously good.

22. Transcription by Kate Atkinson: flashback within a flashback within a flashback and reversing that path as you move through the book. woman just wants a secretary job during the war. somehow ends up as a spy??? i liked it, i keep meaning to get more of her books

23. Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire: first in the wayward children series. under 200 pages if you’re looking for a quick read. what happens to kids that have gone through a door, had an adventure, and then forced back into our world? they don’t quite fit. and when that happens they go to Eleanor West’s School. fantastic series that is still being added to (number 7 comes out next year). can be very dark/sinister at times. but theres a lot of queer representation and found family stuff to balance out.

24. Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire: book 2 in the wayward children series. focuses on Jack and Jill’s backstory of their time before book 1. they are from The Moors where a Vampire Lord and a Mad Scientist are battling against each other to keep the balance of the world with a village of innocents between them

25. Go Fish by Ian Rogers: short story published on Tor.com about a group of paranormal investigators. there’s a fish factory that no one will go in because it’s haunted and/or cursed and people have been dying from going in there

#we should all be feminists #dragonquest #briar's book #the tiger's daughter #fablehaven #magic steps #the bookshop on the corner #street magic #scythe #wink poppy midnight #the word for world is forest #the haunting of tram car 015 #the girl who reads on the metro #fire starter #the house on mango street #a witch's guide to escape: a practical compendium of portal fantasies #alix e harrow #apex magazine #on a sunbeam #doughnut #tom holt #youspace #the girl who could move shit with her mind #ballad of the whiskey robber #the priory of the orange tree #transcription #kate atkinson #every heart a doorway #down among the sticks and bones #wayward children

[famousinuniverse]

Monceau is a station on Paris Métro Line 2 near the Parc Monceau on the border of the 8th and 17th arrondissement of Paris. Wikipedia

#Monceau #Paris #France

[whiskynottea]

An Interruption in the 1st Law of Thermodynamics.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapter 10, Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16, Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26, Chapter 27,  Chapter 28, Chapter 29, Chapter 30, Chapter 31, Chapter 32, Chapter 33, Chapter 34, Chapter 35,  Chapter 36, Chapter 37, Chapter 38, Chapter 39, Chapter 40, Chapter 41, Chapter 42, Chapter 43, Chapter 44,  Chapter 45, Chapter 46, Chapter 47, Chapter 48, Chapter 49, Chapter 50, Chapter 51 Chapter 52, Chapter 53, Chapter 54

AO3

Beta-d, as always, by @theministerskat! Thank you, love!

And thank you all for sticking with me and for the love you’ve shown to these two kids!! ❤️

                                     -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- --

Chapter 55. Paris

I always loved traveling. Every time Lamb announced we were moving to another country, he made it seem like an adventure. And all I could see was another world waiting for us to explore -- new tastes, new smells, new people. And always an archaeological site with new findings to visit. That was living with Lamb. My trip to Zambia was the same. An adventure, yes, but always with an underlying purpose behind it. I had never traveled for the sake of it, for fun. Never, until Jamie took me to Paris.

Jenny knew. Of course she did. And she hadn't said a word, looking at me with disappointment instead, when I told her Jamie wanted to stay at home once he returned. Lamb had known as well, and he funded the trip together with Brian. A gift, they had said, because we both deserved it.

Jamie began teasing me about my plans for a road trip through Scotland the moment he freed his lips from mine. “Maybe you’d rather cancel Paris, Sassenach?” he asked with a mischievous grin. “Go to this road trip to the North Coast instead?”

“It was a great idea, you know.” I narrowed my eyes, daring him to utter one more word. “But Paris is…”

“Paris,” he finished for me, and pulled me into his arms again.

I claimed the seat by the window when we boarded, ignored how the armrest between us squeezed into me just below my waist and leaned into him. Jamie rested his head on top of mine and we watched Edinburgh get smaller and smaller, until puffy cotton clouds danced around us. He slept soon after, his excitement finally superseded by fatigue and jet-lag.

I found it impossible to settle down. Paris. We were going to Paris and my boyfriend was the best conniving liar I could ever ask for. I snuggled closer to him and let his warmth pulse through my body. Just having him beside me, feeling my unruly curls dance with each of his breaths, was enough. He tightened his arms around me in his sleep, and as we soared away from Scotland, I knew I was home.

--

The first thing we learned about Paris was what a maze the Métro de Paris was. Lines -- blue, yellow, red, purple -- crisscrossed the map on the wall opposite the ticket office, challenging us to find which of the 16 lines would take us to the station closest to our hotel.

Jamie was murmuring names of metro stops, showing off his nearly perfect French accent, while I scanned the region around our hotel on my phone, throwing names at him while he tried to find them on the map. We were getting nowhere, when a man came up to us, free maps in his hands, speaking English with a beautiful French accent. He introduced himself and asked if we needed any help. I could have kissed him.

“Yes!” My immediate reply came together with Jamie’s decline of the offer. “What?” I looked at him over my shoulder. “We’ve been staring at this map for five minutes!”

“I need one more minute…” he murmured, his eyes still scanning the innumerable stops on the map. I tried hard not to roll my eyes -- and failed.

One more minute my arse.

I showed Adrian the location of our hotel on Google Maps and five minutes later we jumped on train, panting from running down the stairs, Jamie still not talking at me. There were no empty seats, so we squeezed behind two huge blonde men with backpacks, while trying to move our luggage out of the way.

“Jamie,” I tilted my head towards him after we pulled away from the second stop, hoping that his indignation had subsided. I kept my eyes on him, waiting for a reply, wanting him to look at me. It didn’t work. He kept looking out the window, as if whole landscapes were unfurled in front of him. I would not allow him any time for egotistical male pride while we were in Paris of all places, and seeing that he left me no other options, I pinched his side.  

“Sassenach,” he hissed, but he finally looked at me.

“What’s wrong?” I asked, although I knew very well what he was brooding about.

“Nothing.”

“Jamie…” My tone wasn’t sweet this time. His name had become a warning. If his behavior lasted five more minutes, I would be the one not talking to him.

“I would have found it, ye ken. Wasna that difficult.”

“I know you would have!” He pursed his lips but didn’t respond. “It was hot in there, and crowded, and I just wanted to get done with it and go to the hotel! And Adrian offered.”

“Of course he did.”

“It’s his job, you know. You saw the vest he was wearing, didn’t you?”

“Mmhmm.”

“Asking people for help isn’t bad.”

“Mmhmm.” But the frown had left his brow, and his lips twitched at the side, as they always did when he refused to admit he was wrong.

“You’re insufferable,” I said at last, and leaned over my suitcase to kiss his cheek.

He smiled at me, his slanted eyes somewhat remorseful. “Come here?” he asked, kicking the luggage from between us so I could walk right to him.

--

The lady at the reception was polite, her eyes bored behind her rimless glasses. She certainly didn’t share our twin smiles or our excitement about being in Paris. She gave us two card keys, gestured at the tiny elevator while instructing us not to go up together because we had our luggage, and wished us a nice stay. Jamie went first and waited for me right outside the elevator door. We walked down the long corridor together and found our room at the end of it. It was simple, white with a royal blue carpet and paintings on the walls. I didn’t have time to comment on it or inspect it better, because the moment the door closed behind us, Jamie was all over me. One hand in my curls, tilting my head up to have better access to my mouth, the other roaming over my body, grabbing and teasing.

At last, I smiled against his mouth. “I need a shower,” I said, feeling the sweat coating my body. I made to sniff at him, ready to claim that he needed one too, but his perfume hit me, together with his musky scent accentuated from our travel and all thought left my mind, apart from one. I hadn’t smelled him for so long, it felt painful and comforting at the same time.

Jamie didn’t reply. He nibbled my neck and kept kissing me, slowly walking us to the bathroom while clothes were shed on the floor.

We remained under the water torrent a considerably longer time than a person needs to shower. Not that either of us expected anything different the moment we crammed into the small space together, laughing.

The water wasn’t as hot as I liked, but it was a compromise we both made after the first time we showered together. The temperature of the water though, was a trifling detail. What mattered was that Jamie’s hands slid over my body, his teeth locked onto the sensitive skin of my neck, his groans reverberating in the small room.

And my moans, if I wanted to be fair.

It was a dance, the way our bodies responded to each other. Jammed between the glass doors of the small shower with almost no space to move, my back on the wall, my legs locked on his waist, Jamie’s body was the only reason I stayed upright while his mouth made me melt. And when I felt him inside me, panting in my ear how much he missed me and that he loved me, a sensation took over me, freeing and tethering; I was connected to him with a solid, unfaltering thread, but I was still myself, and that was the most powerful feeling I had ever felt. I was his, but I was mine as well. Because Jamie knew all that I was and loved me for it. No matter how much time had passed since we felt each other last. He casted no molds to make me fit in, to make me change into something else. And for that reason I had trusted myself to him, knowing he’d keep me safe and cherish me like a gift. Even if I wasn’t perfect. We had chosen each other and that made us strong. It made us different.

We lay in bed for a long time after our shower, feeling each other, comparing the skin underneath our fingers with the one held by our memories. Refining the details we had forgotten.

The curve where his deltoid met his biceps was smoother than I remembered. His chest felt wider, his hip bones more prominent. I didn’t know if my memory had betrayed me or he had changed these past few months. The changes were small, almost imperceptible.

