Moi Je Joue..... well for now anyway..

Hello Wonderful potential readers,

This is my first ever blog so bear with me on the nonsense front... In my state of dire unemployment (as of Tuesday: I had 2 days of a rather hideous sales experience), boredom and the occasional rush of inspiration I have decided to create some vague kind of outlet for any form of creativity that might pass through my brain but seems to be of little or no use in my current job search. Alas I hear you cry! Well no, whilst I search for the ultimate in exciting career opportunities that my current home of Liverpool has to offer (whilst dallying with the constant desire to run away to somewhere sunnier and not quite as "realworld" orientated and waiting for someone to discover my hidden musical/knitting/artistic genius) I give you the random thoughts and pulses of my brain synapses (I'm not really medically aware so that could be um wrong..)

As you may well have noticed the name of this fabulous blog pays a wonderful tribute to the gorgeous and rather sultry Brigitte Bardot, and reiterates my current state of having nothing to do (ie. Moi..when I can afford it.. Je joue). I must admit my Francophilia does stretch to most realms of my life and if you've ever met me you'll know it regularly stretches to random purchases on Amazon and it is through my one click shopping habit that I found "La Belle Epoque: EMI's French Girls 1965-1968", which is a rather fantastic if not odd overload of the saccharine and sultry.  
Christie Laume's "L'adorable Femmes Des Neiges", is a favourite of mine.. Who doesn't love a song about the adorable girls of snow? She also has a song delightfully called "Agathe ou Christie", which is indeed one of life's unanswerable questions.. obviously. For more information on her she appears to have her own website http://www.christielaume.com/biography.html , which not only gives you an overview of some of the most amazing sounding French Chanteuse compilations on which she appears and some lovely grainy photos but also tells of her ongoing project writing a biography regarding her rather famous sister in law, a certain Edith Piaf (never heard of her....haha)

So yes.. and God created Brigitte... Let's bypass any mishaps concerning "Inciting Racial Hatred", and her rather potent animal activism (there is Facebook group dedicated to her rather unFrench Vegetarianism, declaring "Comme Brigitte Bardot Je Ne mange pas de CHEVAL"http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=7598071268&ref=ts) purely as I'm not entirely sure of the ins and outs of these occurences, and focus on the fantastically oozy sultriness regarding her honeyed voice, big blonde hair and kohl lined eyes... 

Who else could possibly try to credibly get away with a song about an Orangutan without sounding like a children's tv presenter (or alternatively a bleach blonde Barney the dinosaur ...errr shivers).  The obvious sexual chemistry between her and Monsieur Serge Gainsbourg, another beloved of mine (perhaps mostly for his desirous and almost arousing indiscretions towards to Whitney Houston), makes for fabulously erotic listening (I'm sure it's what a menage a trois on The Left Bank sounds like..). For the ultimate example of this you need to listen to "Bonnie and Clyde", with Serge's steady voiced storytelling of the infamous '30s criminal couple rather demanding that we "Ecoutez l'histoire de Bonnie and Clyde" over a bizarre whooping sound, rather like a voyeuristic crane watching them make love in their bullet riddled death car.



Brigitte provides the chorus, a simple yet haunting repetition of the title of the song.... just in case we forget who the song's about (and there's a rather delightful moment where she purrs Bonnie's name... listen to the song it just seems strangely appropriate) These crime spree lovers rather bring me to another wondrous French woman I've recently admired, miss Marion Cotillard.  


Her recent foray into the criminal cliques of the Great Depression as John Dillinger (and Johnny Depp)'s lover Billie Frechette, in "Public Enemies" sees her as a rather courageous Moll figure and unfortunately not as an alarm clock wearing rapper. She did however shoot to fame with her rather raw and unequivocally heart wrenching performance as one of the most famous French Chanteuses ever, Edith Piaf in "La Vie en Rose". Both soundtracks provide some rather lovely atmospheric moments... Billie Holiday's "Love Me or Leave Me" and obviously "Rien de Rien" Sigh.... 

You can't really avoid the fact that Brigitte's simple sexiness has translated into the high street, not always successfully, with everyone vying for her almost nautical French stripiness, some ending up like the bombshell she is in a pair of ballet pumps and on the right side of too much eyeliner but others topple into Napoleonic realms of looking more like the helm of a rather gaudy ship (whether to shove your hand in your jumper or not is a personal choice... just remember some might not realise you're channelling French Naval regalia but simply touching yourself up on the bus. You have been warned!)

