Summer Action Movies

You probably already knew from our earlier posts that we are movie buffs and we like watching different genre of movies.

This summer, most of the movies that we saw were “action” or “adventure” movies.

Some are quite good while some others are just entertaining.

This a short review of these “summer specials”.

“The Mummy – tomb of the dragon emperor” staring Brendan Fraser and Jet Li, is quite fun and based on some historical points, like the real tomb of the first emperor and its buried army.

“Wanted”, with Angelina Jolie, James Mac Avoy and Morgan Freeman is the story of a fraternity of assassins, with a lot of action. It’s so unreal that it becomes finally very funny.

“The incredible Hulk”, with Edward Norton, Tim Roth, Liv Tyler and William Hurt is probably the best “Hulk” film ever made. Special effects are really impressive and the characters, especially Dr Banner, are quite intense.

“The dark knight”, the latest Batman, with Christian Bale, Heath Ledger, Michael Caine, Maggie Gyllenhaal, Aaron Eckhart, Morgan Freeman and Gary Oldman.

A great movie, 3 years after “Batman begins”, Christin Bale is back in Gotham city.

This episode is probably the darkest one; the main characters (Batman, the Joker, and Harvey Dent) are particularly interesting. It’s probably the masterpiece of this summer.

“In Bruges (bons baisers de Bruges)”, with Colin Farrel, Ralph Fiennes and Brendan Gleeson. It’s a totally crazy movie, where two “hit men” are sent by their boss in the wonderful city of Bruges, in Belgium, after a disaster in their previous contract. Collin Farrel is absolutely incredible, very funny, and the city is really a part of the story.

We also particularly liked this one.

Our Little Neighbours

Our neighbour, Miss Cat, has been mentioned in our blog several times. But recently, we had (I'll explain later why a past tense is used) a hedgehog our new neighbour!

Here, he was spotted from our bedroom window at night. He's probably taking his supper, at this time of the night.

In fact, we have seen him several times in one week. Until one unfortunate day, we found him in broad daylight (something is very wrong to find a hedgehog out in the open in the day). So we approached him to check if he's ok. He didn't move when we tried to catch his attention with a broomstick. So my husband went out to him, only to find him injured and bled to death. Poor guy.

We don't know what happened to him. Perhaps he got himself caught in some hazardous objects usually found in cities. We live near the countryside but not quite there yet. So it's not really a hedgehog-friendly place for him.

I later read up about how to make our environment safe for these little garden-friendly creatures. Some tips and advices are found on this site and I hope that those who can and who have a garden, contribute to the preservation of hedgehogs.

Forest gems

This summer, we have a better weather compared to last year's. Despite that, we stayed back in our region most of the season as we are only taking our long holiday at the beginning of autumn (as it's less crowded and less expensive to make holidays when everyone returns to work).

We are fortunate to live near one of the preserved forests in our region. On some lazy weekend afternoons, to avoid direct heat and stuffiness in the city, we like to take some fresh air in the forest. As it is protected, its natural habitants live freely and safely. We even managed to spot a rarity in the forest - wild stawberries.

Wild strawberries found in the forest near Port Royal. It's very small compared to our usual strawberries. However, it is very fragrant and sweet.

Colourful butterfly

Blackberries

BRIGANDVILLE- our kind of place

We all have some favorite places where we like to go from time to time.
Bringandville is one of these places, a cute restaurant located in a small village near home, in the regional park of “Vallée de Chevreuse”.

This review will be in French, as it’s probably more useful for our friends in France.

J’ai découvert ce petit restaurant il y a quelques années et Meng-Sun a également été immédiatement séduite.

Par le cadre, tout d’abord, une maison ancienne, au cœur du village de Rochefort en Yvelines, niché dans le parc régional de la Haute vallée de Chevreuse.
La salle est décorée de créations d’un artiste local (miroirs en mosaïque, lampes), qu’il est possible d’acheter. Elle est très agréable et chaleureuse, particulièrement l’hiver.
Pour l’été, les tables sont dressées dans le jardin ombragé, au milieu des fleurs, au pied de l’église du XIème Siècle.

L’accueil, ensuite, presque familial, est également très sympathique et participe à l’ambiance détendue qui rend cet endroit attachant.
La carte, enfin, si elle n’est pas très fournie en quantité, recèle des trésors gustatifs.
Un seul menu présentant 5 entrées, 5 plats et 5 desserts, qui évoluent au gré des saisons et de l’humeur du chef, à l’exception d’un plat, spécialité de la maison, le poulet « saint pierre », inamovible.
Il s’agit d’un poulet gratiné, à la crème et aux champignons, servi avec du riz.
Pour le reste, les mots d’ordre sont créativité et découverte de nombreux mariage de saveurs.
Nous y avons, par exemple, dégusté une soupe de melon à la cannelle et copeaux de jambon de Parme, un Loup de mer à l’huile d’olive sur lit de fenouil et oignons braisés, servi avec un flan de chou-fleur et un cake de légumes, ou un tajine d’agneau aux herbes.
Quand aux desserts, on y trouve aussi bien un classique fondant au chocolat qu’un crumble aux pêches, des sorbets divers ou un clafoutis d’ananas.

Et qu’il est bon, après le repas, de flâner dans le vieux village ou dans la forêt voisine.
Nous y revenons donc régulièrement avec plaisir, en sachant que nous y passerons à chaque fois un bon moment, à deux ou entre amis.

Brigandville
1 Rue Eglise78730 ROCHEFORT EN YVELINES Tél. : 0130414831