‘Jean-Louis Trintignant was born in 1930 in Piolenc in the South of France as the son of a wealthy industrialist. He moved to Paris in 1950 to study drama and appeared in a number of theatre productions in the early 1950s including Responsabilité Limitée. His first major film role came in Roger Vadim’s international hit Et Dieu crea la femme (And God Created Woman, 1956) opposite Brigitte Bardot. The film brought him widespread attention, but his career was interrupted soon after by compulsory military service in Algiers.

‘By the time he returned from duty, he’d made up his mind to give up acting, but an offer to star as Hamlet in Paris changed his mind. Critical acclaim lead to further film roles in Vadim’s Les Liaisons Dangereuses alongside Jean Moreau and Gerard Phillipe, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze’s romantic comedy Le Coeur battant (The French Game, 1960), Abel Gance’s Austerlitz (1960) and Georges Franju’s Pleins feux sur l’assassin (Spotlight on a Murderer, 1961).

‘In 1962, Trintignant starred as a right-wing terrorist on the run in Alain Cavalier’s political thriller Le Combat dans lîle (Fire and Ice). He then went to Italy to co-star with Vittorio Gassman in Il Sorpasso (1962), which was so successful that the two actors teamed up again in a sequel Il Successo (1963). The films that followed were variable in quality with Costa-Gavras’s all-star Compartiment tueurs (The Sleeping Car Murders, 1965) a highlight.

‘At the 1966 Cannes Film Festival, Trintignant was the star of three films on show: Le Dix-Septième Ciel (Seventeenth Heaven), La Longue Marche (The Long March), and Claude Lelouch’s Un Homme et une femme (A Man and a Woman). The last of these won the Palme d’Or and became a huge global success. Trintignant, who comes from a family of celebrated racing drivers, was perfectly cast as the widowed driver who learns to love again, and the film made him an international star.

‘Despite his fame, Trintignant refused to play it safe, choosing to work on offbeat pictures like Alain Robbe-Grillet’s Trans-Europ-Express (1966), and Safari diamants (Safari Diamonds, 1966). Though he did join the all-star cast of René Clément’s World War II epic Paris brûle-t-il? (Is Paris Burning?).

‘Returning to Italy, Trintignant worked on two pop psychedelic giallo movies, Col cuore in gola (I Am What I Am, 1967) and La morte ha fatto l’uovo (Death Laid an Egg, 1968) before turning in an enigmatic performance as a mute gunslinger in the cult Spaghetti western Il grande silenzio (The Great Silence, 1968).

‘In the same period, he continued his association with French New Wave directors, working with Robbe-Grillet again on the enigmatic L’Homme qui ment (The Man Who Lied, 1968), with Claude Chabrol on the sexually charged Les Biches (Bad Girls, 1968), and with Eric Rohmer on the brilliantly conceived morality tale Ma nuit chez Maud (My Night With Maud, 1969).

‘Trintignant’s next major role was as an idealistic young lawyer in Costa-Gavras’ political thriller Z (1969). Based on events surrounding the assassination of democratic Greek politician Gregoris Lambrakis in 1963, the film won plaudits around the world and a clutch of awards, including the Oscar for best foreign film.

‘The following year, Trintignant gave perhaps his greatest performance in Bernardo Bertolucci’s Il Conformista (The Conformist, 1970) as Marcello Clerici, a guilt-ridden, cowardly fascist who has spent his whole life accommodating others so that he can “belong”. Clerici is a brilliantly detailed creation, his studied self-conscious movements and impassive expression hiding a murky past.

‘Teaming up again with Lelouch, Trintignant portrayed a nihilistic but debonair professional thief in Le Voyou (The Crook, 1970), then crossed over to the other side of the law to play a detective in Sans mobile apparent (Without Apparent Motive, 1971). Next, he was a French fugitive in Canada who gets involved in a kidnap plot in René Clément’s La course du lièvre à travers les champs (…and Hope to Die, 1972), and a French assassin in Los Angeles in Jacques Deray’s Un homme est mort (A Man is Dead, 1972).

‘In 1973, the actor made his directorial debut with Une journée bien remplie (A Full Day’s Work), then starred in Défense de savoir (Forbidden To Know, 1973), directed by his wife, Nadine Trintignant. Later that year he starred opposite Romy Schneider in the romantic World War II drama Le Train (The Last Train, 1973), as a Frenchman who falls in love with a German Jewish woman who is fleeing the Nazis.

‘Trintignant’s talent for portraying twisted, psychopathic characters was shown to great effect in Glissements progressifs du plaisir(Successive Slidings of Pleasure, 1974) as a policeman interrogating a woman suspected of being a witch, in Le Mouton enragé (Love at the Top, 1974) as a timid bank clerk turned rapist, in Le Secret (1974) as paranoid prisoner on the run, and in Flic Story (Cop Story, 1975) as a cold blooded murderer.

‘Always prolific, Trintignant kept up a heavy workload in the 1970s, appearing in sixteen films in just three years between 1975 and 1977. In 1978, he won acclaim as a bank employee standing up against corruption in the César-winning L’Argent des autres (Dirty Money). After several undistinguished features, he then starred opposite Fanny Ardent in Francois Truffaut’s last picture, film noir homage Vivement dimanche! (Confidentially Yours, 1983). The same year he made his English language debut in Roger Spottiswoode’s Under Fire.

‘In the 1980s Trintignant took on an increasingly diverse range of roles, from a theatre director putting on a production of Romeo and Juliet in Andre Téchiné’s erotic drama Rendez-vous (1985), to a secret service agent investigating infiltration in the black comedy Le Moustachu (The Field Agent, 1987), to a reformed alcoholic in La Femme de ma vie (The Women of My Life, 1986), to the bald headed Mr Holm in the visionary science-fiction movie, Bunker Palace Hôtel (1989).

‘In more recent years, the actor’s most widely seen performance came in Krzysztof Kieslowski’s arthouse hit Trois couleurs: Rouge (Three Colours: Red, 1994), as the disillusioned retired judge who spies on his neighbours while grappling with his own inner moral dilemmas. This was followed by his role as the older version of Mathieu Kassovitz’s character in the equally acclaimed Un Héros très discreet (A Self-Made Hero, 1996). Since then, Trintignant has worked less frequently in cinema, preferring to work in the theatre.’ — New Wave Film

 

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Stills

 

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Further

Jean-Louis Trintignant @ IMDb
Jean-Louis Trintignant : “Je suis un acteur qui réfléchit. Je serais plutôt un acteur type chat”
Jean-Louis Trintignant : “Je crois beaucoup plus à la personnalité du metteur en scène qu’à l’histoire”
15 ans après Vilnius, la souffrance intacte de Jean-Louis Trintignant
Jean-Louis Trintignant et Daniel Mille à Radio France
Claude Lelouch : «J’ai réussi à convaincre Jean-Louis Trintignant et Anouk Aimée»
Jean-Louis Trintignant et Jean-Luc Godard
Jean-Louis Trintignant : “C’est un bonheur de travailler avec Michael Haneke”
Trintignant, atteint d’un cancer, arrête le cinéma : «Je ne me bats pas. Je laisse faire»

 

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Extras

Jean-Louis Trintignant “je ne ferai plus de théâtre et moins de cinéma”

Jean-Louis Trintignant “c’est intéressant de repartir à zéro”

Jean-Louis Trintignant “On n’est pas obligé de passer à la télé”

Rencontre avec Jean-Louis Trintignant

 

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Interview

 

Why did you grow tired of cinema?

