This is the house that…

April 13, 2018.Reading time 22 minutes.

During one of my recent trips to Moscow, I came across an interesting article about the masterpieces of Moscow architecture in an Air France flight magazine. Besides the Stalin Sisters, VKHUTEMAS[1], the house of Konstantin Melnikov and the club Zuev, the author mentioned the Narkomfin building, erected in 1930 upon the project of Moisei Ginzburg […]

One thousand roses and depthless wardrobes

November 1, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

A true Marseillais, embodiment of the most popular myths about these distinct Frenchmen, Monsieur Fernand Contandin, known worldwide as Fernandel, is one of those great comedians without whom we can hardly imagine the history of French cinema today. His face didn’t need additional make-up to change instantly and provoke laughter or tears. You wouldn’t be […]

Life is Beautiful!

May 13, 2017.Reading time 2 minutes.

As is clear from the title of this blog, I sincerely believe that life is beautiful and amazing. Even if there exist problems, illnesses, calamities and disasters. It’s impossible to live isolated from the reality, where, alas, misfortunes happen. If I had a magic wand, I would flick it to find cure for fatal diseases, […]

Such important books

May 12, 2017.Reading time 8 minutes.

Recently I have been chatting with my friends about books: the ones we read and loved in our childhood and those of contemporary literature. Quite logically, our common interests manifested immediately, especially for the classics. We had been all engrossing in Dumas, Conan Doyle, Woodhouse, Verne, London, Marquez and, of course, Tolstoy, Bulkakov, Bunin, Ilf […]

On fairy tales and storytellers

April 28, 2017.Reading time 15 minutes.

A small foreword to the article, which I publish below. I wrote it in February, inspired by the info received from a friend, that Modern Love column of NY Times newspaper is quite willing to publish essays on any of the topics relevant to modern love. Anyone can send his article for the editor’s consideration and […]

Celebrating Bouillabaisse

April 24, 2017.Reading time 5 minutes.

One of the most popular series of comics in Europe, “The Adventures of Asterix”, illustrating escapades of a shorty Asterix and his fat fellow Obelix, invented by René Goscinny and Albert Uderzo, devotes proper place to portraying Gallic village feasts. Indeed, nothing has really changed since the Roman conquest of the country. The beginning of […]

On how to be lovely

April 22, 2017.Reading time 7 minutes.

I love old Hollywood movies. I love cinema overall, but these ones give me a special feeling: I’ve got the same after a delicious dinner in a restaurant, or a great party, or an interesting encounter. When you utterly enjoy the moment without keeping track of time. Recently I re-watched a light and romantic “Funny […]

Friends of our friends

April 18, 2017.Reading time 10 minutes.

When I lived in Moscow, the way of functioning of public institutions was a mystery to me, which however I did not search to discover. After my moving to France, the mystery seemed to be bored to remain so, and she came along with a broad friendly smile. Madame Françoise Sur (who’s literally “sure” by […]