bon weekend mes amis

August has been a month of unpredictable weather, short blog posts, birthday parties, and sand in beds. All of it has combined to make me think of one of my favorite films, "Pauline à la plage." Delightfully boyish and remarkably discerning, Pauline is the best.

The film opens with a quote from Chretien de Troyes, the 12th-century French romantic poet: "A wagging tongue bites itself." So true, we all know this, but we always forget. The wisdom and humor of the film is based on the folly of self-deception. Each character argues and acts with what he or she thinks are the purest of motives, attempting to convince someone else why he/she should/should not love her/him. Pauline is the only character that is steadfast and discerning. The entire film is set against a backdrop of late summer weather and bracing, breezy beaches.

I would love to have been as remarkable as the fifteen-year-old Pauline. But I suspect that at fifteen I would have gone for the roguish thirty-something character that "likes to be free" and is not bound by emotional or moral baggage. Sigh. Part of the pleasure of the film is watching Pauline navigate around all of these seductions.

Bon weekend mes amis. I hope you find sand in your shoes and socks and beds. May you be as delightful and discerning as young Pauline learning to love and windsurf on a breezy beach in France. I'm looking forward to making waffles with Przemek, driving Tadzio to his French lesson with pretty Mlle Nour, and reading the stack of materials I've collected over the week.