JLT: I’m a theatre actor. I think actors really get a lot more out of the theatre than cinema. Also I think there’s no one at the moment like Bergman and Fellini. The satisfaction of coming back to do Amour was mostly for the director. He’s the best in the world right now.

What attracted you to work with him?

I immediately wanted to do a film with him after I watched his movie Caché (Hidden). I’ve since seen all his other films.

Can you compare working with him to working with Eric Rohmer, your director on My Night at Maud’s (1969)?

Rohmer and Haneke share the same approach to music in films. They both like music to be integral to the scene and not added. Hitchcock and many American directors use music to heighten the action. Though, Haneke is more of a complete filmmaker. Rohmer was less of a perfectionist and knew less about all the different aspects of cinema, whereas Haneke knows about the lighting, the camera and directing the actors. He’s really got a handle on everything that’s going on.

Certain critics regard Bernardo Bertolucci’s fascist era movie The Conformist (1970) to be the best film ever made. What do you think?

When the critics say I’m good, I always agree and when they say I’m bad, I don’t agree. [Laughs] Joking aside, I recognise that critics are often right about many things and I have to agree that up until Amour, The Conformist had been the best film I’d been in. Now it’s Amour.

Why?

I think Haneke’s a better director than Bertolucci, though Bertolucci is a great director as well. I think Haneke’s the best director I’ve ever worked with and his talents go even beyond what he himself realises.

Is Haneke as demanding and exacting as reports indicate? He has a love of doing many takes.

He has that reputation but l told him I don’t like to do too many takes and he respected that. So sometimes we only did a single take and that’s wonderful for an actor.

There’s a touching scene where a pigeon flies into the apartment where your Georges character lives with his ailing wife, Anne. What did the scene represent?

The scene represents a way of expressing the love and tenderness he has for Anne. The pigeon comes in from outside and he strokes it, is kind with it. But it was a difficult scene to shoot and it took two days. I had a broken wrist and was wearing a splint and Haneke made me take it off. Many scenes were difficult because of the emotional impact too, so there was a lot of suffering. But there’s a joy that you get through suffering for a scene. I think actors are bits of masochists. It’s not just joy, but through the pain there is also pleasure and we can say that about life as well as love.

How do you stay young at heart?

It’s probably my work that keeps me young because as actors we don’t say we go to work, we say we go to play. I think very often we have the soul of a child and it keeps us young and we’re always marvelling at things. I’m fortunate to have that in me; you can’t really force that type of thing.

What could the young Jean-Louis Trintignant, who was in Cannes for Claude Lelouch’s 1966 Palme d’Or winner, A Man and A Woman, say to the actor here today?

I think I was more handsome then [chuckles] but it might be a little ridiculous to compare the two films. Haneke’s so precise and everything is written in advance, whereas Lelouch would let us improvise and all the dialogue was pretty much made up by the actors, which was a lot of fun. Then I went on to do My Night at Maud’s, which again was very precise, very written, which I also enjoyed. Basically, I don’t have one particular way I like to approach acting. I just really enjoy acting.

Did Amour draw on your love of theatre given that the action took place largely between two people in their home?

It’s true that the theatrical and sparse aspect of Haneke’s project interested me as a theatre actor. I think film actors often act too much and overdo it. There’s really no need to explain so much and Haneke understands this. For an actor, theatre is more interesting; for a director I can understand that cinema is very interesting to create. It’s the director’s vision and of course that can be beautiful when it works. There are some wonderful beautiful films, but I’d say overall we make way too many films. Out of every 1000 films there may be 50 that are interesting. In my own case, I’ve made about 130 films and probably only about 20 of them are really good and the rest of them should never have been made. But you just can’t know that beforehand. It’s like for a painter–he has the image of the painting in his head but when it comes out, maybe it’s no good in the end. Maybe you’ve just got to try it though.

Will you make more films?

Maybe, but I think not. I don’t want to make a career as a cinema actor. I want to be an actor in the theatre.

Do you favour euthanasia? At which point is a life no longer worth living?

If I knew what was on the other side then maybe I’d be able to answer that question. If I knew it was just like sleeping and it was eternal sleep then I’d go for it, but I’m just not sure.

 

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17 of Jean-Louis Trintignant’s 142 roles

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Roger Vadim …And God Created Woman (1956)
‘The astounding success of Roger Vadim’s And God Created Woman revolutionized the foreign film market and turned Brigitte Bardot into an international star. Bardot stars as Juliette, an 18-year-old orphan whose unbridled appetite for pleasure shakes up all of St. Tropez; her sweet but naïve husband Michel (Jean-Louis Trintignant) endures beatings, insults, and mambo in his attempts to tame her wild ways.’ — The Criterion Collection

the entire film

 

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Abel Gance The Battle of Austerlitz (1960)
‘Silent-cinema genius he may well have been, but by this time in his career Abel Gance was creatively a shadow of his former self. Still, if the name of Abel Gance isn’t reason enough to rent the film, then how about a cast that includes Orson Welles, Claudia Cardinale, Michel Simon, Vittorio De Sica, Jean-Louis Trintignant, Jean Marais, Jack Palance, and Leslie Caron?’ — TV Guide

Excerpt

 

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Henri-Georges Clouzot L’Enfer (1964)
‘Brigitte Bardot called him “a negative being, for ever at odds with himself and the world around him”. Another actor described him as “an interfering man who wanted every actor under his control”. The man they are both describing is Henri-Georges Clouzot, one of France’s greatest film directors, whose work plumbed the depths of misanthropy, paranoia and revenge so unremittingly that it was hard not to believe he was exploring his own psyche in public. Clouzot is being brought to new audiences with a documentary about his doomed 1964 project concerning a jealous husband’s mental collapse into paranoid fantasy. Called L’Enfer (Hell), the film became a real hell for the director and everyone on set. One of L’Enfer’s problems was that Clouzot had by then become notorious as a director with a taste for violence and betrayal – and not just in his films. During the filming of La Vérité (The Truth) in 1960, he wanted Brigitte Bardot to fall asleep and drool for one scene. As you do. So he gave her some pills saying they were painkillers. They turned out to be sleeping pills. Bardot had to have her stomach pumped. Her subsequent verbal attack on him was understandable. But she was not the only actress he made suffer. Suzy Delair, who starred in the 1947 film Quai des Orfèvres, disclosed that he slapped her on set. “So what?” Delair told one interviewer. “He slapped others as well … He was tough but I’m not about to complain.”‘ — The Guardian