But the trail of auburn hair beneath his navel is the same, I thought with a smile.

When I glanced up to look at Jamie, he was studying my hair.

“I don’t think I’ll ever get bored looking at the colours of yer hair, Sassenach. They are light and dark, soft and strong. Like you.”

I laughed and shook my head, the curls slipping out of his fingers. “They are just brown, you know.”

He huffed. “Ye say the same for yer eyes.”

“Because they are brown, too,” I laughed, raising both eyebrows.

“No they’re not. They’re like whisky.”

“Amber?” I frowned, doubting him.

“Yes. Amber and whisky and gold,” he added, and before I had time to reply that I was not a wolf, he moved on top of me. A wicked grin was all I could see before he made his intentions clear and dove for my mouth.

It was two hours later, when I felt guilty enough to drag Jamie out of bed. “Come on, we didn’t come here to stay in a hotel room! We have to see Paris!”

“I have to see you,” he said in response with a lopsided smile, bringing a hand around my waist, his fingers trailing patterns on my ribs.

I tried to ignore how my heart thrummed in my chest.

How can he still do that?

“I’m here! You saw me,” I retorted and laughed. “And I will be right next to you, Jamie Fraser, even when we leave this room. Now get your arse off the bed and get dressed!”

When we finally left the room it was almost night. But it didn’t matter. The Parisian lights were everything I had imagined and more.

--

Our week in Paris held some of the most beautiful moments of my life. I had Jamie by my side, and the City of Lights to explore.

The first morning, during breakfast, after realizing that Jamie’s plans ended with our arrival and accommodations in Paris, I made up and wrote out our itinerary. Based on the map I got from the hotel reception and the “must-visit” posts I found online, I split the city in quarters and organized our trip based on which places we’d visit each day. Jamie kept silent while I babbled about our schedule, and ate his sandwich looking at the Parisians passing by our cafe. His eyes became wide when I finished my search and showed him the list of places we absolutely had to visit. Then he looked at my foolish grin, chuckled, licked the mayonnaise from the corner of his mouth and gave me a kiss that tasted of butter and cheese.

We walked along the Seine every day. We crossed the river through Pont des Arts to visit the Eiffel Tower and the Luxembourg Gardens, which felt strangely familiar after having read Les Misérables, and we waited for an eternity in the line to enter Notre Dame. We stopped to listen to local street bands, their music painting the city with colour, and kept the rhythm in our hearts for hours later.

No matter what the itinerary was for the day, the list always included eating fruit tarts, quiches, and baguettes with the most decadently delicious cheeses. It felt like paradise.

“Coach is going to kill me if I go back ten pounds heavier,” Jamie murmured, his mouth still full with the pain au chocolat he bought from the boulangerie we’d stopped at for a break.

“At least I’m eating healthy.” My blueberry tart had, at least, some fruit in it.

“Keep telling yerself that, babe. Ye’re lucky I like your arse plump.”

“My arse isn’t plump!”

“Oh, aye, ‘tis. I studied it verra well last night, aye? I should know.”

I pursed my lips, shooting at him my most intimidating glance.

“I’m in trouble now?” he asked a moment later, licking chocolate from his fingers.

“You certainly are, Jamie Fraser,” I answered, grabbed the chocolate pastry from his hand and bolted across the park from where we were sitting. I had eaten his pastry before he caught up with me, but didn’t manage to defend my tart before he took a huge bite in retribution.

After that, it was easy to convince him to join a free walking tour, following Marie as she showed us known and hidden gems in the city, and we listened to the stories behind statues and buildings, stories of the people who left their names woven into the history of this city.

Paris was magical. But I knew that feeling of complete happiness wasn’t only because of the city. It was because Jamie was so close to me again. I could reach out and touch his smile, I could rise on my tiptoes and taste it. He was here. We were together. For all the beats our hearts had missed these past months, they were still beating to the same rhythm. Six months apart and nothing had changed.

As we walked through Les Marais, staring at the art displayed in the various galleries, Jamie turned to look at me and the happiness in his eyes rendered me speechless. All my fears and insecurities melted, fading away. The light in his eyes, that loving gaze, was a promise of future days and belonging.

I had felt the future looming over us when we were apart. I had feared it, even. Feared the unknown that it brought with it. But looking at Jamie, feeling his strong arm around my shoulders as he pulled me into him, I knew.

Yes, I would go to Oxford and we'd be apart again. But I would wait for him. I would wait as long as I needed to, until the time would come and I'd wake up next to him every morning, nuzzle his neck and then try to convince him to get out of bed and make some coffee. I wanted to tell him that, tell him that we'd make it, that I believed in us. But I kept myself in check, as if saying the words aloud would break some kind of spell. I felt guilty and foolish for thinking that way, as I felt guilty for doubting that we would make it, but I still didn’t voice it, not wanting to dare fate to play with us.

Not that I believed in fate. I believed in our love and trust. But saying those things out loud would start a conversation about doubts and uncertainty, even though I would only claim the opposite. So I didn’t talk.

I didn’t talk about Oxford, or Michigan, about swimming, school, or the distance between us. I wanted to live each day with him now that he was close, savouring the sun’s warmth on our faces, the Paris around us and the feeling of holding each other’s hand, safe and solid on our side. So I rose on my tiptoes instead, brought his face down to mine, and kissed all my conviction into him. It was enough.

--

It was our last day and we were sitting on a bench by the Seine, looking out at the sun glittering on the water’s surface like stars that couldn’t withstand the summer’s heat and went in for a dive, when Jamie gave a long sigh.

“I think I know what I want to do with my life,” he said, eyes fixed on the water.

“Mmm?” I opened my mouth to tease him about being the best swimmer in the world, but clamped it shut again. Last year had been hard on Jamie, between his own dreams and his father’s, between swimming and the family business at Lallybroch. Michigan was ideal because it combined both prospects for Jamie’s future without forcing him to choose. Not yet.

It was a while before he spoke again. “Do you think that Ian and Jenny will be happy at Lallybroch?” he asked, his hand fidgeting with my fingers on his thigh. “If they kept the business, I mean.”

The business that his father wanted for him. I took a moment before I replied. “Yes, I think so. They are so excited about Lallider. Considering that Ian will go to business school, he will be able to run it. And Jenny…” Jenny would go to College of Arts, but that had nothing to do with Jamie’s question. It was my turn to sigh. “Lallybroch is a part of her as much as Ian is, I think. I hadn’t realized that, before staying with them after I came back from Zambia. Jenny belongs there. And even if they keep the business, she will always be able to paint.” I didn’t ask him what he was thinking, or why he would ask such questions.

Jamie didn’t look at me, his fingers now tracing circles on my open palm. “And my Da? How was he, with Lallider, with Jenny and Ian’s work?”

“Happy,” I said, and smiled. “And proud.”

Jamie’s face brightened up at that. “Maybe I can still convince him to change his plans, then. Jenny and Ian couldn’t stop talking about Lallider and their part in the whisky making every time they called.”

“Jamie?” I didn’t continue, willing him to look at me. When he did, his mouth was tight, but his eyes held hope. “What do you want to do with your life?”

A wistful smile. “I want…” He huffed a chuckle. “It might sound stupid.”

“Go on.”

“I can’t be a professional swimmer forever, ye ken. And our family business is great, and I want the best for it but it doesn’t… speak to my heart.”

“I know,” I said in a low voice, wanting to encourage him.

“So, I was thinking of teaching swimming to children with disabilities. Maybe having my own pool, at some point. I would like to help people and give them an escape, make them feel how wonderful it is to be in the water. There is no place for aquatic therapy in the Highlands, I think. Not close to Lallybroch, at least.”

My heart swelled and I smiled as I interlaced his fingers with mine. “I think that is wonderful, Jamie.”

“You do? It doesna seem like a silly dream to ye?”

I shook my head. “Silly dreams are all we have to guide us in this life. Dreams that seem impossible. But they’re not, Jamie. And I promise you that we will be together when you give your first swimming lesson. I will be there, just to remind you of what you have accomplished.”

He kissed me. It wasn’t passionate, or consuming. It was slow, reverent.

“I love you,” he said, his sapphire eyes glassy with unshed tears.

“I love you, too.”

We spent the rest of the afternoon making plans, trying to estimate how many years Jamie would give swimming classes in the same pool he’d trained as a kid while working at Lallybroch before he had enough money set aside to get a loan and start his own business. How I could apply for a position in a hospital in Inverness, or start my own private medical practice close to Lallybroch. We talked until the sun set and the lights of the city danced on the water like fireflies, keeping the smiles on our faces as we built the machination that would make our silly dreams come true.

Chapter 56

#thermodynamics #the first law of thermodynamics #Jamie x Claire #high school AU #college AU #Paris! #outlander fanfic #outlander fanfiction

[randomoranges]

Perfect Cities

Fort Edmonton

 This summer, the radio was on and I heard an interesting commercial for La Ronde that made me realise something. One of the first attractions there was called Fort Edmonton. It’s still around. *A moment of silence for La Pitoune.

 “Hey, when you came for Expo, did you get a chance to go to La Ronde?” Étienne lazily asked Edward one morning. His friend had arrived late last night and he had picked him up from the airport. They had gone to Étienne’s apartment to drop off Edward’s suitcase and he had freshened up, before they hit the clubs.

