#Dordogne river

[vintageeurope]

Beaulieu-sur-Dordogne, France 1920s

[postcard-from-the-past]

Valley of the Dordogne river in the Périgord region of France

French vintage postcard

[franceevasions-vw]

BEAULIEU SUR DORDOGNE - Corrèze

Photo by Valérie Wanègue

[frenchpsychiatrybonbons]

by unofficial

Something

somewhere near the river Dordogne

——-

something….somewhere….

everyone knows…

I forget…

often…

not important…

mr fuk’n esteemed body of doctors said…

not important bitch….

you’re just white trash with no pedigree….

not important…

[woodeelf]

Dordogne 2023 xbox

[postcard-from-the-past]

100 years ago:

 La Roque Gageac, Perigord, France.

[9oolecom]

Dordogne River in France

[elfaen]

Personal pictures

[lauthenticfrance]

Tango cruise | Garonne and Dordogne River cruises

Tango cruises 8 people in Garonne and Dordogne River cruises. Discover Tango, built in 1931, initially navigated on the canals of North Eastern France.

https://www.lauthenticfrance.com/tango/

[hopefulkidshark]

Rocamadour, France: Rocamadour is a commune in the Lot department in southwestern France. It lies in the former province of Quercy. Rocamadour has attracted visitors for its setting in a gorge above a tributary of the River Dordogne and especially for its historical monuments and its sanctuary of the Blessed Virgin Mary, which for centuries has attracted pilgrims from many countries, among them kings, bishops and nobles. Wikipedia

[nakiapickeringillustration]

Poisson D’Avril!

It’s April Fools’ Day, and you know I can’t resist the chance to make some quirky holiday art! They call it Poisson D’Avril, or ‘April Fish’ in France. No now knows exactly why, but I won’t complain about a reason to illustrate! I chose a European Sturgeon for this piece because they’re a very important and critically endangered species. Here are some facts about them:

- They are the rarest sturgeon in the world.

- One single wild population exists in the Garonne and Dordogne rivers in France, but in former times they’ve been documented in many other places including the Atlantic, the English Channel, the Mediterranean, and the Black Sea.

- Globally 85% of sturgeon species are threatened with extinction, rendering them the most endangered species group in the world, according to IUCN.

- They are diadromous, meaning they live in fresh AND salt waters!

- They can live to be over 100 years old, grow up to 16 feet long, and weigh up to 770 pounds!

- Today sturgeons are referred to as living dinosaurs as their lineage dates back to over 200 million years ago!

[postcard-from-the-past]

Railway bridge over the Dordogne river by Saint-André-de-Cubzac, Guyenne region of France

French vintage postcard

[miyakuli]

Dordogne

Dordogne, ma belle Dordogne

Dordogne is a narrative and interactive game in which we travel through the memories of the young Mimi, on vacation in the South of France with her grandmother Nora. It's the first game from French studio Un Je Ne Sais Quoi, and it's already a great success that's sure to appeal to young and old alike, although it lacks a little depth on various levels.

❤ It's a visual slap in the face; the watercolor environments are gorgeous and reminiscent of postcard illustrations, the warm colors are comforting and the animations are charming. It's a real enchantment to explore the surroundings in this almost heavenly setting.

❤ The French dubbing is impeccable. The intonations are always spot on, but what's more, the voices are soft and pleasant to the ear. And since there are tape recordings to listen to from time to time, I found myself settling down and letting myself be lulled by the sound of their voices. ❤ The nostalgic feeling that emanates from the game is strong and touching. Whether it's in the daily summertime activities with grandma, or the fascination of discovery and exploration through Mimi's childlike eyes, or even with the vintage equipment used that will resonate with the oldest among us (team 90's here ;D). ❤ A discreet but relaxing soundtrack, which immerses us in the ambient sounds of the French countryside.