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Claude Lelouch A Man and a Woman (1966)
‘The key to enjoying A Man and a Woman is a willingness to be swept away by its sense of romance, just as the characters themselves are. Anne and Jean-Louis only spend a brief time becoming acquainted — less than twenty-four hours, it appears — before she declares her love for him, so perhaps it’s fitting that the viewer never gets to know either of them in any great depth; even the title suggests a tale more generic than specific. “I don’t claim to be original,” Anne says while telling Jean-Louis about her late husband, Pierre (Pierre Barouh). “You meet someone, marry, have a baby. It happens all the time. What can be original is the man you love.”’ — Cinematic Scribblings

Trailer

 

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Alain Robbe-Grillet Trans-Europ-Express (1966)
‘A film director, Jean, his producer, Marc, and his assistant, Lucette, board the Trans-Europ-Express in Paris bound for Antwerp. Once in their compartment it occurs to them that the drama of life aboard the train presents possibilities for a film, and they begin to write a script about dope smuggling.’ — UniFrance

Excerpt

 

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Costa-Gavras Z (1969)
‘A pulse-pounding political thriller, Greek expatriate director Costa-Gavras’s Z was one of the cinematic sensations of the late sixties, and remains among the most vital dispatches from that hallowed era of filmmaking. This Academy Award winner—loosely based on the 1963 assassination of Greek left-wing activist Gregoris Lambrakis—stars Yves Montand as a prominent politician and doctor whose public murder amid a violent demonstration is covered up by military and government officials; Jean-Louis Trintignant is the tenacious magistrate who’s determined not to let them get away with it. Featuring kinetic, rhythmic editing, Raoul Coutard’s expressive vérité photography, and Mikis Theodorakis’s unforgettable, propulsive score, Z is a technically audacious and emotionally gripping masterpiece.’ — The Criterion Collection

Trailer

 

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Eric Rohmer My Night at Maud’s (1969)
‘In the brilliantly accomplished centerpiece of Rohmer’s “Moral Tales” series, Jean-Louis Trintignant plays Jean-Louis, one of the great conflicted figures of sixties cinema. A pious Catholic engineer in his early thirties, he lives by a strict moral code in order to rationalize his world, drowning himself in mathematics and the philosophy of Pascal. After spotting the delicate, blonde Françoise at Mass, he vows to make her his wife, although when he unwittingly spends the night at the apartment of the bold, brunette divorcée Maud, his rigid ethical standards are challenged. A breakout hit in the United States, My Night at Maud’s was one of the most influential and talked-about films of the decade.’ — The Criterion Collection

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Bernardo Bertolucci The Conformist (1970)
‘Bertolucci made The Conformist in 1970, shortly after disagreeing with his mentor Godard over the revolutionary politics of 1968; the phone number Marcello dials to contact Quadri was Godard’s number in Paris, as if Bertolucci were placing the older director inside the struggle and himself in a contemplative position outside. In fact, all Bertolucci’s work, right through to the dramatic last scene of The Dreamers, is concerned with the often murky relationship between private life and political commitment. But maybe exactly as The Conformist addresses existential issues, it also begins to say something interesting about fascism: for example, that life is so baffling in its comedy and beauty that there will always be those desperate to stamp order on it; or alternatively that fascism, unlike nazism, was often more of a dream of decisive action than the thing itself. Either way (or neither), with its visual, textual and symbolic density, its music sliding from sinister to vaudeville, and its plot ever more impenetrable as it accelerates towards the violent denouement, The Conformist remains a hugely entertaining conundrum. I ask for nothing better of a film.’ — The Guardian

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Alain Robbe-Grillet Successive Slidings of Pleasure (1974)
‘A cult erotic drama from the perverse imagination of Alain Robbe-Grillet (Last Year at Marienbad, Trans-Europ-Express), SUCCESSIVE SLIDINGS OF PLEASURE delves into the twisted mind of a young woman (Anicee Alvina) suspected in the stabbing death of her roommate Nora (Olga Georges-Picot, Love and Death). Imprisoned in a convent, the girl’s seductive wiles hypnotize the cops and clerics that surround her. All submit to her sexual whims, and are drawn into a sado-masochistic world where fantasy and reality are pleasurably blurred. This devilishly entertaining trip into deviance is made even more alluring by the special appearances of Jean- Louis Trintigant, Michael Lonsdale and Isabelle Huppert.’ — kino lorber

Excerpt

 

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Jacques Deray Flic Story (1975)
‘Borniche (Alain Delon) has three difficult tasks before him: to keep a rein on police violence, to cut through bureaucratic red tape in order to do his job, and to find Buisson (Jean-Louis Trintignant) and put him behind bars. Based on a true story which takes place in 1947, Buisson is a psychopath who enjoys finding excuses for blowing people to oblivion while ostensibly just robbing them. In his deranged way, Buisson achieves some kind of harmony with Borniche and the police.’ — RT

Excerpt

 

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François Truffaut Confidentially Yours (1983)
‘It seemed fitting while also tragic to think that Confidentially Yours is Francois Truffaut’s final film. It takes inspiration from the noir-thrillers of Alfred Hitchcock and blends them to Truffaut’s particular sensibilities, bringing forth a film that succeeds in its homage while also ensuring a layer of self-awareness to be palpable in its storytelling, a French New Wave personality that allows such a story to have fun with its audience.’ — feedingbrett

Trailer

 

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Claude Lelouch Partir revenir (1985)
‘Salomé Lerner just finished writing an autobiograpy. She goes to a TV show called “Apostrophes”, hosted by French TV showman Bernard Pivot. Pivot then imagines a film that could be created from her gripping story. A film entirely made of music because after seeing the young pianist Erik Berchot, Salomé believes seeing her long lost brother, who was a musician as well. A brother she had lost along with her parents in 1943. However, the Lerners did in fact escape the gestapo and might have based themselves in Paris…’ — IMDb

Trailer

 

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André Téchiné Rendez-vous (1985)
‘Rendez-vous (1985) was co-written and directed by André Téchiné. It’s a vehicle for the now-famous Juliette Binoche. Juliette Binoche, at age 21, already radiated the star power that became apparent to everyone in “The Unbearable Lightness of Being.” Unfortunately, her contributions to this film were pretty much limited to her luminous skin and her distinctive beauty. This distinctive beauty is fully and totally displayed. (Binoche is not shy.) The film involves four men who swirl around Binoche like the proverbial moths around a flame. One is a wimp, one is a creep, and one carries a straight razor. (Don’t ask). The fourth is Jean-Louis Trintignant. The other three were all young, and were probably happy to work with a well-known director like Téchiné. One can only guess why an established star like Trintignant accepted this role.’ — IMDb

Trailer

 

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Krzysztof Kieślowski Three Colors: Red (1994)
‘This boldly cinematic trio of stories about love and loss, from Krzysztof Kieślowski was a defining event of the art-house boom of the 1990s. The films are named for the colors of the French flag and stand for the tenets of the French Revolution—liberty, equality, and fraternity—but that hardly begins to explain their enigmatic beauty and rich humanity. Set in Paris, Warsaw, and Geneva, and ranging from tragedy to comedy, Blue, White, and Red (Kieślowski’s final film) examine with artistic clarity a group of ambiguously interconnected people experiencing profound personal disruptions. Marked by intoxicating cinematography and stirring performances by such actors as Juliette Binoche, Julie Delpy, Irène Jacob, and Jean-Louis Trintignant, Kieślowski’s Three Colors is a benchmark of contemporary cinema.’ — The Criterion Collection