 By the time they had returned to the apartment, in the early hours of the morning, they had drunkenly stumbled on Étienne’s bed and quickly reacquainted themselves with one another, before passing out.

 Beside him, Edward rolled over to find Étienne’s green eyes silently observing him, amused. He looked different without his glasses and he supposed the same could be said about him.

 “No, we wanted to, but we weren’t here long enough. Plus, our goal was to visit Expo and there were too many people. Then I never really got a chance...” He mumbled.

 “Shame.” Edward was ready to get some more sleep, but the comment roused his curiosity.

 “How so?”

 “You’ll have to find out for yourself. It’s a good thing we’re going there today!”

 “What?” Edward barely had time to register what was going on that Étienne had bounced out of bed, grin in place, and he was making his way to the washroom, to presumably shower. Edward heard the end of what sounded like “it’ll be fun” and an eyeful of Étienne’s bare body followed it. He groaned and decided it would be best if showered as well.

 --

 The métro ride was longer than usual, but not unpleasant, as they made their way to the amusement park. Étienne looked like an excited child and Edward thought it was rather endearing. He had to admit that he was curious as to their outing and he wondered if Étienne didn’t have an ulterior motive for bringing him here.

 He barely registered all of the information Étienne threw at him, as he spoke a mile a minute, mixing French and English. The gist of it was that they had added many new rides since 1967 and that they had to do all of them. There was something about fireworks as well, but he didn’t catch that bit.

 There was no logic as to where Étienne brought him. First, they went to one ride, then they went the other way, and then his friend dragged him in the opposite direction to bring him to the last remaining wooden roller coaster on the planet. According to Étienne.

 Edward tried to keep up with not to pay much attention to the fact that Étienne had taken his hand and was dragging him left and right.

 They took a break for lunch later on, after a chaotic morning of loopty-loops and upside down twists. His throat was a little hoarse from the screaming, but he was convinced Étienne had yelled louder still.

 If anything, his stomach was no longer doing summersaults after that one particular ride and the poutine Étienne brought back looked absolutely delicious.

 For the second part of the day, there was more coherence to Étienne’s walk and he seemed less rushed. The pace was more enjoyable and it felt less like a whirlwind of blurry colours.

 The rides were all more daring than the previous one and Edward purposely complained about one being too scary just so Étienne would hold his hand. (That and the fact that Étienne had actually jumped out of his seat at the next one, when he scared him.)

 Finally, they passed by a rather older looking ride and Étienne stopped.

 “What is it?”

 “This is... this is what I wanted to show you.” Étienne stepped out of the way and for the first time, Edward saw the name of the ride. For a moment, he paused, not sure he was reading right.

 “Fort Edmonton? As in my Fort Edmonton?” He asked.

 “Yeah. It was during Expo. They wanted to have something from all over the country here too and well, Fort Edmonton had a nice ring to it.” He noticed the way Étienne’s cheeks reddened a bit and he couldn’t help but feel touched.

 “It’s not as exciting as Le Monstre or La Pitoune, but it’s one of the original rides and well, it’s named after part of you. I figured you’d get a kick out of it.”

 “What exactly does it do?” He asked, looking up at the rail above them.

 “It gives you a scenic view of the park in a train. You could also see the rest of the island and if it’s nice out, the view of Montreal is great too. We don’t have to go, but –” Edward cut him off by grabbing his hand and led him towards the waiting line.

 “This ride has my name, we must go on it. Even if it’s lame.”

 The wait wasn’t that long. There weren’t many people, mostly parents with young children, or tourists with cameras around their necks. By the time their turn came, Étienne went to the front row, skipping ahead of another young couple, and he eagerly patted the spot beside him.

 “It’s the best seat in the house.” Étienne explained. Edward sat down and felt his lover’s hand on top of his. He looked at him sheepishly and Étienne grinned. “It’s also the best seat to hold hands.” He added.

 The small train started and went on its merry way. Edward looked left and right to the view below, while Étienne pointed out interesting facts to him, all the while holding on to his hand.

 When they reached a clearing that gave them a good view of the city, Edward turned to his friend in time to see the setting sun reflect off his smiling face. The light bounced off Étienne’s glasses and highlighted the auburn in his hair. For a rare second, it seemed as though Étienne was at peace with the world and Edward could see the pride his friend had for his city. It was breathtaking. There was something unguarded about the expression on his face and Edward almost felt as though all of Étienne’s barriers had been put down.

  He had to admit, this was the best view of the city.

 FIN 17

 Started writing: July 19th 2015, 3:08pm

Finished writing: July 19th 2015, 4:43pm

Started typing: September 20th 2015, 1:16pm

Finished typing: September 20th 2015, 2:23pm

#pc: montreal #pc: edmonton #edward murphy #étienne maisonneuve #projocanondoko #fic #i remember where i was when i wrote this lamao #perfect cities

[extrabeurre]

2019 : C'pas la chienne qui va nous arrêter

J’ai vu une centaine de nouveaux longs métrages en 2019, ce qui est à la fois beaucoup et peu. Car cela inclut un grand nombre de productions vues en vidéo sur demande, sur DVD/Blu-ray ou via les différentes plateformes de streaming. Bref, au cours de la dernière année, je suis moins allé au cinéma que j’en ai l’habitude. Entre autres parce que l’expérience en multiplexe ne va pas en s’améliorant. Heureusement, c’est toujours un plaisir d’aller dans les festivals et dans des endroits comme le Cinéma Moderne, le Cinéma du Parc ou la Cinémathèque québécoise, où l’on sent encore qu’on est en présence de cinéphiles. Le fait demeure que, peu importe le contexte de visionnement, j’ai eu de nombreux coups de cœur au cours de la dernière année. Assez pour qu’il ait été assez ardu d’écrémer mon palmarès pour en arriver à...

MON TOP 10 DE 2019 

1 - ONCE UPON A TIME… IN HOLLYWOOD (Quentin Tarantino)

C’est de plus en plus rare que je voie un film plus d’une fois en salle, alors quand je vais en voir un à trois reprises, c’est qu’il a vraiment fait vibrer une corde sensible en moi. Je l’ai adoré la première fois, je n'ai pas arrêté d'y penser pendant une semaine, puis mon deuxième visionnement a été encore plus satisfaisant. Il y a la capsule temporelle de 1969, les pastiches de feuilletons télé et de films, les fabuleuses scènes de char avec la meilleure radio de tous les temps, et cette si belle bromance entre Rick Dalton et Cliff Booth, incarnés par deux des leading men les plus charismatique de notre époque, Leonardo DiCaprio et Brad Pitt. Puis il y a l'hallucinant climax sur fond de Vanilla Fudge, du Tarantino à son plus tordu et jouissif. Et cette fin inusitée, touchante, parfaite. C’est le genre de film dans lequel j’aimerais vivre — ou au minimum, que je vais revoir toute ma vie, remarquant assurément toujours de nouvelles subtilités. À cet égard, c’est le film qui a inspiré les analyses les plus fascinantes de l’année, de la part de critiques telles que Priscilla Page et Kim Morgan, témoignant de la richesse de l’œuvre.

2 - UNCUT GEMS (Josh & Benny Safdie)

Le film le plus anxiogène de l’année, propulsé par une puissante performance d’Adam Sandler en bijoutier juif avec un sérieux problème de jeu (mais avec quand même de bons instincts à propos du basketball) qui joue littéralement sa vie pendant une semaine. Les frères Safdie sont des pros pour crinquer la tension à son maximum, construisant un film à la fois hyper concret et pratiquement surréaliste, nous plongeant dans un microcosme finement observé, mais néanmoins savamment perforé de moments délirants, qui impliquent souvent des personnalités jouant leur propre rôle (entre autres, Kevin Garnett et The Weeknd). Il y a une urgence ahurissante dans Uncut Gems comme on en a rarement vu, alors que les magouilles s’empilent les unes sur les autres et que tout le monde court après son argent, au rythme de la musique hypnotique de Daniel Lopatin, avec le grand Darius Khondji à la direction photo. Une pure dose de cinéma.

3 - THE IRISHMAN (Martin Scorsese)

Voici un nouveau chef-d’œuvre de Martin Scorsese, un autre captivant film de gangsters épique dans la lignée de GoodFellas et Casino, sur fond d’histoire du XXe siècle, mais aussi un bouleversant film sur le vieillissement et la mort, avec possiblement la meilleure performance en carrière de Robert De Niro, aux côtés d’Al Pacino et Joe Pesci, eux aussi extraordinaires. Scorsese, un des plus surdoués raconteurs d’histoires de Hollywood, épaulée de sa fidèle monteuse Thelma Schoonmaker, nous maintient rivés à nos sièges pendant 3 h 30, savourant chaque plan de caméra, chaque réplique, chaque détail de cette fresque qui multiplie constamment les lieux et les personnages, tout en faisant adroitement des aller-retour entre les époques. The Irishman est un époustouflant festin cinématographique, débordant d’images fortes, de dialogues mémorables, de tronches de truands impossibles… C’est un film incroyablement divertissant, mais aussi une œuvre profonde et empreinte de gravité qui impose de lourds silences et qui hante le spectateur longtemps après le générique de fin.

