Kicking kung-fu pandas and a chilling Brazilian vision of the apocalypse: the Cannes film festival kicked off on Wednesday blending fun with philosophy, and Hollywood blockbusters with arthouse fare. The world release of the latest long-awaited episode of whip-cracking Indiana Jones is set to be the star act of the 12-day film bonanza.
Rembrandt and Rubens may be turning in their graves. The latest show at the venerable Louvre sees blood, bones and beetles cohabiting with the grand masters of the Dutch, Flemish and German schools. France's biggest museum has invited a contemporary artist to show works ''in counterpoint'' with those of the old masters.
In food-obsessed France, distinguishing between the tart and the bitter or the crunchy and the crackly, or even simply sorting good food from bad, became part of the school year nearly two decades ago. So it is almost routine to march a class of 10-year-olds into one of the world's most sought-after restaurants for a morning of munching through platefuls of delicacies whipped up by one of the country's top chefs.