Hotel du Nord

Advantages: Beautifully filmed, poetic, magnificently acted masterpiece of cinema rarely matched today
Disadvantages: Nothing... genuinely nothing

...I first saw Hotel du Nord as part of a double bill with a film by Jean Renoir (I forget which - though I think the brilliant Le Crime De Monsieur Lange) and I was frankly going to see the Renoir film and thought, hmmm, I'll just have to sit through Hotel du Nord and grin and bear it. Something about the film just really didn't appeal. Then right from the opening shot that tracks down from the bridge over the canal Saint Martin and along the side of the canal to where the two lovers, played by Annabella and Jean-Pierre Aumont, settle against one another on a bench, despairing and apparently doomed I simply didn't look back. I couldn't. Since that Sunday afternoon I have always had something of a soft spot for Hotel du Nord. It is firmly placed in the traditional of French cinema of the thirties. Like his contemporaries, Renoir...

No_name 11.02.2007 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Du Nord (Subtitled) (DVD)

Hotel Du NOrd, Interlaken

Advantages: excellent service, location
Disadvantages: none

......

mabi 18.07.2008 · Read review
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Review of Hotel Du Nord, Interlaken

Eurostar from Waterloo to Gare du Nord and back

Advantages: Very Fast
Disadvantages: Too much like a flight

...the train leaves and after about 10 minutes of going at a relaxed pace through the south london suburbs it turns onto the CTRL (Channel Tunnel Rail Link) and whooshes through Kent. My train wasnt stopping at Ashford so it was straight to the Channel Tunnel I got a sandwhich before the tunnel from the buffet which is bit sparse. Instead they should have a proper dining car. In the tunnel all the carriges are locked so you cant go to the buffet. The actual ride through the tunnel took about half an hour and France seemed a refreshing change from Britain when the train got out. After that all you had to do was wait. After a while we stopped in Lille for a short time and a few people got off. Then the train proceeded to Paris, when you arrive there are no formalities whatsoever you just go. On the return leg the signs at gare du nord towards...

bandages 28.04.2006 · Read review
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Canal du Midi

Advantages: architectural wonder
Disadvantages: cost many human lives to build

...The Canal du Midi, is a man dug canal, situated in the south of France, and joins the Atlantic Ocean to the Mediterranean sea, via the Canal Garonne. The water sources which allow the canal to be constantly navigable, come from the Montagne Noire, (situated in the south west of the Massif Central, near Mazamet, in the Tarn area), by three lakes, and the Saint Ferréol dam. This technical challenge, first imagined in 1539, stayed a project on paper for almost a century, until 1636. ¤ø,¸¸,◊,¸¸ ,ø It was Paul Riquet, an ingenious engineer, born in Béziers in 1604, who started the first portion of the Canal in 1636, under the reign of Louis XIV. The Saint Ferréol dam was built in 1667, and in 1680, the locks at Béziers, called "Les écluses de Fonseranne" were built. Pierre Paul Riquet died that year, and the very first navigation...

bodsquidge 25.06.2007 (09.06.2007) · Read review
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Review of Canal du Midi, Languedoc

Cirque du Freak - The Vampires Assistant

Advantages: Nothing to shout at really
Disadvantages: Not as good as the book.

...Film details: Genre: Horror Film running length: 105 min Language: English Based on the Cirque du Freak vampire chronicles by UK Darren Shan. The film is a fantasy adventure. It tells the story of Darren, an ordinary teenager but things begin to change for him when a vampire named Larten Crepsley gets his teeth into him. Now a vampire Darren joins the Cirque Du Freak, a touring freak show, and unwittingly breaks a 200-year truce between two warring factions of vampires. Suddenly, the now not so ordinary teenager, has to somehow stop creatures from feasting on what?s left of his humanity. Its not a great a great plot, it seems rather disjointed and stumbles from one scene to the next. I found the film hard going( particulary after reading the book, its somewhere in the middle of an adult and childrens film. Some...

Falstaff100 31.10.2009 · Read review
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Review of Cirque Du Freak - The Vampire's Assistant

Daphne du Maurier

Advantages: Excellent reads
Disadvantages: Only if you don't read any!