4 - PARASITE (Bong Joon-ho)

Le cinéaste sud-coréen cosigne un scénario d’une ingéniosité machiavélique sur les inégalités économiques et la division des classes (cette ligne qu’il ne faut pas franchir). Bong s’impose par ailleurs plus que jamais comme l’un des meilleurs réalisateurs au monde, calibrant parfaitement chaque scène, chaque plan pour communiquer des idées et transmettre des émotions. Parasite défie toute catégorisation simpliste, passant harmonieusement d’un genre à un autre tout le long de ce qui est tour à tour une comédie satirique, un drame social, un thriller hitchcockien et carrément un film d’horreur, et ce, toujours dans l’optique de raconter son histoire du mieux possible. C’est à la fois une métaphore fascinante et tout simplement un formidable divertissement, un film drôle, intelligent, sournois, déchirant, intense… La réputation de ce film n’était pas surfaite : cette Palme d’Or était véritablement un événement incontournable de l’année cinéma.

5 - DRAGGED ACROSS CONCRETE (S. Craig Zahler)

De plus en plus, la culture devient un test de moralité ou un référendum politique pour certains. Les qualités artistiques deviennent secondaires à la question de si une œuvre correspond aux valeurs du spectateur. Il ne s’agit plus de raconter une bonne histoire, mais plutôt de véhiculer le bon message. Dans ce contexte, il est immensément rafraîchissant de regarder un film de S. Craig Zahler, un cinéaste aussi talentueux que provocateur, qui sait pertinemment que ce qu’il présente sera considéré comme « problématique », mais qui n’hésite néanmoins pas à aller au bout de ses idées, quitte à repousser les limites de ce qui est acceptable. Bref, vous êtes avertis : Dragged Across Concrete est violent, cruel, nihiliste. C’est l’opposé d’une petite vue réconfortante. C’est l’équivalent cinématographique d’un coup de poing en pleine face ou d’un couteau dans le ventre. C’est une histoire noire comme le goudron où il n’y a pas de véritables héros, certainement pas les policiers au cœur du récit.  C’est le genre de film sombre, troublant et nullement consensuel qui était plus courant dans les années 1970. En 2019, c’est un miracle de découvrir quelque chose comme ça.

6 - MARRIAGE STORY (Noah Baubach)

J'étais déjà admiratif du film, mais c'est avec une scène, une ligne de dialogue en fait, vers la toute fin, que j'ai été submergé par une vague d'émotion qui m'a accompagné jusqu'en dehors de la salle, jusqu'à l'extérieur de la Cinémathèque, jusque dans le métro, jusqu'à chez moi. Vous saurez laquelle quand vous verrez Marriage Story, qui porte bien son titre. Car même si c'est superficiellement l'histoire d'un divorce, le cœur du récit demeure le mariage qui a précédé la séparation. Au-delà des frustrations, de l'amertume, des désaccords, de l'exaspération causée par le processus judiciaire, au-delà de tout ça, il y a un homme et une femme qui se sont aimés, assez pour vivre ensemble, se marier, avoir un enfant. Le brillant scénario de Noah Baumbach est assaisonné de touches satiriques, mais il est avant tout profondément sincère, émotionnellement intelligent, nuancé. Personne n'est tout à fait un ange, personne n'est complètement un vilain, pas même les avocats joués par les formidables Laura Dern, Alan Alda et Ray Liotta. Et on aime également Charlie et Nicole, tels qu'incarnés par Adam Driver et Scarlett Johansson, qui n'ont jamais été meilleurs.

7 - A HIDDEN LIFE (Terrence Malick)

Après quelques films ayant eu moins d'impact (To the Wonder, Knight of Cups, Song to Song), le mythique Terrence Malik nous revient avec une œuvre magistrale qui revisite certains éléments de Days of Heaven (le milieu agricole), The Thin Red Line (la Deuxième Guerre mondiale) et The Tree of Life (la chronique familiale). On y retrouve tout la poésie et la spiritualité du cinéaste (souvent en voix hors champ bien sûr), ainsi que son amour de la nature, aussi sinon plus importante que les hommes à l'image, sauf lors des longs passages en prison, où l'on ressent cruellement son absence. A Hidden Life se démarque de ses prédécesseurs en étant probablement le film le plus engagé de la carrière de Malick. Racontant l'histoire de l'objecteur de conscience Franz Jägerstätter (August Diehl, qui a des airs de Klaus Kinski), un fermier autrichien qui fut l'un des rares à s'opposer publiquement à Hitler et aux nazis, ce drame historique souligne l'importance de ne pas accepter le fascisme et le Mal, même (surtout) s'il provient des figures d'autorité. Un message qui est évidemment encore tristement d'actualité, alors que nombre de chefs d'État imposent des politiques injustifiables moralement à travers le monde. La résistance a toutefois des conséquences, autant pour Franz que pour son épouse Frani (Valerie Pachner), laissée seule et ostracisée dans la majestueuse vallée où ils vécurent jadis heureux... 

8 - JOKER (Todd Phillips)

Porté par une performance magistrale de Joaquin Phoenix, presque de la trempe de celles dans The Master et You Were Never Really Here, Joker est un autre grand film sur la folie, celle des hommes et celle de la société. Tel qu’incarné par Phoenix, le célèbre clown criminel de Gotham City rit souvent de façon incontrôlée, mais est profondément mélancolique, souffrant de diverses maladies mentales (dépression, schizophrénie, psychopathie, etc.), en plus d’être apparemment intimidé, malmené, persécuté. Du moins, de son point de vue pas nécessairement fiable… Le scénario de Todd Phillips & Scott Silver colle constamment à la peau du Joker, alias Arthur Fleck, inventoriant chaque revers, chaque malaise, chaque humiliation, jusqu’à ce qu’il n’en puisse plus. Excessivement bien réalisé, maintenant une atmosphère glauque et tendue qui est accentuée par la puissante musique de Hildur Guðnadóttir, Joker est longtemps inconfortablement intime et personnel, nous forçant à être témoins de la souffrance vécue par le protagoniste et de celle qu’il inflige aux autres en retour. Puis peu à peu, c’est apparemment tout Gotham City qui pète les plombs et qui sombre dans le chaos, au grand plaisir du Joker.

9 - COLOR OUT OF SPACE (Richard Stanley)

Il y a de ces cocktails cinématographiques qui sont irrésistibles : le grand retour de Richard Stanley à la réalisation d'un long métrage de fiction, adaptant la nouvelle The Colour Out of Space de H.P. Lovecraft, avec nul autre que Nicolas Cage dans le rôle d'un père de famille obsédé par ses alpagas (!) dont l'existence devient surréaliste après l'écrasement d'une météorite. Cet hallucinant film d'horreur cosmique forme un genre de diptyque avec Mandy, la performance particulièrement excentrique de Cage étant égalée par la vision fantasmagorique de Stanley, la sublime direction photo de Steve Annis qui fait des merveilles avec la lumière et la couleur, la musique anxiogène de Colin Stetson. Des tonnes d'atmosphère, d'étrangeté, de terreur, de grotesque et de folie. J'ai adoré chaque instant.

10 - GLASS (M. Night Shyamalan)

Si certains de ses films ont été plus difficiles ou carrément impossibles à défendre, Shyamalan demeure un de mes cinéastes préférés pour la richesse thématique de son œuvre, particulièrement du phénoménal The Sixth Sense au sous-estimé Lady in the Water, alors que l’objectif des divers protagonistes était toujours de comprendre la vraie nature de leur existence, d’apprivoiser leurs pouvoirs, de retrouver la foi et ainsi de suite. Dans Glass, Shyamalan explore à nouveau ces idées, de façon moins limpide que dans ses meilleurs films, mais toujours avec cette ambition d’utiliser le cinéma de genre pour atteindre des vérités sur les êtres humains, leurs traumatismes et leur résilience. En plus d’être un scénariste inspiré et ambitieux, Shyamalan est un brillant réalisateur qui se distingue notamment par l’imprévisibilité de son langage visuel, privilégiant souvent les angles et les points de vue inusités. Glass, son film le plus méta, est rempli de caméras, d’écrans et de mises en scène. Du cinéma dans du cinéma. Ce n'est pas parfait. Ce n'est certainement pas pour tout le monde. Mais c'est une proposition aussi foisonnante que fascinante dont je ne peux que saluer l'originalité et l'audace.

#once upon a time in hollywood #uncut gems #the irishman #parasite #dragged across concrete #marriage story #a hidden life #joker #color out of space #glass

[nathancone]

A Second Decade of Movies

Ten years ago on Facebook, I compiled a list of every movie I watched, in order, from the first decade of the network’s existence. Now, here’s part two, covering the years 2010-2019. There are 754 titles below, though some are repeat viewings. The movie I watched the most? Harold Lloyd in “The Freshman.” My favorite movie from the last decade? “The Tree of Life.”

But I began the 2010s with James Cameron’s mega-hit “Avatar.” I’ll go on record saying the movie is still enjoyable ten years later, as I watched it again in 2019 with my kids to prep for visiting the World of Pandora at Disney’s Animal Kingdom. But--I also agree with those who say there’s little remembered from the film in the culture today. Can you name the stars? Recount the plot in detail? Mostly what we remember from the film is the spectacle of it all, game-changing when it was released in 2009.

At any rate, enjoy the list below! If a title is hotlinked, it will take you to an essay, interview, or related coverage on the film by yours truly.    