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Marc Caro and Jean-Pierre Jeunet The City of Lost Children (1995)
‘A beautifully unsettling fairy tale brought to life before your very eyes. Childlike in its simplicity and masterful in its subtlety. Eerily sepia and rusted landscapes filled with wildly memorable characters with names like “The Octopus” “The Cult of Cyclops” “One” and “The Diver”. A visual treat of matte paintings, marvelous set design, practical machines, early cgi, fisheye lens, all within a unique and frightening world. The perfect dark fairytale for burgeoning young fantasy/sci-fi fans. Avant-Garde Expressionism through a child’s eyes.’ — Kaijuman

Trailer

 

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Patrice Chereau Those Who Love Me Can Take The Train (1998)\
‘“Those Who Love Me Can Take the Train” is a cinematically vivid and emotionally draining ensembler that makes the average Woody Allen film seem like a picnic for the well-adjusted. Helmer Patrice Chereau has his distinguished thesps do everything except tie themselves to the tracks as their characters travel via train to the funeral of a painter. An enthusiastic local reception seems assured, but crix and auds beyond France will be sharply divided on the merits of so much overwrought soul-searching by not-terribly-pleasant people. But those who do clamber aboard for Chereau’s seventh feature are in for a technically dazzling widescreen trip.’ — Variety

Trailer

 

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Michael Haneke Amour (2012)
‘The title is a challenge: not ironic, not celebratory, and yet somehow not complicated either. “Love” is boiled down to something elemental, something like survival, or perhaps the exact opposite, though calling it L’Amour might have been to risk a pun. This is Michael Haneke’s second Palme d’Or winner and shows the director as a film-maker of incomparable seriousness and weight, and this is a passionate, painful, intimate drama to be compared with Bergman’s Scenes from a Marriage. When I first saw Amour, I wrote that Haneke’s severity and mastery resounded like an orchestral chord – an idea which I now realise was indirectly inspired by the opening of the Schubert Impromptu being played in the opening scene’s piano recital. That severity in Haneke’s movies had in the past an edge of sadism, to both his characters and audiences. It appears to have lessened a little in recent years, and arguably lessens here. His characters are closer to ordinary sympathetic humanity, with ordinary foibles and absurdities. But there is no question of Haneke softening. The deliberate chill, the measure of liquid nitrogen, is still there.’ — The Guardian

Trailer

Excerpt

 

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Michael Haneke Happy End (2017)
‘In his ensemble family drama Happy End, Michael Haneke imagines a kind of alternate-world version of the 2012 earnest heartbreaker Amour, which won him the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film. In this new world, the widowed Georges (again played by Jean-Louis Trintignant) is even older. He’s forgetful, bitter and wishing for death, where in Amour, he was (spoiler) the bringer of merciful release for his ailing wife. While the characters of Happy End are mostly from Amour and the storyline almost a continuation of where the earlier film left off (after the death of Georges’s wife), the most disparate element is tone. It is as though the Funny Games director resented how much adulation the relatively sweet and thoughtful Amour received and said, “You think you know what death is? I’ll show you what death is. It’s senseless and void of feeling or meaning.”’ — Westword

Trailer

Excerpt

 

 

*

p.s. Hey. ** David Ehrenstein, Hi. Wasn’t there someone who was assisting with getting your book published? ** _Black_Acrylic, That’s interesting, I hadn’t heard the term ‘dogging’. In the US that term means something vaguely related but not sexual necessarily. Fingers crossed re: your tutor’s feedback. What about you and any other of the students you felt a connection with forming a little regular workshop on your own? ** Steve Erickson, Hi. Hm, perhaps, about it being a Japanese thing. Yes, I’ve heard much the same about the new Jenkins film from virtually everyone I know who’s seen it. I have heard Jordaan Mason, yes. It interested me, although I haven’t seemed to have investigated very far. You do make the work sound investigate-able, so I’ll make a note to do that. Thanks, man. ** Nik, Hi Nik! Glad you liked the post. Yeah, right? Well, the majority of the interesting and fruitful work at least, for me. I sort of swear by the plan of pushing into the unknown every time I start writing something and, as I said, not expecting myself to get there or necessarily even close in the first draft. No, I think your idea sounds really interesting, not corny in the slightest. I don’t think any idea is corny in and of itself. I think the right prose and tone and so on can do anything. Changing perspective is an interesting challenge. Tough, for me at least, but super effective if/once figured out. Shifting perspectives can give a piece, or, I guess, the reader/reading experience, really terrific energy. You weren’t rambly at all. I’m a process junkie. That stuff’s manna to me. Oh, yes, Ann Lauterbach, very good poet, how terrific. I think studying with Peggy Ahwesh would be fascinating, of course. Her new film ‘The Falling Sky’ is in my fave films of 2018 list. Cool possibility. I have to really buckle down on the TV script this week and for the next while because it needs to be turned in by Xmas. Otherwise, maybe see some art, a film. Also working out the details some upcoming PGL screenings. But mostly, overwhelming, script work. How your week looking? ** Kurtzton, Nice saying by your grandad. That’s a goodie. I think the only time I ever followed someone to the bathroom was a guy who slipped me a note that read ‘follow me to the bathroom’ on his way there and who was very followable. I do miss cocaine sometimes. Lively? I’m glad to hear that because I feel like a bit like a loose object on the deck of a ship in high seas. Snow, sigh. Have a bon(e) one. ** Alistair, Hi, Alistair! So good to see you, buddy! Things are all right, overworked re: work I’m not that excited to be doing, but you know how that goes. Rain and cold in Venice! That’s like a bit of heaven on earth right there. Great that you’re into the new novel! That’s great news! Krasznahorkai’s ‘War and War’ … no, I don’t think I even know of it. I’ll do a hunt today. Thanks a lot! Oh, we (Zac and me) will be hosting a big screening of ‘Permanent Green Light’ in LA in early February. I don’t know the specifics yet, but obviously I would love for you to see it (and to see you) if you’ll be around. News forthcoming. Take care, pal! ** Kai, Hi, Kai! Cool timing then. Oh, I miss Tokyo. Zac and I are angling to get there early next year, I hope, I hope. Wait, seeing you reminds me that Ishmael never got back to me about the video of ‘Them’. Shit, sorry, do you still want it? I can harass him, and I’m happy to. I haven’t seen comments by you, it’s true. Weird. I never look back at the comments on previous posts, though, which is a failing, so maybe your comments came in too late for me? I need to start looking backwards. Usually comments register but the commenters sometimes can’t see them. Anyway … Excellence itself to see you! ** Misanthrope, Hi. Well, a fuel tax is one way to rectify the problem. The issue is that Macron did that without asking anything of the oil companies, car makers, and other corporate types, putting the entire burden on the citizens. And an added issue is that, some years ago, the government created incentives for people to buy diesel cars, and now the government is punishing people who did that. It’s very complicated. Big discussions at the parliamentary and other governmental levels about how to deal with climate change in a fair way are now going on here. We’ll see. But, like I said, the anger here is about a lot more than the fuel tax. Macron’s policies are extremely unpopular across the board. Either he’s going to have to give in and change his plans, or there’s a real chance that he’ll be driven out of office. It’s a very tricky time here right now. Oh, jeez, LPS strikes again. It really doesn’t look good, does it? I don’t know what the solution is. Like I said, he may be one of those guys who needs to bottom out to get real, and that’s a shame. ** Damien Ark, Hi, Damien. Yeah, seems odd that that book has gone so o.o.p. since it seems like such an easy thing to sell. I don’t think I’ve been in the Castro proper in, what, 10 years, 15 years? I was never that excited by that area, or by gay enclave areas of cities in general, so, unfortunately, I have no idea what it’s like now compared to how it was. Maybe … Everyone, Does anyone here have thoughts on what the Castro district of SF is like these days to pass along to the soon-to-be visiting Damien? Thanks if so. Sucks that PGL and you won’t coincide there. Hopefully somewhere else. Have a good day, man. ** Right. I’ve devoted a post to the great French actor Jean-Louis Trintignant, who, as you’ve seen or will, has been in a rather astounding number of either great films or films by great directors. Quite the career. Check it out. See you tomorrow.