+/- Even if the themes addressed are not new (depression, grief, family conflicts…), they are nonetheless well handled and enough to touch hearts. I do find, however, that certain points are not developed enough and are cut short at the end (the question of the father, for example, or the story surrounding Renaud). +/- Paradoxically given its title, the game doesn't highlight the department's heritage enough for my taste. So, yes, we explore the richness of the area, with its rivers, caves and forests, and we also discover the legend of the Coulobre, the river dragon. But I was also expecting to learn about the history of the place (perhaps passed on by the grandmother), the local gastronomy (with the market), or maybe even local activities…the only thing I learned about the commune of Sarlat is that there's a market and that you can apparently go up in a hot-air balloon (as you can see them in the distance :p). +/- I love having a diary to fill with text, audio, photos and stickers, it's my thing :) The game then encourages you to explore and find all the collectibles you need to fill the pages as you wish. However, I find this option rather limited. In fact, the game is one long directional corridor, and you clearly can't explore the unlocked places on the map as you like, but above all, the areas where you can take sounds and photos are too rare. For a game that celebrates the adventurous spirit of our childhood, this is a real shame. +/- Some might criticize the gameplay for being too simplistic, with only a few puzzles or interactions with objects. Personally, I've found that these simple tasks (cooking, decorating a picnic, repairing a toy, etc.) are in harmony with the idea of recalling the sensations of the character's childhood. On the other hand, the game CONSTANTLY guides us through these actions (even though the keys are always the same), and we can't deactivate this help, so for the more adult audience, this is rather annoying. In my opinion, this takes away from the tactile memory aspect of the game, as we're not given the opportunity to find out for ourselves what gestures to make.

✖ Moving around with the controller can be a little clumsy. ✖ End credits with a single song, and the rest is done in absolute silence, not even little ambient sounds to accompany it all (yes I generally watch the credits in their entirety and I can tell you here that it was very long xD). ✖ A little too short, it would have deserved an extra hour to better conclude the story.

Dordogne offers incredible visual immersion, but arguably relies a little too much on it, being a little shaky in its scenario and gameplay ideas. Nevertheless, it's a pleasant getaway, which might tempt some to pack their suitcases and visit the place themselves. It may not completely satisfy the most avid of explorers, which is why I'd recommend the beautiful Season: A Letter to the Future game, which is in the same spirit of discovery and wandering.

➡ My Steam page

[frenchpsychiatrybonbons]

by unofficial wannabe wanker

work site at the top of the stairs somewhere near the river Dordogne

——-

I love work sites on ancient stairways. Our village is full of ancient everything…everywhere is in a process of rehabilitation.

[jow99]

Blois to Cahors

An earlyish start today as today was a travelling day. After a bit of faffing we were on the road a bit before 9am. The first part of the drive was really lovely, we stayed off the expressway and were driving through the pretty villages of the Loire.

As we left the Loire it was time to hit the expressway and get some kms done. It was still a relatively nice drive, but the expressways are definitely not as interesting. We had a coffee stop not long after we got onto the expressway and lunch was just after we left it again. So later afternoon was more scenic driving through the Dordogne and into the Lot.

We did a lot of reminiscing this afternoon as on our first European trip together back in 1992, we spent a bit of time camping through these parts.

As we hit the outskirts of Cahors we stopped for petrol and groceries and then proceeded to our campground. On first views as we drove through town, Cahors looks lovely. Lots of exploring to be done.

Our campground is 2-3 km from the centre of Cahors, on the Lot river. This will be our home now for the next 6 nights as we embark upon a bit of a training camp, as well as some sightseeing. Our friend Stephen (of Katharine and Stephen) will also be spending a night or two here in the campground on his way down to L’Escala, with the fur grand baby Willow.

From Tessi we can see the river, but when we’re seated outside we see the cliffs above (damn hedge). I think we’ll be quite comfortable here.

[tilbageidanmark]

Movies I watched this Week # 149 (Year 3/Week 45):

Between 'Mean Streets' and 'Alice doesn't live here anymore', Martin Scorsese made the documentary ItalianAmerican, which is basically a home movie. It features his parents bicker and talk at their apartment, remembering the old days of their families.