1.       Avatar 2.       I Walked With A Zombie 3.       The Paradine Case 4.       Whip It 5.       The Body Snatcher 6.       Coraline 7.       Everybody’s Fine 8.       The Blind Side 9.       The Hurt Locker                 10.   Citizen Architect 11.   Fantastic Mr. Fox 12.   Dance With the One 13.   The Happy Poet                 14.   When I Rise 15.   Mr. Nice 16.   Lemmy 17.   Haynesville 18.   Rashomon 19.   Cabin in the Sky                 20.   Toy Story 2 21.   Being There 22.   Modern Times 23.   Iron Monkey 24.   Kiki’s Delivery Service 25.   Alice In Wonderland 26.   WALL·E 27.   Goldfinger 28.   A Fistful of Dollars 29.   The Red Shoes 30.   M. Hulot’s Holiday 31.   When In Rome 32.   Toy Story 3 33.   The Godfather 34.   White Heat 35.   The Girl on the Train 36.   Mary Poppins 37.   Kapò 38.   Dr. Strangelove 39.   White Dog 40.   Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home 41.   Scoop 42.   Katyn 43.   Metropolis 44.   Days of Heaven 45.   Shane 46.   Ramona and Beezus 47.   Duck Soup 48.   Pillow Talk 49.   Monte Carlo 50.   Persona 51.   The Powderkids               52.   Machete 53.   THX 1138 54.   Ran 55.   Fantasia 2000 56.   Contempt 57.   The Big Red One 58.   Mid-August Lunch 59.   McCabe & Mrs. Miller 60.   Casablanca 61.   The Last Song 62.   Close Encounters of the Third Kind 63.   Sherlock, Jr. 64.   The Thin Red Line 65.   Modern Times 66.   Fantasia 67.   Mon Oncle 68.   Stagecoach 69.   Hallelujah 70.   Mademoiselle Chambon 71.   Double Take 72.   Black Swan 73.   Tangled 74.   The King’s Speech 75.   TRON: Legacy 76.   A Safe Place 77.   The King of Marvin Gardens 78.   Wings of Desire 79.   Head 80.   The Social Network 81.   Drive, He Said 82.   The Fighter 83.   Gold Diggers in Paris 84.   The Gay Divorcee 85.   The Love Parade 86.   127 Hours 87.   Never Let Me Go 88.   Forrest Gump 89.   A Film Unfinished 90.   How To Train Your Dragon 91.   Modern Times 92.   Malcolm X 93.   When I Rise 94.   Inception 95.   The Kids Are All Right 96.   A Time For Drunken Horses 97.   Our Hospitality 98.   The Ghost and Mrs. Muir 99.   The Mikado 100.   Something Ventured 101.   Five Time Champion 102.   Natural Selection 103.   Kumare                 104.    F#$k My Life 105.    Hesher 106.    Small, Beautifully Moving Parts 107.      Win Win 108.     Beats of Freedom 109.     Topsy-Turvy 110.     Taken By Storm                 111.     I Am a Fugitive From a Chain Gang 112.  Army of Shadows 113.  The Life of Emile Zola 114.   Rio 115.  East of Eden 116.  The Drummond Will 117.  Cooper 118.  Marriage Italian Style 119.  Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow 120.  Sunflower 121. Salt of This Sea 122. Casablanca 123.   The Happy Thieves 124.  The Art of Getting By 125. Patty Hearst 126. Breathless 127. The Tree of Life 128.  Nora’s Will 129.  Mr. Popper’s Penguins 130.                        My Man Godfrey 131.                        The Muppet Movie 132.                        Back to the Future 133.                        Back to the Future Part II 134.                        Back to the Future Part III 135.                        Rear Window 136.                        Q: The Winged Serpent 137.                        Cars 2 138.                        The Godfather Part II 139.                        Super 8 140.                        Dazed and Confused 141.                        All Night Long 142.                        The Tree of Life 143.                        Winnie the Pooh 144.                        M. Hulot’s Holiday 145.                        Snow Flower and the Secret Fan               146.                        A Thousand Clowns 147.                        Tokyo Story 148.                        The Smurfs 149.                        The League of Gentlemen 150.                        Malcolm X (1972) 151.                        Late Spring 152.                        Ladies & Gentlemen the Rolling Stones 153.                        The Princess Bride 154.                        Hud 155.                        The Boys 156.                        Poetry 157.                        Waking Sleeping Beauty               158.                        Martha Marcy May Marlene 159.                        Seduced and Abandoned 160.                        The Nightmare Before Christmas 161.                        The Third Man   162.                        Dressed To Kill 163.                        Echotone 164.                        Straw Dogs (1971) 165.                        Sapphire 166.                        Broken Embraces 167.                        The Wild One 168.                        La Belle et la Bête 169.                        The Tree of Life 170.                        Beauty and the Beast 171.                        Killer’s Kiss 172.                        The Producers 173.                        Camille (1921) 174.                        She’s Gotta Have It 175.                        La Belle et la Bête 176.                        The Descendants 177.                        Hugo 178.                        The Muppets 179.                        Another Earth 180.                        Rise of the Planet of the Apes 181.                        Alvin & the Chipmunks: Chipwrecked 182.                        The Artist 183.                        Arthur Christmas 184.                        The Curious Case of Benjamin Button 185.                        Midnight in Paris 186.                        War Horse 187.                        The Whistleblower 188.                        The Great Waltz 189.                        Manhattan 190.                        Annie Hall 191.                        The Help 192.                        Moneyball 193.                        Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close 194.                        Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, Part 2 195.                        The Lorax 196.                        Kid-Thing 197.                        Zodiac 198.                        Hunky Dory 199.                        Wolf 200.                        Tchoupitoulas 201.                        21 Jump Street 202.                        Crulic: The Path to Beyond 203.                        The Imposter 204.                        The Descendants 205.                        Victim 206.                        Revenge of the Electric Car 207.                        We Bought a Zoo 208.                        Titanic (3D) 209.                        Shame 210.                        The Jazz Singer 211.                        For Greater Glory 212.                        Lola Versus 213.                        The Avengers 214.                        Prometheus 215.                        Citizen Kane 216.                        Brave 217.                        Rio Bravo 218.                        The Black Hole 219.                        Thunder Soul 220.                        The Gold Rush 221.                        Children of Paradise 222.                        The Natural 223.                        An American in Paris 224.                        North By Northwest 225.                        Harold and Maude 226.                        Killer Joe 227.                        Gilda 228.                        Miss Bala 229.                        Bride of Frankenstein 230.                        The Graduate 231.                        Madagascar 3 232.                        Close Encounters of the Third Kind 233.                        Star Trek VI: The Final Frontier 234.                        TRON: Legacy 235.                        Rise of the Guardians 236.                        Lincoln 237.                        Finding Nemo 238.                        Hitchcock 239.                        The Illusionist 240.                        Les Misérables 241.                        A Christmas Story 242.                        Kit Kittredge: An American Girl 243.                        Silver Linings Playbook 244.                        The Apple Dumpling Gang 245.                        Zero Dark Thirty 246.                        Wreck-It Ralph 247.                        On the Waterfront 248.                        The Life of Pi 249.                        Argo 250.                        Bag It 251.                        Loves Her Gun 252.                        Good Night 253.                        Mud 254.                        Museum Hours 255.                        This Is Where We Live 256.                        Unreal Dream: The Michael Morton Story 257.                        Sake-Bomb 258.                        The Girl                 259.                        Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore 260.                        Return to the Hiding Place 261.                        The Purple Rose of Cairo 262.                        To The Wonder 263.                        Epic 264.                        There Will Be Blood 265.                        Star Trek Into Darkness 266.                        Lawrence of Arabia 267.                        The Birds 268.                        Star Trek: First Contact 269.                        Barry Lyndon 270.                        Star Wars: A New Hope 271.                        Saboteur 272.                        Hell’s House 273.                        Of Human Bondage 274.                        The Flowers of St. Francis 275.                        Monsters University 276.                        Old Joy 277.                        Out of Africa 278.                        Safety Last! 279.                        The Killing 280.                        A Night To Remember 281.                        Singin’ in the Rain 282.                        Sherlock, Jr. 283.                        The Smurfs 2 284.                        Planes 285.                        Sicko 286.                        Brief Encounter                 287.                        Meek’s Cutoff 288.                        Wendy and Lucy 289.                        Side By Side 290.                        A.I. Artificial Intelligence 291.                        Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs 2 292.                        Powaqqatsi 293.                        Machete Kills 294.                        Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back 295.                        The Royal Tenenbaums 296.                        Moonrise Kingdom 297.                        Bottle Rocket 298.                        The Life Aquatic With Steve Zissou 299.                        The Exorcist 300.                        The Darjeeling Limited   301.                        Dreamgirls 302.                        Dallas Buyers Club 303.                        Brewster McCloud 304.                        Cruising                 305.                        City Lights 306.                        Saving Mr. Banks 307.                        Frozen   308.                        Lili 309.                        The Gold Rush   310.                        Ninotchka 311.                        12 Angry Men 312.                        Lone Survivor 313.                        Her 314.                        The Nut Job 315.                        Cool It 316.                        American Hustle 317.                        Money and Medicine 318.                        Life Itself 319.                        The X From Outer Space 320.                        Captain Phillips 321.                        A Cat in Paris 322.                        Le Ciel est à Vous 323.                        Las Marthas 324.                        Rezeta 325.                        La Jaola de Oro 326.                        Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory                 327.                        Clue 328.                        Gravity 329.                        Nebraska 330.                        The Lego Movie                 331.                        Up 332.                        Liv & Ingmar 333.                        Before Midnight 334.                        Two Weeks in Another Town 335.                        Rio 2 336.                        All Is Lost 337.                        The Great Mouse Detective 338.                        The Adventures of Robin Hood 339.                        Stephen Tobolowsky’s Birthday Party 340.                        Belle 341.                        Bottled Up: The Battle Over Dublin Dr Pepper 342.                        My Dinner With Andre 343.                        Harry Dean Stanton Partly Fiction 344.                        The Lego Movie                 345.                        Bears 346.                        The Nightmare Before Christmas 347.                        Contempt 348.                        How To Train Your Dragon 2 349.                        Vertigo 350.                        Gojira 351.                        The Wizard of Oz 352.                        12 Angry Men 353.                        A Hard Day’s Night 354.                        Network 355.                        Picnic At Hanging Rock 356.                        Get On Up 357.                        E.T. The Extra-Terrestrial 358.                        The Drop             359.                        The Match Factory Girl   360.                        Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 361.                        Superman 362.                        Horse Feathers 363.                        I Married A Witch 364.                        The Grand Budapest Hotel           365.                        Il Sorpasso 366.                        Conde Drácula 367.                        Boyhood 368.                        Fun and Fancy Free 369.                        The Freshman (1925)     370.                        Intimidation       371.                        I Am Love 372.                        Fantastic Mr. Fox 373.                        The Freshman (1925)     374.                        The Freshman (1925) 375.                        Safe 376.                        Invitation to the Dance 377.                        Captain America: The Winter Soldier 378.                        Bicycle Thieves 379.                        Sherlock, Jr. 380.                        Whiplash 381.                        Ida 382.                        Tron 383.                        Return of the Jedi 384.                        Petting Zoo 385.                        Western 386.                        Cinderella (2015) 387.                        Lamb 388.                        Babysitter 389.                        The Thin Blue Line 390.                        Vernon, Florida 391.                        Gates of Heaven 392.                        Purple Rain 393.                        Sullivan’s Travels 394.                        Star Wars: Episode I 395.                        Safety Last! 396.                        Jesus Christ Superstar 397.                        Anatomy of a Murder 398.                        Mary Poppins 399.                        Inside Out 400.                        Love & Mercy 401.                        A Star Is Born (1954) 402.                        The Princess and the Frog 403.                        The Freshman (1925) 404.                        Zazie dans la Métro 405.                        The Treasure of the Sierra Madre 406.                        Lilo & Stitch 407.                        Monkey Kingdom 408.                        Foreign Correspondent 409.                        The Princess Bride 410.                        Tomorrowland 411.                        Rome: Open City 412.                        A Hard Day’s Night 413.                        Star Trek: Generations 414.                        The Roaring Twenties 415.                        Following the Ninth 416.                        Samantha: An American Girl Holiday 417.                        He Named Me Malala 418.                        Wings of Life 419.                        Singin’ in the Rain 420.                        The Peanuts Movie 421.                        Spotlight 422.                        The Good Dinosaur 423.                        Fantasia 2000 424.                        Reel Injun 425.                        It Happened One Night 426.                        Star Wars: The Force Awakens 427.                        Star Wars: Episode II 428.                        Concussion 429.                        One Hour With You 430.                        Enchanted 431.                        A Room With A View 432.                        The Hateful Eight 433.                        Speedy 434.                        Time Out of Mind 435.                        Cinderella (2015) 436.                        The Lady Vanishes 437.                        Naqoyqatsi 438.                        Suzanne’s Career 439.                        Bear Country 440.                        The 100 Year-Old Man Who Climbed Out the Window… 441.                        Bandidas 442.                        Star Wars: The Force Awakens 443.                        Virtuosity 444.                        The Big Short 445.                        Two Days, One Night 446.                        The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe 447.                        Bridge of Spies 448.                        Brooklyn 449.                        Michael Jackson From Motown To Off The Wall 450.                        Tower 451.                        Transpecos 452.                        Last Night at the Alamo 453.                        Claire In Motion 454.                        Zootopia 455.                        Bodyguard 456.                        W. 457.                        The Adventures of Pepper and Paula 458.                        The Jungle Book (2016) 459.                        Star Wars: The Force Awakens 460.                        Captain America: Civil War 461.                        What About Bob? 462.                        Love & Friendship 463.                        Dial M For Murder 464.                        Garfield                 465.                        Ben-Hur 466.                        To Kill A Mockingbird 467.                        Citizenfour 468.                        Finding Dory 469.                        Ant-Man 470.                        The Quiet Man 471.                        The Peanuts Movie 472.                        The BFG 473.                        My Dinner With Andre 474.                        Children of Men 475.                        The Last Temptation of Christ 476.                        The Secret Life of Pets 477.                        Chimes At Midnight 478.                        Brewed in the 210 479.                        Saturday Night Fever 480.                        The New World 481.                        Who Framed Roger Rabbit 482.                        Walt & El Grupo 483.                        Saludos Amigos                 484.                        The Jungle Book (2016) 485.                        The Last Picture Show 486.                        Beetlejuice 487.                        The King and I 488.                        Ride in the Whirlwind 489.                        Dracula 490.                        The Angry Birds Movie 491.                        The Sword in the Stone 492.                        Queen of Katwe 493.                        The Adventures of Ichabod and Mr. Toad 494.                        Beetlejuice 495.                        Dracula 496.                        Arrival 497.                        Tron: Legacy 498.                        Akira Kurosawa’s Dreams 499.                        Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 500.                        Boomerang (1947) 501.                        Safety Last! 502.                        South of the Border 503.                        Honey, I Shrunk The Kids 504.                        Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them 505.                        Jiro Dreams of Sushi 506.                        Rogue One 507.                        Moana   508.                        Once 509.                        Redes 510.                        Max Dugan Returns 511.                        Amadeus 512.                        The New World 513.                        13th 514.                        Star Trek III: The Search for Spock 515.                        Yarn 516.                        Paddington 517.                        Hidden Figures 518.                        Doctor Strange 519.                        The Lego Batman Movie 520.                        Clue 521.                        The Honor Farm 522.                        Mr. Roosevelt 523.                        La Barracuda 524.                        The Ballad of Lefty Brown 525.                        Beauty and the Beast (2017) 526.                        Cat People 527.                        The Adventures of Tintin 528.                        The Freshman (1925) 529.                        The Artist 530.                        Day for Night 531.                        Stranger on the Third Floor 532.                        Twentieth Century 533.                        Modern Times 534.                        Alien: Covenant                 535.                        Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Long Haul 536.                        Norman 537.                        Casablanca 538.                        Captain Underpants: The First Epic Movie 539.                        Alvin & the Chipmunks: Road Chip 540.                        The Man Who Knew Too Much 541.                        Cars 3 542.                        The Sugarland Express 543.                        Redes 544.                        School of Rock 545.                        Duck Soup 546.                        Cat People 547.                        Tower 548.                        War for the Planet of the Apes 549.                        Pete’s Dragon (2016) 550.                        Richard Linklater: Dream Is Destiny 551.                        The Double Life of Veronique 552.                        Dunkirk                 553.                        The Adventures of Robin Hood 554.                        Something Wicked This Way Comes 555.                        Young Frankenstein 556.                        Duck Soup 557.                        Tampopo 558.                        Beggars of Life 559.                        Tender Mercies                 560.                        The Princess and the Frog 561.                        Rogue One 562.                        Steve Jobs 563.                        Despicable Me 3 564.                        Close Encounters of the Third Kind 565.                        Koyaanisqatsi 566.                        Honeysuckle Rose 567.                        Wonder Woman 568.                        Creed 569.                        North By Northwest 570.                        Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets 571.                        The Nightmare Before Christmas 572.                        Altered States 573.                        Dealt 574.                        Star Wars: The Force Awakens 575.                        My Cousin Rachel (2017) 576.                        Get Out                 577.                        Planet of the Apes (1968) 578.                        Tomorrowland 579.                        Justice League 580.                        The Disaster Artist 581.                        Thor: Ragnarok 582.                        Beneath the Planet of the Apes 583.                        Twin Peaks: Fire Walk With Me 584.                        The Philadelphia Story 585.                        Escape From the Planet of the Apes 586.                        Ferdinand 587.                        Star Wars: The Last Jedi 588.                        Darkest Hour 589.                        Coco 590.                        Dunkirk                 591.                        Phantom Thread 592.                        Paddington 2 593.                        Arrival 594.                        Spider-Man: Homecoming 595.                        Conquest of the Planet of the Apes 596.                        Our Souls at Night 597.                        Mudbound 598.                        The Post 599.                        Germany Year Zero 600.                        Trading Places 601.                        The Shape of Water 602.                        Black Panther 603.                        Logan 604.                        The Simpsons Movie 605.                        Wings 606.                        Miss Congeniality 607.                        Never Cry Wolf 608.                        Something Wicked This Way Comes 609.                        Pride and Prejudice (2005) 610.                        Moana 611.                        Ready Player One 612.                        Viva Max 613.                        Red River 614.                        Bridget Jones’s Baby 615.                        Avengers: Infinity War 616.                        The Sugarland Express 617.                        Selena 618.                        Peaceful Warrior 619.                        Spider-Man 2 620.                        Stagecoach 621.                        The Godfather, Part III 622.                        Solo: A Star Wars Story 623.                        Jaws 624.                        Peter Pan 625.                        The Day the Earth Stood Still 626.                        Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs 627.                        Won’t You Be My Neighbor? 628.                        Daughters of the Dust 629.                        Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan 630.                        Time Bandits 631.                        Incredibles 2 632.                        Avatar 633.                        On the Waterfront 634.                        Forks Over Knives 635.                        It Happened One Night 636.                        Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl 637.                        Ant-Man and the Wasp 638.                        A Quiet Place 639.                        Full Metal Jacket 640.                        The Thin Blue Line 641.                        The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez 642.                        Teen Titans Go! To The Movies 643.                        The Reluctant Dragon 644.                        Tokyo Story 645.                        The Karate Kid (1984) 646.                        Blazing Saddles 647.                        The Black Cauldron

