Midnight in Paris
MSN blogger Felicity Thistlethwaite does her own version of Midnight in Paris...
By guest blogger Felicity Thistlethwaite
Midnight in Paris is arguably the most romantic mainstream movie to have come out of 2011. Directed by Woody Allen, it follows the idealistic daydreams of Gil (Owen Wilson) - a successful but distracted Hollywood screenwriter.
While struggling to finish his first novel, Gil takes a holiday in Paris with his fiancée Inez (Rachel McAdams) and her wealthy parents. The movie centres on his adventures at the stroke of midnight, walking around the city of love.
It should be odd he makes literary giants of the past including F. Scott Fitzgerald and Ernest Hemingway. But the film immerses you so deeply into the mind of the protagonist that you find yourself accepting the situation with very few questions asked.
Offered the chance to go for my own midnight in Paris, I jumped at the opportunity to pace along the moonlit Seine.
With the help of a tour guide we ambled around Paris by night, visiting all the sights highlighted in the movie.
From the hustle and bustle of Harry’s New York piano bar to the exquisitely French restaurant Maxims, I found myself captured by the essence of the Parisian lifestyle.
Later on in the evening we strolled past the glistening Eiffel Tour into the Latin Quarter where liquor and jazz flowed. As couples and friends sat around tables laughing and drinking it wasn’t difficult to imagine we were back in the early 20th century drinking whiskey with Picasso and Josephine Baker.
At the stroke of midnight a delicate smattering of snow fell as we desperately tried to find a taxi back to our hotel. Spending midnight in Paris was every bit as romantic and perfect as I had imagined. And if you can’t make it to Paris for midnight, Woody Allen can give you a tour from your home in 94 minutes.
Midnight In Paris out now on DVD.