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2 with teenager Scarlett Johansson:

🍿 Re-watch: Sofia Coppola's Lost in translation, while waiting for her latest 'Priscilla'. "Sleepless in Shinjuko". Sad and vulnerable 17-year-old Scarlett Johansson, a 'stranger in a strange land' is having a 'Brief Encounter' moment, with less-asshole-than-usual Bill Murray. (Photos Above).

Another melancholic exploration of a lonely young woman, who finds herself captured in a privileged gilded cage. An exceptional, subtle masterpiece. 10/10.

🍿 The horse whisperer starred 14-year-old Johansson as a horse-lover who becomes emotionally stunted after a riding accident that caused her to lose part of her leg (all in the first 10 minutes of the film). It's a sloooow, traditional 3-hour-long story about healing, told mostly in beautifully-cinematic Montana. But it worked for me, in spite of the well-shot sentimentality. 7/10.

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My first 2 by German auteur Christian Petzold, both with Paula Beer:

🍿 Afire - a tremendous, complex drama about a vain, immature writer on a working vacation. The little summer cottage close to the Baltic sea, is soon encroached by a forest fire, as does his self-centered world view of himself and his art. It starts at one emotional point, and skillfully moves to a completely different, tense level. 9/10.

🍿 Petzold wanted to make a series of films about the 4 elements. Undine refers to the myth of 'water nymphs', so rivers, industrial diving, large aquariums, and drowning in a pool are all part of the story. It's a lovely, simple romance, which eventually turns into a dark fantasy. My 5th film with Franz Rogowski. 4/10.

🍿

3 More of Claude Chabrol’s Hitchcockian thrillers:

🍿 “… You like meat?…”

Le Boucher, a low-key, atmospheric thriller about a single woman who befriends a village butcher, who's also a serial killer. Fantastic snapshot of the people at 'the country' (Dordogne) at this time. 9/10.

🍿 The ceremony (La Cérémonie) is a similar dark story, set in a solid bourgeoisie family. Isabelle Huppert & Sandrine Bonnaire becomes friends and eventually decide kill them all. Like 'Stanley & Iris' from last week, the protagonist is illiterate. 6/10.

🍿 The Unfaithful Wife, another terrific, low-key, civilized study of a French bourgeois household. A loving husband discovers that his loving wife is having an affair, and ends up killing her lover. I liked it so much, and thought it would be a very good candidate for a modern remake. Then I remembered Adrian Lyne's 'Unfaithful' with the luminous Diane Lane in the Stéphane Audran role. Maybe I should watch it again! 8/10.

I discovered Chabrol late, and have only seen about 10% of his 74 movies. Now I have to see them all!

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Milf, another film with Virginie Ledoyen, a soft-core sex comedy. Three older women looking to hook up with boys 20 years younger. A similar concept to the Naomi Watts film 'Adoration'. I only watched it because it is directed by a woman and had 13 on the Tomato score. Better than Zalman King.

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Wow! After 4 months of anticipation, the venerable bio-pic Oppenheimer finally hit my free streamers. I watched all 3 hours of it but left completely underwhelmed. This is the seventh of Christopher Nolen's praised big-budget epic films that I saw, and so far none of them had floated my boat. Okay, so I'm not a big blockbusters fan.

It's not very hip to rail against McCarthyism in 2023. Twenty-twenty revisionist vision, mambo-jumbo pseudoscience, overwrought endless, loud soundtrack, and basically the usual biography of a "Great man", which is always a boring subject for a movie. 4/10.

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3 by regular Fincher screenwriter Andrew Kevin Walker:

🍿 On the other hand, David Fincher’s new thriller The killer was a thrill ride that was a joy to watch. A cold blooded professional assassin, laconic and super-human, flies around the world ruthlessly killing people. Mesmerizing (but predictable) suspense with an effective Trent Reznor and Atticus Ross score. I could do without the inner monologue that replaced conversations in the story. Also, a great comic book knock-out fight after an hour and a half of deliberate, slow go. 7/10.

🍿 In 2001, BMW produced 8 short films by famous directors as "Branded Content", i.e. advertisements. Called 'The hire' they all featured Clive Owen driving Beamers around the world. AKW wrote two of them:

The Follow was directed by Wong Kar-wai, and was about an aborted diamond heist.