648.                        Back to the Future 649.                        2001: A Space Odyssey 650.                        Blaze 651.                        In Old Arizona 652.                        Crazy Rich Asians 653.                        Ocean’s 8 654.                        Star Wars: A New Hope 655.                        The Tree of Life (Extended Cut) 656.                        First Man 657.                        Food, Inc. 658.                        Napoleon Dynamite 659.                        Halloween (2018) 660.                        Christopher Robin 661.                        Battle for the Planet of the Apes               662.                        Paris, Je t’aime 663.                        Breakfast at Tiffany’s 664.                        Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald 665.                        Back to the Future, Part II 666.                        Koyaanisqatsi 667.                        Creed II                 668.                        True Stories 669.                        Ralph Breaks the Internet 670.                        Spider-Man Into the Spider-Verse 671.                        The Last Command 672.                        Mary Poppins Returns 673.                        The Primary Instinct 674.                        Rise of the Planet of the Apes 675.                        An Inconvenient Truth 676.                        A Christmas Story 677.                        BlacKkKlansman 678.                        Annihilation 679.                        A Star Is Born (2018) 680.                        That’s Entertainment, Part 2 681.                        Close Encounters of the Third Kind 682.                        Teen Titans Go! To The Movies 683.                        Back to the Future, Part III 684.                        Stranger Than Paradise 685.                        On the Basis of Sex 686.                        Bohemian Rhapsody 687.                        The Favourite 688.                        First Reformed 689.                        Dawn of the Planet of the Apes 690.                        Cold War 691.                        They Shall Not Grow Old 692.                        The Iron Orchard 693.                        Free Solo 694.                        Captain Marvel 695.                        The Little Mermaid 696.                        Pirates of the Caribbean: At World’s End 697.                        Wasted! The Story of Food Waste 698.                        Green Book 699.                        La Bamba 700.                        Running for Good 701.                        Us 702.                        War for the Planet of the Apes 703.                        I, Tonya                 704.                        Avengers: Endgame 705.                        Amazing Grace (2019) 706.                        Shazam! 707.                        Testament 708.                        Vice 709.                        Raiders of the Lost Ark 710.                        The Umbrellas of Cherbourg 711.                        Planet of the Apes (2001) 712.                        Aladdin (2019) 713.                        The Ballad of Gregorio Cortez 714.                        Detour 715.                        The Hitch-Hiker 716.                        The Border 717.                        Toy Story 4 718.                        Flight 719.                        Do the Right Thing 720.                        Midnight Cowboy 721.                        Spider Man: Far From Home 722.                        Some Like It Hot 723.                        Strangers on a Train 724.                        Red Hook Summer 725.                        All That Heaven Allows 726.                        Cowspiracy 727.                        Once Upon a Time… in Hollywood 728.                        Zodiac 729.                        Wings of Desire                 730.                        The Blues Brothers 731.                        The Farewell 732.                        Super Size Me 733.                        Safety Last! 734.                        Hustlers 735.                        Raiders of the Lost Ark 736.                        The Game Changers 737.                        Downton Abbey 738.                        The Body Snatcher 739.                        The Lion King (2019) 740.                        Ad Astra 741.                        The Terminator 742.                        The Irishman 743.                        Frozen II 744.                        Our Dancing Daughters 745.                        The Castaway Cowboy 746.                        The Thin Man 747.                        Linda Ronstadt: The Sound of My Voice 748.                        Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker 749.                        Doctor Sleep 750.                        A Hidden Life 751.                        Bombshell 752.                        Fed Up 753.                        Miracle on 34th Street 754.                        Brittany Runs a Marathon