 

‘The earliest recipe of the Bûche de Noël shows up in Pierre Lacam’s 1898 Le memorial historique et géographique de la pâtisserie. The earliest mention however is a couple of years earlier in Alfred Suzanne’s 1894 La cuisine anglaise et la pâtisserie where he notes in passing that it is (was?) the specialty of a certain Ozanne, presumably his friend Achille Ozanne (1846-1898). Of course we have no idea of what this looked like. An article in the French newspaper Figaro adds an interesting tidbit (see Pierre Leonforte, “La bûche de Noël : une histoire en dents de scie,” Figaro, 17 December 2000): according to Stéphane Bonnat, of chocolatier Félix Bonnat her great grandfather’s recipe collection from 1884 contains a recipe for a roll cake make with chocolate ganache. Admittedly she makes no claim to this being the first bûche de Noël.

‘One of the famous stories about this French dessert is associated with Napoleon Bonaparte of France. He issued a proclamation, as per which, the people of Paris were ordered to close the chimneys of their houses, during winters. It was thought that entry of cold air into the houses was causing spread of illnesses and the proclamation was aimed at prevention of such diseases. It was during this time that Buche de Noel or yule log cake was invented in Paris. As use of hearths was prohibited, they needed some sort of traditional symbol that can be enjoyed with family and friends during the festive season that falls in winter. Thus, this cake became a symbolic substitution around which the family could gather for storytelling and other holiday activities.

‘It makes sense that the cake, like so many other Christmas traditions (think Santa, decorated Christmas trees, Christmas cards, etc) dates to the Victorian era, to a time of genteel, bourgeois domesticity. In France, in particular, a certain romantic image of peasant traditions had become part of the story the French told themselves about themselves and while the average Parisian bourgeois could hardly be expected to hoist logs into their 4th floor apartment, they could at least show solidarity for their country cousins by picking up a more manageable bûche at the local pâtisserie. That the result was a little kitsch fit the middle class sensibility too.’ — collaged

 

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This year’s candidates

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Park Hyatt Paris-Vendôme pastry chef Jimmy Mornet bet on cocoa for his yule log 2018.

Mornet was inspired by a treasure found in Guadeloupe: cocoa. The palace pastry chef wished to work with cocoa bean to the extreme. As an outcome, he has concocted a splendid trompe l’oeil yule log brilliantly recreating the famous pod. Sliced it show the mucilage.

In terms of ingredients, note that it has the particularity of being gluten-free. Far from being a drawback since by using rice flour, this yule log is even creamier and lighter, what a happiness! The chef also used beans from Bali. In addition to chocolate, Jimmy Mornet added black rice bringing some body to the dessert.

Composition: smooth mousse infused with black rice, puff rice crunchy, roasted cocoa beans and 68% Indonesian dark chocolate cream.

Book this chocolate creation from December 1, 2018. Available on sale from December 21, 2018.

 

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BÛCHE DE NOËL “TOQUÉE” À LA POIRE ET AU CHOCOLAT PAR ANNE-SOPHIE PIC, 120€

Restaurant La Dame de Pic – Paris – 20 rue du Louvre 75001 Paris

 

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With his “L’écrin” yule log, Dominique Costa of The Peninsula Paris bets on modernity while remaining in line with the place Asian origins and twisting it with a French pastry know-how.

But what does this palace yule log have in store? Your taste buds will fall for the charm of chocolate mousse smoked with sandalwood, harmoniously mixed with the sourness of a soft mandarin – passion fruit heart. Finally, there goes the crispy buckwheat biscuit topped with dulce de leche cream.

The sweet-toothed foodies can find the “L’écrin” yule log in limited edition from December 17 to 31, 2018 for €98 (serving 6 to 8 people) and upon booking at least 48 hours before.

 

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Available in store starting December 8, 2018 the La Clef d’Or yule log is shaped like a treasure chest combining estheticism and love of good food. No need to say this yule log will create quite the surprise and the amazement in all your foody guests.

In terms of flavors, this creation perfectly combines touches of chocolates, passion fruit and toasted hazelnuts.

Box made of 42% chocolate with passion fruit notes, toasted hazelnuts and milk chocolate
Only upon order starting December 8, 2018
Rate for 6/8 servings: €75

 

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When a star chef and an artist team up to create a Christmas log, it gives a geometric and delicious red panda: drawn by Richard Orlinski, the best-selling French artist in the world, he hides a nutty-orange crunchy biscuit, caramelized hazelnuts, an orange marmalade and a light vanilla mousse.

Richard Orlinski x Pierre Gagnaire log
BREWERY FOUQUET’S
46 av. George V, 75008 – M ° George V (1) – Tel: +33 (0) 1 40 69 60 50 – Limited edition on order until Dec. 2018: € 95

 

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This winter, Sverre Saetre invites us to experience a Scandinavian Christmas alongside Ladurée. To do so, the Norwegian pastry chef came up with a signature yule log: “Tine”.

This yule log colored with red and white displays an original shape inspired by the traditional wooden boxes, the “Tine” to be pronounced “tee-nah”. In Norway, the latter is often used to transport pastries and other sweet treats during family reunions or big family events.

To make us travel to northern Europe, the Norwegian chef was inspired by the typically Scandinavian flavors. The “Tine” signature yule log is made of a whipped ganache like a rice pudding, a morello cherry and spices compote as well as a delicious rose mousse. The whole lays on an almond dacquoise and a crispy macadamia nuts base.

To enhance the whole, the log is topped with the “Selburose”, an 8-arm star depicting a rose coming from the city of Selbu in Norway. And to bring the final touch to his creation, Sverre Saetre put a small golden dot signed “God Jul” to wish us a “Merry Christmas” in his birth-language.