Ambush was directed by John Frankenheimer, and was about a woman being followed by her husband.

The other shorts were by John Woo, Tony Scott, Ang Lee, etc.

🍿

5 more Danish films, 3 with Henning Moritzen (The patriarch from ‘Celebration’) and 2 with Mads Mikkelsen:

🍿 Tænk på et tal (Think of a number), a 1969 old-fashion, enjoyable Danish 'Krimi' with an enduring theme song. A meek bank teller finds a discarded note from a bank robber, and gets involved in a lethal game.

This story was later remade into the Elliott Gould caper 'The silent partner'. I love such slow and delightful dramas, and I love Bibi Andersson.

it’s funny how movies that used to be throwaway entertainment products 60 years ago, gain completely different meaning today. I should start exploring the many Danish Noir from the 40's and 50's. 7/10.

🍿 50 years later, In the Oscar-nominated short The pig, Moritzen is old and fat, and is being hospitalised for some tests. There he lays and finds comfort in a simple picture of a pig jumping over a fence. Delightful!

🍿 On the other hand, Now is another Danish short (from 2003) starring Mads Mikkelsen. But it's an artsy-fartsy, humor-less, word-less "Art film", shot in black & white, with a constant baby crying. Like 'An Andalusian Dog' but without the charm and the magic… 1/10.

🍿 I was surprised to realize just now that my favorite Danish screenwriter Anders Thomas Jensen directed only 5 features and 3 shorts. (but he wrote 59 scripts!). Wolfgang is an early short of his, and not his best. Now I've seen all the movies that he directed.

I can't wait for his upcoming 'Monster of Florence' with Antonio Banderas and 'Back to reality'. Yeah!

🍿 So I took in one more viewing of his sentimental After the wedding, maybe for the 10th time. So full of emotional twists, old-fashioned melodrama, Sigur Rós score and peak Sidse Babett Knudsen.

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Budapest Noir, a Hungarian murder mystery, set up in anti-semitic 1936. A hard boiled crime reporter investigates a murder of a beautiful prostitute, like a Jake Gittes named Zsigmond. Very strong 'Chinatown' vibes, including a smokey jazz score that tries to recreate its haunting atmosphere, and even the final line of dialogue "This is Budapest". 5/10.

[This is the 115th woman-directed film I've seen so far this year!].

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Dumb money, the first enjoyable Reddit movie, about the 2021 GameStop short squeeze. Compelling Class War rhetoric with Seth Rogen as the billionaire 'heavy'. Up-to-the-minute updated drama of the 1% Vs. the unwashed masses. I think it will endure as another worthy addition to the sub-genre of 'highly entertaining explanation to boring real-life financial story', just like 'The big short' and 'Margin call'.

However, it used an Artificial Intelligent editing model that color-corrected the whole movie into a weird, fake, washed up look. 8/10.

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First watch: Kurosawa's bleak Drunken Angel, an early post-war Yakuza film, and the first of the 16 collaborations between him and Toshiro Mifume. An alcoholic doctor befriends a young hoodlum suffering from tuberculosis. Located around an open sewer in a seedy neighborhood, still suffering under the American occupation.

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Ikarie XB 1 (Or 'Voyage to the End of the Universe' as it was called in American), an influential and ambitious 1963 Czechoslovakian science-fiction saga, based on a Stanisław Lem novel. "Futuristic" space decor and story, very much in the Star Trek style. Cultish 1960's popcorn philosophy, but nonsensical and not a serious world building. Not for me - 1/10.

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Thank Dog that the third season of Tim Robinson’s 'I think you should leave' was so short. The first season was outrageously different. The second season was a 'repeat on a theme'. This one was just cringey irrelevant. Absurd, awkward, confusing situations, exploding rage at small mistakes. No!

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My first (and last) stand-up by comedian Nate Bergatze, The greatest average American. Average stories of 'relatable' everyday nitty gritty were hardly worth a chuckle.

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(My complete movie list is here)