If in doubt get some old war medals and be done with it..avoid too many anchors or you'll end up looking like a Topshop flagship shop (see what I did there? ha) and swallows and Kate Moss stylee nauticalia never really seemed to go away, recurring each summer when people forget to dress in a vaguely original way at festivals... Just don't get a swallow tattoo... not unless you're a proper sailor and then it's just protocol and you'll never be fully admitted to Davey Jones' Locker or whatnot without it. 

To avoid get the Primark samey sameyness I have been attempting to knit my own lightweight Brigitte stylee striped jumper, so it's just baggy enough but not so much that I look like I should be strung up a flagpole on a poshboy's yacht at some kind of regatta. Have a look at this lovely 40s style (and all the other gorgeous things available).. not quite stripey but rather gorgeous non? 

http://www.vintagepurls.net.nz/Downloads/StitchSept1951TieWaistJumper.pdf  

And obviously you can't be caught dead walking on the Rive Gauche looking the part but eating a massive burger (well if you wanted to go for a hardcore Bardot experience) so here's a yummy onion soup recipe I found and embellished upon (courtesy of Sophie Dahl and her wonderful new book "Miss Dahl's Voluptous Delights" which by the by I think everybody should buy as I obviously do not advocate nicking recipes from the shelves of Waterstones so here's a link... http://www.amazon.co.uk/Miss-Dahls-Voluptuous-Delights-Sophie/dp/0007261179/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1248381531&sr=8-1 which not only has some rather gorgeous recipes but is beautifully laid out) 

Sweat 2 large yellow onions and one large red onion in a large heavy bottomed saucepan with a lid with lots of olive oil and butter.  Make sure there's a lot of oil and or butter covering the bottom of the bottom of the pan as you don't want them to burn at all or you'll taste it throughout the soup... Do this for about 40 mins and make sure you cover them lovingly with the oil as well as covering the bottom of the pan.. This is basically meant to caramelize the onions (it'll start to smell amazing after a few minutes). I added a clove or two of garlic, as I'm rather a garlic whore, but it doesn't need too much as it'll have the lovely sweaty onion flavour (which now I read that back sounds rather horrific) I also added a teaspoon of brown sugar to help the sweetness of the onions come out .. Don't use too much as it might make it rather too sickly.. When the onions have gone lovely and brown add 2litres of chicken (or veggy) stock or half and half and a few splashes of balsamic vinegar and allow to simmer. I added a few sprigs of ripped parsley but not too much as it will totally ruin the lovely flavours.. Let this simmer for about 10-15mins (it won't need that long as the onions have been sweating and cooking for so long already). 

Season with salt and pepper.  What I love to have with this is either a few Parmesan crisps (grate a few thin slices of Parmesan cheese and grill them for a few minutes KEEP AN EYE ON THEM as they have a tendency to go all gooey and melty and not nicely crispy) and also a nice chunky slice of white artisan style bread, I like a bit of sourdough, grilled with a thin layer of Parmesan on the top is also divine.. I know it's traditionally Gruyere but I can't stand it personally. 

So below is the video for "Bonnie and Clyde", eat your soup and watch the utterly amazingly ridiculous video of Serge and Brigitte fixing her stockings and looking remarkably like Lady Penelope from Thunderbirds ... c'est tres chic... (even more so cos it's the one without the subtitles.. )

My Francophile ramblings must now to come to an end for today as I've got to be off to pack for Indietracks festival (in Butterly near Derby in a Steam Train museum- this weekend 24-27th July).  So expect next time to be all steam train orientated as I'll have watched the likes of Art Brut and Camera Obscura dancing on down in the train carriages...

I shall mostly be wearing: red lipstick, a veiled pillbox hat and carrying a smart suitcase to channel some 1940s tragic train departure scenes from whatever film you can think of... or alternatively I'll be working the "jello on springs" look a la some like it hot... 

I shall mostly be listening to: Camera Obscura, Art Brut, Au Revoir Simone and some rather fantastic train related tunes such as Plastic Bertrand's "Le Petit Tortillard" and Robyn Hitchcock's "I Often Dream of Trains" a platform boredom must. 

I shall mostly be eating: Whatever I can afford in the Nottingham vicinity. 

I shall mostly be knitting: An orange and white Beatrix Potter blanket I'm making for my new little nephew...aaw

I shall mostly be doing: jobhunting and dancing in trains... not necessarily in that order.