“Tine” signature yule log
Available starting December 19, 2018
Rate: €68 – 6/8 servings
Available in individual version – available starting December 5, 2018
Rate: €9.50 to take away

 

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Called “Le Flocon du Burgundy Paris” [Burgundy Paris Flake], this yule log is a creation with a clean design in 3 dimensions revealing an incredible assembling work wonderfully mixing chocolate-caramel and chocolatey branches put on a transparent plexiglass structure.

“Visually speaking, I wanted to transcribe the alliance between the two fantastic worlds, the Holidays one and the High Jewelry one around a creation reminding us of childhood taste. The idea is to be able to present it as a centerpiece on the table and serve it cut into six very distinct slices.” Burgundy Paris pastry chef Pascal Hainigue tells us.

In terms of flavors, this entremets bets on 62% cocoa Macaé dark chocolate from Brazil and caramel.

To go even further in the greed, this yule log unveils several layers including first of all a flour-less dark chocolate cake, then a crispy cookie based on “crêpe dentelle” sprinkles, a dark chocolate mousse and a soft heart based on caramel cream and cocoa beans nibs and finally a shiny glaze enhanced by some gold leaves.

Please note this sublime yule log will be available to order in limited edition starting December 1, 2018 for €110 (serving 6 people). It will be also possible to discover the flavors of Burgundy yule log through a revisit by the plate at the new Le Charles bar and Le Baudelaire restaurant from December 15 to 26, 2018.

 

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This year Maison Lenôtre Chef Guy Krenzer and his teams put on a spurt to offer the “Odyssée Gourmande” collection; a collection created in partnership with French artist Michaël Cailloux. Seduced by Michaël Cailloux’s colorful work filled with green, animal and cosmic details, Guy Krenzer wanted to tell about the antic travels combining pagan legends and winter solstice to the tale of the Mages.

And the outcome is esthetically marvelous and taste oh-so good. This signature yule log 2018 by Maison Lenôtre invites us to a travel thanks to flavors from the three continents which are the birthplace of the animals in the tale.

First of all, there’s Asian lemon, then African chocolate and finally European hazelnut. To make you drool even more, this “Odyssée Merveilleuse” yule log hides under a delicious layer of almond paste and biscuit, a crispy biscuit with cocoa and hazelnut, a cream with lemon zests, an explosive light baba soaked with lemon juice and finally a gourmet lemon-infused egg whites mousse.

And for even more greed, three delights are available as sides to remind you of the presents brought by the Mages.

First, there’s a chocolate coulis with no added sugar (a blend of cocoa beans from Tanzania, Ghana and Sao Tomé) to serve warm, then small “Candi” lemons made of almond paste symbolizing gold and finally crispy toasted and caramelized hazelnut sprinkles for the myrrh.

And in addition to be delicious, this creation is beautiful, topped with large clouds cut in white chocolate and roasted puff rice.

“Odyssée Merveilleuse” yule log – Limited Edition
Price : €120 for 12 persons
Upon order from December 8 to 24, 2018

 

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Michele Dalla Valle, Hôtel de Berri restaurant executive chef, came up with a yule log inspired by the Zuppa Inglese, a cake coming from Tuscany.

For those who don’t know it, Zuppa Inglese is traditionally made with sponge fingers soaked in alchermes – a liquor based on plants – and set in layers and covered in crème patissiere.

On a torrone bed covered in chocolate, Michele Dalla Valle put four tasty and colorful Christmas bulbs each flavored differently. We find a vanilla bulb with caramelized hazelnuts for the crunch, a pistachio bulb with fizzy praline for the regressive aspect, a raspberry bulb with fresh fruits and a dash of sourness and finally a lemon bulb with a well-seasoned jam to bring some bitterness.

This yule log is available from Monday December 10, 2018 at Le Schiap restaurant and Le Bizzaz bar at Hôtel de Berri. Allow €15 per slice or €70 (available for sale upon booking) the yule log serving 6 to 8 people.

 

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“There’s no Christmas without a tree!”: in view of this fact, Café de la Paix pastry chef Sophie de Benardi came up with a wonderful yule log 2018 shaped like a… pine tree.

Raw, nature and without fuss at the same time, this creation unveils different layers in a game of superposition and several flavors: chocolate and pine cone.

To go further in the tasting, know that this yule log contains a dark chocolate mousse infused with pine tree, a pine cone cream and a crispy biscuit with pine nuts, a chocolate Sacher biscuit the whole surrounded by a fine layer of dark chocolate.

Displaying woody and scented notes with light bitter notes, the whole is mixed with the gourmet flavors of cocoa, this creation 2018 will catch many foodies’ eyes.

This yule log 2018 by pastry chef Sophie de Benardi is to be enjoyed on the spot, at Café de la Paix or to take away (to order 48 hours prior) from December 15 to 29, 2018.

Allow €75 for this yule log to share with 6 or 8 people.

 

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This year, Hôtel Le Bristol Paris pastry chef Julien Alvarez presents an incredible truffled yule log!

Trompe l’oeil log, this creation is first and foremost a feast for you the eye. We discover a splendid box that we could think is made of wood, but wood is actually made of an exquisite crunch.

Inside? Soft hazelnuts cakes truffles hiding a running gianduja heart, a light vanilla cream and of course… black truffle.

Foodies can find this incredible yule log by Julien Alvarez exclusively at Le Bristol Paris, in limited edition, for €140 for 8 servings.

 

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Hôtel du Collectionneur chef Bryan Esposito came up with a beautiful copper cage made of dark chocolate and topped with beautiful iridescent feathers.

Once the cage is off, we discover a yule log that’s more gourmet than anything with comforting winter flavors. I’m talking sweet woody-scented mousse infused with pine cones and containing a heart made of dog rose confit, topping a three walnuts and chestnuts chunks biscuit enhanced with a layer of kumquat fruit marmalade.

Opening Time: From 10 December 2018 to 25 December 2018
Hôtel du Collectionneur, 57 Rue de Courcelles, 75008 Paris 8
Prices: 8 personnes: 75 €

 

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To celebrate the end of year celebrations, Pastry Chef Pablo Gicquel of Le Crillon has designed a Christmas log, a nod to the mythical address of the Place de la Concorde since it is inspired by one of the fluted columns of the Marie-Antoinette Suite where once, the famous queen would have taken her piano lessons.

Almonds from Languedoc, tangy jam of blueberry and blackcurrant cooked over a wood fire.

Available from December 1st, 2018 to January 6th, 2019.
(For 6 to 8 people). 120 €

 

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Every year Shangri-La Hotel Paris chef Michael Bartocetti creates a new yule log each one more original than the last. After amazing us last year with his spinning top, the chef plays again the childhood card by offering us a train: the Shangri-La Express.

Think: a light chocolate mousse with lemongrass and a fresh and delicious banana confit with vanilla and lime. The whole topping a crispy peanut and salt flower biscuit and a flour-less dark chocolate cake. In terms of décor, note that the bumpers and the chimney are filled with the excellent peanut praline coated with white chocolate. The little train wagon is stuffed with chocolate/lime truffles with a lovely fizzy taste.