#movies #decade in review

[nice-tipps]

La Parade 🦚

2 Rue des Goncourt, 75011 Paris Métro Goncourt Line 11 or Parmentier Line 3

🦚La Parade is a very nice restaurant to have dinner with friends. Similar to ALMA restaurant, it is a little more fancy and less crowded 🗒️The menu offers plenty of plates to share (≃10€ each) with many vegetarian and gluten-free options 🥟The vegetarian egg rolls, vegetarian banh cuon and farm pork ravioli are delicious with Asian inspiration 🍷🍸The restaurant offers natural wines & cocktails with or without alcohol 💸A perfect place to have dinner with friends, but be careful, prices can rise quickly!

💻 Website ☎️ [phone] 👥 Instagram

#paris #paris11 #diner #goncourt #belleville #parmentier

[splendidlyimperfect]

Written for Gratsu Bingo/Week; prompt: time [zones]

—–

When Gray’s girlfriend dumps him right before Christmas, he’s stuck with a non-refundable, three-week holiday to Paris. Without another choice, he agrees to go with a stranger - a man who is remarkably charismatic, and a lot cuter than Gray is willing to admit. It’s supposed to be platonic (Gray’s straight, right?), but Paris isn’t called the City of Love for nothing. 

Chapter Summary:  Gray and Natsu arrive in Paris, but it's more overwhelming than Natsu was expecting.

Chapters (2/?): 1 | 2 Rating: General Audiences Relationships: Natsu Dragneel/Gray Fullbuster Characters: Natsu Dragneel, Gray Fullbuster, Cana Alberona Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Holidays, Vacation, Christmas, Paris (City), Romantic Fluff, Mutual Pining, Holding Hands, First Kiss, Trans Character, Falling In Love, Strangers to Lovers, Romance, Gray thinks he’s straight but he’s not, Natsu falls in love hard, Gray speaks French because reasons, Tumblr: FTLGBTales

-----

Eventually, Natsu falls asleep with his forehead pressed to the seat in front of him. Gray hesitates – he can’t imagine it’s comfortable, so he tugs on Natsu’s shoulder to get him to lean back in his seat. Instead, Natsu mumbles something incoherent and tips sideways, head dropping to Gray’s shoulder.

Heat creeps into Gray’s cheeks as he realizes that his arm is now wrapped around Natsu, and he’s stuck like this unless he wants to push Natsu away and risk waking him up. Which he won’t do, because he’s not an asshole.

Gray ends up half-watching ‘Road to El Dorado,’ and half trying very hard not to focus on the way Natsu’s breathing against him. At some point, Natsu shifts so his face is pressed against Gray’s shoulder and grumbles in his sleep when the armrest digs into his stomach. Gray moves it up and Natsu curls up against him, tossing an arm across his stomach and making a happy, sleepy sound.

Gray’s just making sure Natsu’s comfortable, so he doesn’t throw up. That’s all.

Gray manages to doze off for a couple hours, and eventually wakes up when the captain announces their landing. Natsu, who is almost in Gray’s lap at this point, sleeps through the entire descent with a small smile on his lips. Gray feels bad waking him up from whatever dream he’s having.  

“We’re here,” he says softly, nudging Natsu out of his sleep as they taxi down the runway. Natsu grumbles, then sits up slowly and yawns. He looks confused for a second, then his eyes widen, and he quickly looks away from Gray, rubbing at the lines on his cheek from Gray’s sweater.

“Sorry,” he says.

“It’s okay,” Gray says. “You feeling better?”

Natsu nods. “Yeah,” he says. “Can’t believe I was out for the whole flight. You’re pretty comf—” He stops, looking down at his hands. “Uh, pretty nice. For—to let me sleep. On you.”

Continue reading on AO3

“Oh,” Gray says, mind stuck on the fact that Natsu was about to say ‘comfortable.’ “That’s… it’s fine.”

Natsu stretches as best he can in the tiny seat, and when his shirt rides up, it exposes a tattoo on his stomach. Gray can’t quite make it out, but it follows the curve of Natsu’s hipbone down to his—

“It’s a rabbit,” Natsu says, and Gray blinks when he realizes he’s staring. Natsu shuffles in his seat to give Gray a better view of the tattoo – it’s heavily stylized and drawn in bright red and black. “This one’s an otter,” Natsu adds, gesturing to his other hip.

“Um,” Gray says, because he suddenly can’t figure out how his tongue works. “Why, uh… why those? Animals?”  

Natsu grins at him, tugging his shirt back down. “They’re trickster spirits from Mi’kmaq folklore,” he explains. “My grampa used to tell me stories about them all the time – I got them when he passed away.”

