An American in Provence

The song "Non, Je Ne Regrette Rien" by Edith Piaf was one of the first French songs I learned. It was WAY BACK in 2004, when I was auditing the French 101 class during my PhD program. The previous semester I had audited the Latin 101 course, until I met a certain Frenchman. Our teacher, an American graduate student getting her Master's and who was engaged to a Frenchman from Paris, played French songs for us and we could read the lyrics and try to figure out what was being said. I liked the song. So much so, that I wanted to use it for our wedding song. Alain thought I was nuts and that if we played it, all the French would think that we were strange. I just liked the final lines:
"Car ma vie, car ma joie,
Aujourd'hui
Ca commence avec toi!"
Because my life, because my joy,
Today
It begins with you.



Anyway, we ended up using a different song, "Man of the World" by Marc Cohen.

We watched "La Mome" or La Vie en Rose for English speakers, with Marion Cottilard a few months ago. I found it hard to follow. We couldn't even get the french subtitles. I found the language hard to follow, and the film kept jumping around- she is old, she is young, she is dying, what?
Also, I was disturbingly reminded of my grandmother. Not that my grandmother was disturbing mind you, but the portrayal of Edith Piaf reminded me of her- facial expressions, hair, make-up, clothes, movements.

Anyway, congrats to Marion Cottilard for winning the Oscar. I was a little surprised when I realized that she was in Taxi and A Very Long Engagement, as I totally did not recognize her when I saw La Mome.