PRICES: 8 personnes: 128 €

 

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As always, Nicolas Cloiseau from La Maison du Chocolat wanted to dazzle us, surprise us and seduce us with his creations concocted especially for these end-of-year celebrations in 2018.

Nicolas Cloiseau and his team have thus imagined this crafted tree of 78 dark or shiny dark chocolate bubbles, of six different diameters, including eight skits chiselled with overlays of dark chocolate, milk, ivory, or covered with gold! By getting closer, we discover the elves and gifts ready to be delivered.

Sapin Bulle de Rêve
Price: € 1,400
One size 5.5kg and 80cm in height
Available in stores from November 14, 2018

 

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The greediest among us will not miss to stop at the InterContinental Marseille – Hotel-Dieu, the most luxurious and most majestic hotel in Marseille, perched on the hill of the Panier, to taste the log concocted exceptionally by its Pastry Chef, Yoan Dessarzin. Named “Altitude 26.16”, it drew inspiration from the mountains and snowcapped peaks, the central theme of the school’s 2018 Christmas. In the shape of a red and brown gondola, an indispensable means of transport in the mountain resorts, the log, topped with its chocolate pebbles, hides under a chocolate mousse of Brazil Cuvée Limeira 50% a soft biscuit with hazelnut from Piedmont, a compote of cassis and a Lincang Tea Jelly from Yunnan. The mixture gives the delicious log notes of citrus fruits and red berries.

“Altitude 26.16é : 85 euros pièce (pour 4 à 6 personnes)
Précommande obligatoire 24h à l’avance au 04 13 42 42 40
“Le Castel” : 45 euros (pour 6 personnes)

 

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The youngest foodies will be in heaven since Café Pouchkine has decided to join forces with Masha and Michka the two heroes of a Russian animated series created in 2009.

For these Holidays, they will be found on an exclusive yule log that will satisfy small gourmets’ taste buds. Next to them, Michka’s beautiful house to be enjoyed and made of a nougat cream, a caramelized pear compote, a honey madeleine cake, a honey whipped ganache and a crispy almond biscuit.

For the others, Café Pouchkine reveals the “Cigarette Russe” yule log. It’s not only beautiful and graphic, this yule log has also been created by pastry chef Nina Métayer. Reminding us of the famous “cigarette cookies”, this yule log is a skilled blend of flavors and textures: hazelnut, bergamot and chocolate.

Masha and Michka yule log
Available from December 14, 2018
Rate: €80 for 4 to 6 persons

 

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Frédéric Cassel, a French pastry chef who was introduced to high-end pastry by Pierre Hermé, is one of these chefs, and today he presents his Christmas log for 2018: Origami, Les Animaux du Pôle.

This immaculate white log is a marvel of fabrication. Composed of a Sacher biscuit, a chocolate-raspberry cream and a chocolate mousse Illanka 63% Peru, it will surely delight young and old.

Horaires: Du 1 décembre 2018 au 31 décembre 2018
Frédéric Cassel 71-73 Rue Grande 77300 Fontainebleau

 

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Sylvain Faisan “Studio Equino” Buche ltd. ed. call for price

 

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The Bûche Orphéo by Pierre Hermé will make chocolate addicts melt with its Grand Araguani Pure Venezuelan origin chocolate melts in the mouth thank to a fine layer of hazelnut praline!

Opening Time: From 15 December 2018 to 31 December 2018
Prices: Bûche pour 3/4 personnes – à partir de: 48 €

 

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This special InterContinental Carlton Cannes log has to be reserved 48 hours in advance. To celebrate the end of 2018, our Chef Pâtissier, Hubert Coulange, was inspired by the famous century lemon tart of the InterContinental Carlton. His creation, combining tradition with modernity, could almost be put under the Christmas tree. Its original chocolate design reveals the soft lemony flavors of the French Riviera.

Price : €75 (6 people)

 

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Bûche “Cône” by Chef Nicolas Paciello for the Hotel Prince de Galles. 6/8 parts. 95 €

A crunchy dark chocolate Jamaya 70% shell with a creamy milk mousse with honey in the heart. The sweet malty flavor of fir honey is then contrasted by a soft biscuit with fleur de sel that reveals its subtle taste.

On sale take away from December 17th.
Available at the bar Les Heures from December 10, the share: 18 €

 

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This year, David Réal and Florence Lesage, respectively executive chef and pastry chef for The Westin Paris-Vendôme Hotel, offer a trendy boho chic yule log 2018.

Called “Gypset”, this ultra-gourmet creation is dressed in a lovely pink velvet coat covered in precious pink flowers; it blends Tahiti vanilla with pink grapefruit and blue tea scented with cherry blossom. Delicate and unexpected flavors.

In the details, the almond biscuit is made of a crunchy praline with a slightly salted crumble, puff rice, pecans, hazelnuts, almonds and a dash of milk chocolate.

Serving 6 to 8 people – €80
From December 1 to 23, 2018
Upon order

 

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Inspired by Bucherer’s watchmaking passion, Westminster Hotel pastry chef Bryan Esposito appropriated the codes of the pocket watch and imagined himself as an English lord comfortably seated in a club chair at Duke’s Bar, to create this piece to chew refined and greedy.

For this dessert, Bryan Esposito chose his ingredients carefully. As always by the way. In fact, this chocolate mousse Esmeralado (from Costa Rica), combines Genepi jelly, hazelnut biscuit and cashew nuts.

When developing his creations, this bold leader always keeps in mind the quote of Salvador Dali “beauty will be edible or will not be” to combine greed with pleasure of the eyes. This pastry does not escape the rule and reveals the needles of a clock on a dome in the heart of a red box surmounting a Breton shortbread.

An invitation to discover “By Bucherer’s Time” at the famous Duke’s Bar at the Westminster Hotel between 4pm and 6pm from November 6 to January 31.

 

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Arthur Fèvre is the Pastry Chef of the two-star restaurant Le Pressoir d’Argent at the InterContinental Bordeaux – Le Grand Hôtel. Every year he designs an extraordinary Christmas log, for 2018 the theme is the meeting of levitation & immaculate white …

The Christmas log this year takes the shape of an opaque white winter landscape, imbued with lightness and purity. Consisting of two parts, the piece is surmounted by a veil suspended by about twenty white threads. As in lift in the air, it creates a feeling of floating motion. Below, the cake itself mimics the curves of this veil. Powdery, it evokes an immaculate snowy world.

Ingredients: Crispy praline and biscuit Dacquoise walnuts Guillou orchards, compote of pear Comice, creamy honey chestnut of the beekeeper “The swarm of the queen” and light mousse with yogurt of Perigord vanilla Pompona.

 

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Once again, Pastry Chef Yann Couvreur dazzles our eyes and fills our taste buds with his 2 beautiful and gourmet Christmas logs designed especially for the end of year 2018 celebrations.

First there is the signature Bûche. Rectangular, this log proudly displays little foxes as a decoration.

But under this chic design and sprinkled with cocoa, lurks a light mousse with blue vanilla, a soft pecan nut cake, a crunchy vanilla praline Pecan, a tasty caramel salt heart and roasted pecan nuts and finally a praline Pecan flower of salt.