“Oh,” Gray says. Part of him wants to run his fingers over the dark ink, and he’s not sure why. “That’s, um… good. Not—I don’t mean good that he passed, shit. No, I’m, uh, I’m sorry about that. I just meant the—that’s that cool reason to get them?”

Gray can feel heat creeping into his cheeks and is incredibly glad that he’s good at hiding when he’s blushing.

“Thanks,” Natsu says, and Gray can hear the amusement in his voice. “I’ll have to show you the rest of them later.”

An image of Natsu pulling his shirt off to show Gray the tattoo that curls up his neck and down to his fingers makes Gray’s cheeks burn hotter. “Um,” he says. “Good. Yes. That’s…”

Thankfully he’s cut off by the captain announcing their arrival at the gate, and his embarrassment is quickly replaced by awe.

They’re in Paris.

-----

Paris is enormous.

The airport is loud and bright, and Natsu stares around them at the chaos with a feeling of wonder. Elation overrides the fog of confusion from his nap – as well as the time change – and Gray has to grab his arm several times to keep him from walking into things while he’s looking around.

Everything is perfect until they walk into the Métro station, and they immediately get separated.

Shit. A flash of panic runs through Natsu when he looks behind him and Gray isn’t there – just a crowd of busy people he doesn’t recognize. He calls Gray’s name, but he can barely hear himself over the roar of the crowd and the announcements of departures and arrivals.

Heat creeps up the back of Natsu’s neck as he looks around frantically, trying to find Gray’s dark dreadlocks in the crowd. Gray had put a jacket on when they’d picked up their luggage, but Natsu can’t remember what color it is. Someone shouts behind Natsu and he jumps, fingers tightening around his backpack straps as he’s pushed forward by another scowling figure.

It’s too much. The lights seem brighter than before, and suddenly there’s more people, surging off the train as it pulls to a screeching stop. Everything smells like cigarette smoke and Natsu starts to feel dizzy, trying to suck in a breath as his heart slams against his chest.

“There you are.”

A hand closes around Natsu’s wrist and he’s about to pull away when he realizes it’s Gray. Relief washes over him as he takes a shaky breath, trying to ignore all the people crowding around them.

“Hey, are you okay?” Gray slips his fingers between Natsu’s and pulls him close, reaching out uncertainly with his other hand and squeezing Natsu’s arm. Natsu wants to say yes, but his heart is still pounding, so he just shakes his head and keeps himself as close to Gray as possible.

“C’mon,” Gray says gently, tugging on Natsu’s hand. “This one’s us.”

Gray doesn’t let go of Natsu’s hand, even once they’re standing on the train. Natsu doesn’t miss how he shifts so he’s between Natsu and everyone else, and Natsu presses himself up against the window so he can see where they’re going. Gray squeezes his hand, and Natsu focuses on the feel of Gray’s fingers instead of the sound of a thousand people around them.

They get lost three times before finally making it to their hotel, and when they finally find it and walk inside, Natsu lets out a huge sigh of relief. He lets go of Gray’s hand and sets his backpack on the floor, then leans against the check-in counter to keep his balance.

“We’ll be in the room soon,” Gray says, and the gentle cadence of his voice keeps Natsu grounded. Embarrassment creeps into his cheeks. He should have known better and taken an Ativan before getting off the plane, but he’d been too excited and still up on the high of his inconvenient crush on Gray.

“Sorry,” he says, rubbing the back of his neck.

“It’s okay,” Gray says. He touches Natsu’s arm, leaving his hand there awkwardly for a second before nodding and turning to the woman at the counter.

Natsu closes his eyes and takes several deep breaths. The relief of being away from the crowds and in a near-empty building expands in his chest, and with each exhale, he lets go of a bit more of the anxiety. He’s okay. He’s safe.

Gray and the woman at the check-in desk talk in the background as Natsu pulls out his phone to check the time. 8:37 p.m. Natsu’s pretty sure that’s around four in the morning back home. Even after the nap on the plane, he’s exhausted, and his neck is still sore from the awkward way he’d leaned on Gray. Not that he’s complaining, because waking up with Gray’s arm wrapped around him and his face pressed into the crook of Gray’s neck had been both embarrassing and incredibly comfortable.  

“Tu n’as pas d’autre chambres?”

Gray’s question pulls Natsu out of his daydream and he frowns, looking over at the computer screen. The woman has the reservation pulled up and is pointing to the words Aucun Changement printed in large letters at the top of the screen.  

“No change,” she says, shaking her head.

Gray sighs, looking over at Natsu. “I, uh… they can’t change the room,” he explains, cheeks flushing pink. “It’s, um… well, I booked it with my ex, so—”

“Seulement un lit, hein?” Natsu guesses. Gray’s eyes widen in surprise and Natsu grins at him. “Pas de problème,” Natsu adds. “T’es chanceux, je ne ronfle pas.”

Gray stares at Natsu for a few seconds before slowly nodding and turning back to the woman. “D’accord,” he says, reaching out for the keys. The woman looks between the two of them and for a second, Natsu thinks she might say something. But she shrugs, then reaches under the desk and pulls out two keycards, handing one to each of them.

“Cinquième étage,” she says, pointing down the hallway at the elevator. “Bienvenue à Paris!”

-----

As soon as they walk into the hotel room, Natsu drops his suitcase on the floor and flops face-first onto the bed. He mumbles something unintelligible into the duvet, then hums happily as he kicks off his shoes and shimmies up toward the pillows. Gray stares at Natsu’s ass for a few seconds before realizing what he’s doing and looking away.

He’s never thought about dating a guy before, but Natsu’s starting to make it look pretty damn appealing. Or maybe it’s just Natsu. Either way, something’s going on, and Gray’s not sure how to feel about it.

“Are you okay?” he asks as he sets his suitcase on the side table. He can see the lights of the Eiffel Tower out the window, but he ignores them and sits down on the edge of the bed instead. Seeing Natsu’s panic on the Métro had been unsettling.

“Mm.” Natsu rolls over, rubbing his face and peeking up at Gray. His cheeks are still a bit red, but that could just be from the cold. “Sorry.”

“No, I didn’t mean for you to apologize,” Gray reassures him. “You just seemed pretty freaked out.”

Natsu makes a face. “I just get kinda overwhelmed sometimes? By crowds and stuff. I usually take something for the anxiety, but I wasn’t expecting that many people. Which is stupid, ‘cause it’s, y’know, Paris.”

“I’m not a huge fan of crowds either,” Gray admits, pulling his legs up onto the bed and tucking them under him. “We’ll just have to make sure we go to places when they’re not busy.” It takes a second for him to realize what he’s said, and he immediately feel his cheeks getting hot. “That’s—if you wanna go to things. With me, I mean. You don’t have to, we can just – I mean, I don’t know what you wanna do, but you don’t have to feel obligated to—”

“Gray.” Natsu reaches over and pokes his thigh. “You’re babbling.” He gives Gray a grin that shows off the tips of his pointy incisors. “Of course I wanna do stuff with you. That’s why we came here.”  

“…oh.”

A silence falls between them, but it isn’t awkward like Gray was expecting.

“Sorry about earlier,” he says eventually. “I, uh, didn’t realize you spoke French.” The shock of hearing Natsu speak perfect French with a slight, unfamiliar accent had done funny things to Gray’s stomach, but he’s fairly certain he’s over it now.

Natsu pushes himself up and tugs off his sweater. His shirt rides up again, showing off the tattoos on his hips and one up his ribs, and the funny feeling in Gray’s stomach immediately resurfaces.

“Yeah, I’m Métis,” Natsu says after he’s untangled his arms. “I speak a bit of Mi’kmaq too, with my grandma, but she’s getting pretty old, so she doesn’t remember much.”

“What about your parents?” Gray asks. He shifts to the side as Natsu tosses his hoodie over the edge of the bed, and when Natsu resettles, their knees touch.

“My n’mi – grandma – raised me,” Natsu replies, neatly dodging the question. Gray’s tempted to ask but doesn’t want to pry. “What about you? Is your family French?”

“One of my moms is Québecois,” Gray replies. “My other mom immigrated from Lebanon a couple years before I was born.”

“Sweet! Do you speak Arabic, too?”

Gray nods.

He’s surprised by how easy it is to fall into casual small talk about their lives. Gray learns that Natsu has an estranged older brother, and a little sister that he helped to raise. He’s taking the Indigenous Social Work program at McGill University in Montréal, he loves RuPaul’s Drag Race, he has a cat named Happy, and he has seventeen tattoos.

Gray doesn’t contribute much to the conversation, just listens and watches as Natsu tells his stories. Natsu never stops moving – his gestures are as wide as his smile, and he gives small touches as he talks. Sometimes he nudges Gray’s knee, other times he taps the back of Gray’s arm or rests his hand on Gray’s thigh to emphasize a point. Each time the touch feels electric, and Gray finds himself shifting closer so that Natsu will do it more often.

As the sun sets and the room fills with a golden glow, Natsu flops back onto the pillows, and eventually Gray joins him, trying to keep his cheeks from burning when Natsu’s ankle ends up resting over his. When they both finally fall asleep – still fully dressed – the warmth of Natsu’s fingers on his arm makes Gray feel more comfortable than he has in a long, long time. 

#fairy tail #ftlgbtales #gratsubingo2019 #gratsu #ftlgbtfics #gray fullbuster #natsu dragneel #prmopt: time #fanfic #prompt #fluff #my fic