With the Cannes Film Festival nearing its close, the question on most people’s mind is "Who will win a palme d’or, or golden palm leaf?" But I’m wondering if anyone else is obsessing over these fundamental questions: How were Hitler and Mussolini involved in the creation of the festival? And what is the relationship between French cinema and the humble turnip?

A few months ago, David-Nicolas gave me a present he’d picked up in our local bookstore (as you probably know, bookstores are called librairies in French). It was a humble yet pretty 2017 daily planner published by the Jardins de Cocagne, a nation-wide network of market gardeners.

Love him or hate him, Serge Gainsbourg is the definitive Dirty Old Man of French culture. The chain-smoking singer made 17 studio albums and over the course of his career he also painted, made films, and tried his hand at literary expression. March 2nd marked the anniversary of Serge Gainsbourg’s death 26 years ago. Is this provocative and irreverent singer still relevant today?