Two Days in Paris

I just saw Two Days in Paris for breakfast. Yes one of the good things about being unemployed!Well I have been a fan of Julie Delpy even since Before Sunrise and Before Sunset, so ever since I heard that this movie has come I wanted to watched. It played in selected Indian inoxes but never got a chance to see this in India.

This movie is conceptualised, written, produced, directed and acted in by Delpy. Her character Marion is a French photographer who is based in New York for the last two years.  She is in a relationship with this interior designer American guy called Jack (Adam Goldberg). They come for an Europe trip, go to Venice for two weeks and on their way back stay in Paris for two days. They stay in Marion's flat which is on top of her parent's house and of course all hell breaks loose.

I loved the characterisation of this Jack guy...he is no run of the mill hero and so ordinary that you cannot help but like him. He complains about everything, thinks he is sick (headache migrane, tonsil...), dreads allergies, infections, diseases, terrorist attacks and just about everything else, refuses to use the metro or the bus and is judgemental to boot. Marion since, they are in her city, tries to play the pacifying hostess and calms the guy down. She is no less in her own way, is paranid about being fat, gets drunk easily, seamlessly picks up fights with random taxi drivers, ex boy friends and even waiters who come in her way. Ah yes she has plenty of exes in Paris and the couple seem to be bumping into these guys all the while, much to the frustration of Jack. After meeting half dozen or more of her ex lovers Jack is convinced that Marion is a whore but cannot say it on her face. I was laughing while watching this scene. It is so true we women can so easily call a man 'a bastard'  but for men there is some code of honour which stops them from uttering it the 'w' word. Though that does not stop him from thinking or even obsessing about it. Of course I am not talking about abusive men, but normal men like Jack here.

Jack is monolingual, speaks only English and so is everyone he meets in Paris.The only problem is they speak only French. This results in some laughter for the Parisans while Jack gets embarassed and mad at Marion. He hates the language, the food and just about everything else. Finally with great difficulty he finds double cheese burger and fries and looks happy and sated.To give him some credit the poor guy also without trying runs into trouble like faces a bomb threat, gets mistakenly handcuffed for mugging etc etc.

I have one small experience of this cultural thingy....I spent one Christams with a Philipina family who forgot that I am a non Tagalog speaking Indian. The whole evening they spoke to me in Tagalog. After a while I stopped telling them that I do not speak Tagalog, thank you very much. Instead I nodded and smiled which made them happy. One evening could be fun, but days of this I am sure would not be.  I am sure couples belonging to different cultures and speaking different languages do have this kind of problem. In fact I was having a conversation with a friend who was a little skeptical about the cultural difference with her boy friend.

To get back to the movie, the characters are very realistically etched and the viewer can establish almost an instant connection and identification with them. And as has become Delpy stock in trade some of her self realisation are just too good. Delpy is good but Goldberg is superb. Though I would still rate the Before movies higher, this is a good watch.

Oxford Diary: The Eagle and Child Pub

Ever since we had come to Oxford I wanted to try out the traditional British fish and chips. For someone growing up reading English literature, fish and chips was a much read and much salivated over dish.  Finally yesterday we went to this pub called The Eagle and Child on St Giles Street. The menu said that this pub has been in operation since 1650s but was refurbished or changed hands or somesuch in the eighteenth century. Since then it has been extended also, though the space was not much and there were lots of twists and turns and smaller rooms 'snugs' tucked inside making the place really interesting. 1650 in Indian history means the Mughal times. Oh how I wish there was a mughal sarai (guest house/resting house something like the British inn) still operating.You get all these places in Delhi like Ber Sarai, I am sure there used to be Mughal inns, which got destroyed over the period of time. All we have got left are the forts and the gardens. Anyways, to get back to the English pub, this watering hole has been frequented by many famous names, one of which I still remember reading in the menu. It was none other than J.R.R. Tolkein the author of Lord of the Rings. Sitting in a place like that made me feel that I could just reach out and touch history. Just having finished a regency novel which had inns and charter houses mentioned in abundance my imagination took a flying leap.

This photograph is that of the famed fish and chips, served with tartar sauce and a slice of lime. This fish is what we Bengalis call fish orlay, in a much bigger size. Thanks to the popularity of Anglo Indian cusine this is easily available in many of the resturants of Kolkata, especially Park Street side. Other than Park Street another place which serves fantastic fish is Kwality Resturant in Ballygunj Phari. Also Bengali wedding menus are hardly complete without the fish fry or the orlay. Eating this fish I realised how predominantly colonial our food still is! This fish we had was most probably cod. Bhetki with which Bengalis make this preparation is way more tastier. But I must say this was the best tartar sauce I have tasted so far-- very light and just right. You get fish and chips in Mumbai also  in  Gaylord Resturant in Churchgate. Soumitro had taken us there when we had gone to Mumbai.

The glass of beer is Wychwood Hobgoblin. For my husband Indranil beer is a passion, he keeps visiting beer festivals and various pubs and goes into a hypnotic state drinking his favourite stuff. This is supposedly one of his favourites. This was a little expensive that the other pubs in Oxford but he says it was one of the best.

I had cider for the first time. Pretty sour, has a zing, it is definitely an aquired taste and by the time I finished the glass (with Indranil taking 4/5 swings in between) I almost liked it.
Other than the fish and chips the menu had  all kinds of traditional sounding dishes locally called the 'pub grub'.  There were soups, various kinds of sanwiches and flat breads, main dishes had selection of pies, something called pork belly, salmon, prawn, ham, beef and some vegetarian options as well. The pies were all served with mashed potato and seasonal veggies. Sundays are roast special with options in beef, pork and chicken as far as I remember.
Their christmas menu is also out, looks very traditional, just what I want to try out.

These guys actually keep reconrd of the number of pies and pints of ale they sold in this black board. Isnt this lovely? Now I want my own baclkboard too!

Inside of the pub. It is nicely lighted and pretty cozy and thankfully well heated.

Where we sat (it was originally a conservatory) the ceiling was of glass so we could see outside. Since we were there is the late afternoon we saw dusk coming and then darkness enveloping the world while the bulb gave us light.

When we entered the pub was not that full. But along with our food a gang of teenagers arrived, who sat right next to us and were taking at the top of their voices. Of course the girls were shouting more than the boys which started our discussion as to why women have to talk louder than men.

All in all it was one of my one of my memorable experiences so far in Oxford.