...Daphne du Maurier was a true when it comes to novelists. She had written some of the best books of her time which continues to be a source of enjoyment for readers all over the world. Perhaps her most well known books are Rebecca, Jamaica Inn and Frenchman's Creek but there are so many more novels and short stories to enjoy. Her first novel was The Loving Spirit, a story about one Cornish family through many generations and their fight to survive while making a living from building boats. In contrast, her last book, The House on the Strand is about a man who begins taking some kind of drug which enables him to go into the past where he learns about Cornwall from many years ago. Both of these books would make excellent films - I have no idea why they haven't been snatched up. Everyone should read at least one du Maurier book!...

benjis_mum 28.05.2008 · Read review
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Review of Daphne Du Maurier

Death du Jour - Death of the day

Advantages: More exciting than the last
Disadvantages: Technicality distracts from the story at times

...Death du Jour is the second book in the series starring Dr Brennan, and is just as good, if not better. This book starts with a bit more excitement that the last book, with Brennan exhuming (digging up) a body from the 1800?s. Shortly after this there is a fire in a house where five bodies are found, including two small children who were only eighteen months old. These two stories run along side each other for a while, which does get a bit confusing at times. This book also details Brennan?s life as a tutor of a class in a small town called Charlotte in America and again, she goes back and forth between here and Quebec, in Canada throughout the book, making it slightly confusing. Whilst in Charlotte, Brennans daughter comes to visit and they go to a small island which is owned by one of Brennan?s friends. He is breeding monkeys...

wolfey59 08.08.2009 · Read review
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Review of Death Du Jour - Kathy Reichs

Musee du Louvre

Advantages: Only place to see the Mona Lisa
Disadvantages: Very busy all the time

...Musee du Louvre (Louvre Museum) Background The Louvre is the most visited and one of the oldest, largest and most famous art galleries and museums in the world. The first royal ?Castle of the Louvre? was founded in what was then the western edge of Paris by Philip Augustus in 1190, as a fortified royal palace to defend Paris on its west against Plantagenet attacks. The first building in the existing Louvre was begun in 1535, after demolition of the Old Castle (foundations of the Old Castle are now an exhibition). The architect Pierre Lescot introduced to Paris the new design vocabulary of the Renaissance, which had been developed in the chateaux of the Loire. During his reign (1589 ? 1610), King Henry IV added the Grande Galerie. Henry IV, a promoter of the arts, invited hundreds of artists and craftsmen to live and work...

pricey1980 06.08.2007 (07.08.2007) · Read review
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Review of Musée du Louvre

Yves Rocher Jardins Du Monde Shower Gel

Advantages: Smells nice, really nice lather, gets you clean
Disadvantages: Only available online, bottle hard to open

...I recently bought some 'Jardins du Monde' shower gel from the Yves Rocher website. I have never tried the product before but they had a 2-for-1 offer so I couldn't refuse! There are quite a few different shower gels in the 'Jardins du Monde' range. They are: Polynesian tairé flower shower gel Asian Palm Oil Shower Gel Californian Almond Shower Gel Laotian Lotus Flower Shower Gel African Cocoa Bean Shower Cream Madagascan Orchid Shower Gel Gel douche Orange de Floride Comoran Ylang-Ylang Flower Shower Gel The particular one that I got was 'Madagascan Orchid' (so this is the particular one I shall write my review on) I'm not entirely sure what a Madagascan Orchid is meant to smell like to verify the authenticity of the smell, but I can say that the shower gel does smell really nice! It is quite a tropical, orangey...

ivytoad 14.02.2008 · Read review
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Review of Yves Rocher Jardins du Monde

Tesco's very own Chateaneuf du Pape !

Advantages: Enjoyable flavours, warming and pleasant on a winter evening
Disadvantages: Overpriced, not complex enough in flavour for the money

...Tesco finest Chateauneuf du Pape originates from a very famous wine region in the Southern Rhone river area of France. Chateauneuf du Pape was once the temporary haunt of the Pope (hence its name) and is responsible for some rich, powerful, spicy and densely flavourful red wines which command high prices and this wine is no exception at the full price of £12.99 per bottle. The wine itself is full bodied, has warm and pleasant aromas of mellow baked fruit, red berries and spice. On the palate I found a full, forward body with powerful but not overblown plum and red berry flavours with a peppery edge. Beware the 14% alcohol kick though if you're not enjoying it with a plate of hearty food ! I enjoyed the mix of bold red fruit and spice flavours but found there was not really enough complexity or length of flavour to justify spending 13...

zallin 19.07.2007 · Read review
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Review of Tesco Finest Chateauneuf du Pape