For less connoisseurs, know that blue vanilla is harvested on the island of Reunion. For the Log Signature, it has been finely chiseled inside the foam.

This signature log is sold in a beautiful setting on which we also find the fox, now an edible emblem.

Then discover the “35 Haussmann” Bûche made of a thin layer of white chocolate, a light mousse of almond milk, a compote of fresh tangerine, roasted almond paste, a hint of fleur de sel and a soft biscuit with almonds.

Be aware that this log, in the form of Haussmannian decorative moldings, is an exclusive to find at the store Yann Couvreur Galeries Lafayette Gourmet.

Horaires: Du 1 décembre 2018 au 26 décembre 2018
Tarifs à partir de : 32 €

 

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Beautiful and tantalizing: here’s the creation thought up by La Réserve Hotel & Spa Paris team for these new Holidays.

Inspired by gold leather decorating restaurant Gabriel, La Réserve Paris two-Michelin star restaurant, the two chefs came up with a yule log perfectly reminds us of this both noble and elegant material.

Then, we discover a delicate coating covering the typical embossed design of gold leather.

In terms of flavors, the yule log bets on originality with Michel Reybier champagne as the main ingredient.

For the rest of this champagne yule log, chefs added exotic fruits flavors – mango, passion fruit, pineapple, coconut – to ultimately offer a blend of notes that are surprising and delicious.

This yule log is to be enjoyed obviously with a glass of Michel Reybier champagne!

Please note this yule log 2018 will be available at La Réserve Hotel & Spa Paris (upon booking) for €95 the yule log serving 6 to 8 people.

 

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The Christmas dessert 2018 from Picard.

Santa’s ice-cold sled (8 parts, € 17.95) is based on dark chocolate ice cream, vanilla ice cream, cocoa biscuit and hazelnut inclusions.

Depending on the stores, the yule log wil, be available from Friday, November 30, 2018.

 

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As always Maëlig Georgelin realizes a very figurative log. This year The Santa Claus Trunk available at the Little Prince in Auray, Etel, Baud and Carnac. Inside this chocolate trunk, we discover the gift of Santa Claus: a Black Forest revisited! A soft cocoa and chocolate-covered biscuit, a Dark Peru Chocolate melting cream, “Amarena” candied cherries, an ultra light vanilla cream and very thin dark chocolate leaves. Limited series, for 6 people 55€.

 

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The Bûches de Noël et Galettes des rois of the Kings 2018-2019 Cédric Grolet au Meurice
This year, it is not one but 2 logs presented to us by Hotel Meurice’s Cédric Grolet for the holidays of Christmas 2018. One for the shop and the other for the restaurant the Dalí.

This year, the talented chef returns to the traditional tastes of his childhood by highlighting the chestnut through revisit one of his signature dessert: Mont Blanc.

At the shop, you get the brown poached Christmas dessert: not always easy to work the iced chestnut without going to pastries too sweet. To overcome this, the chef chose to make his logs from the raw product. So he chose to work with his team the fresh chestnut to provide an ideal balance for his Christmas log.

The poached brown log, available to take away from December 18th.
3 to 4 people or 6 to 8 people. 50 euros – 98 euros.
Meurice pastry by Cédric Grolet, 6 rue de Castiglione 75001, Paris
From Tuesday to Sunday, from noon.

The Log with smoked chestnut is to discover at Restaurant Le Dalí, from December 5 to 31, 2018 (every afternoon from 15:30 to 18h except 25 December), lunch or dinner 25 euros per share.

Under a delicate chocolate shell, we find the mousse and its creamy heart with chestnuts as well as the crunchy chestnut cracker-lemon hazelnut praline.

 

 

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p.s. Hey. People who’ve been attending this blog at length know that, when Xmas season rolls around and French patisseries set to outdoing each other with the originality and splendors of their special Xmas cake offerings, it’s an annual tradition here to line up said offerings in the context of a beauty pageant type of post, and today is the 2018 edition. Like I (and local friends) do every year, I/we will be purchasing and eating probably two (or three) of the contestants. While I look them over and mull, you are invited to window shop or vote for your favorite or whatever you like. In any case, that’s your local weekend. ** David Ehrenstein, Mahler would have had a field day. If he didn’t. There are also a shitload of extremely terrible French films that will never be released or seen outside of France that cavort in that setting. ** Bill, You’re like the little Dutch boy with your finger in the leaky dam, god love you. The Meinhof book is gorgeous, right? Yeah, Martin and Karolina’s books are always sights to behold at the very least. Pray tell what events you hit this weekend. I’ll do the same, starting with Hatsune Miku ‘live’ in concert tonight. ** MrsKeatonclaus, I can tell. And you’re festivizing me too. Me too, on the jeans. I’m spooked by the idea that Gap could go out of business. One of the problems with La Defense is that, after you check it out visually, do a 360 and so on, there’s nothing there. It makes the Champs Elysee seem like the bad part of town. It’s like Epcot. Twink bottoms are like Pret a Mangers, who do make a very good egg salad sandwich, to be fair. Except pickier. I’ll be off to enjoy the gray and chill at some point. May our psychic paths cross. ** Dominik, Hi, Dominik! I’m good, how are you? Apparently it snowed for about 20 seconds the other day in the part of Paris where Zac lives but not in mine. Do you prefer the shop dead or crazy? I’m betting dead? My week was okay. I did go to the Xmas Fair just last evening. It’s shockingly pretty and enjoyable. They did a very good job. It has all the usual Xmas-y huts selling scarves and hot wine and raclette and trinkets and stuff, and they also have lots of rides, even a Xmas-themed dark ride. I might go back. Otherwise, it’s mostly been TV script work which remains a total pain, but oh well. Tonight I’m going to see the Japanese holographic pop star Hatsune Miku in concert, and that should be cool, especially because every Cosplay kid in Paris will be there decked out and excited. Have a fantastic weekend doing everything you most want to do! ** _Black_Acrylic, Hi. Yes, I will re: Glasgow. I’m excited too! I was thinking that your class seemed really,  really short, so I do hope they do the logical and right thing and extend it. ** Steve Erickson, France has a paucity of streaming services, or good ones. There’s been talk of the Cinematheque possibly starting one, which is hugely sensible and would be great, and it would be government funded and therefore doable with high quality even. Great about your editor’s enthusiasm! I don’t know Tropical Fuck Storm, no. Hm. Not sure if I’m in the mood for that sort of sound, but I’ll dip and see, thanks. Yeah, the raves on the new 1975 album are nuts. They’re pretty clever, maybe too so? The new 10cc? So maybe it’s warranted? ** Misanthrope, Happy that one of my boys put stars in your … eyes? Oh, right, I remember that film now, or I remember you or others talking about it. Right. Okay, wow, LPS is being a total asshole. Sorry, but, yeah, he sounds like a Trumper without the politics. That’s disappointing. Ugh. ** Okay. You’re invited and welcome to be the judges of this year’s Buche crop, if you’re so inclined. See you on Monday irregardless.