Journal
The customs, the works, the films and the places that make European culture. By the Novars editors.
La bise: a user’s guide
Two, three, four? Right cheek or left? The most ordinary gesture in French life remains a small ordeal, for visitors and for the French themselves. Here is how never to...
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The timeless rules of menswear
The last button, the length of the sleeve, the tip of the tie, the colour of your shoes after six: a well-worn suit comes down to a handful of rules...
How to visit a museum without wearing yourself out
After an hour, every painting looks the same and your legs grow heavy. It is not a lack of culture, it is a lack of method. The regulars’ method comes...
The French New Wave, simply explained
In the late 1950s, a band of young critics decided French cinema had grown too polite. They picked up the camera, took to the streets and invented a way of...
Staying in a grand hotel
The concierge, tipping, what to wear at the bar and at breakfast, and the quiet art of feeling at home: the customs of the great hotels, so you can truly...
Reading a place setting without hesitation
Three forks, two knives, a spoon above the plate and a row of glasses: a formally laid table is intimidating, but it follows a wonderfully simple logic.
White tie, black tie, smart casual: decoding a dress code
One line at the bottom of an invitation, and everyone asks the same questions. From the most formal to the most relaxed, what each code really means, and the golden...
Recognising a Vermeer in three seconds
A window on the left, a silent interior, a blue more precious than gold: the master of Delft’s paintings are rare, and that is precisely what makes them so easy...
How to recognise a Hitchcock film
Suspense rather than surprise, an object everyone chases that serves no purpose, an enigmatic blonde and a director who walks across the frame: the master’s grammar, in five clues.
The Ritz Paris, a century of legends
Opened on the Place Vendôme in 1898 by a Swiss hotelier and a chef of genius, the Ritz welcomed Proust, Chanel and Hemingway. The story of a hotel that became...
The French seating plan
The hosts in the middle, the guest of honour on their right, couples apart: behind what looks like a protocol puzzle lies, above all, the art of a successful evening.
The art of wearing perfume
A perfume should be noticed when someone comes close, never when you enter a room. Where to apply it, how many sprays, and why to be wary of it at...
The skull, the dog, the lemon: hidden symbols in paintings
In old master painting, nothing is there by chance. Objects speak, and viewers of the time knew how to read them. A short glossary to rediscover this forgotten language.
Films with an “old money” aesthetic
Mediterranean villas, crumpled linen, turquoise pools and palace balls: a selection of films we watch as much for their light and their houses as for their story.
Clinking glasses, and making a toast
Looking people in the eye, never drinking to your own health, knowing when not to clink: the gestures surrounding a raised glass, and what they say about us.
The guest who is always invited back
The polite quarter of an hour, the right gift, the delicate matter of flowers and the note the next day: being a guest is an art, and hostesses compete for...
Purple Noon, Alain Delon’s lesson in style
In 1960, a twenty-four-year-old actor played an impostor who steals an heir’s life. More than sixty years later, his white shirts and his ease aboard a sailing boat remain cinema’s...
What Impressionism really changed
A mocked painting, a sardonic critic and a handful of painters rejected by the Salon: in 1874, a group of artists unwittingly invented modern painting.
The Cannes Film Festival: a guide
The red-carpet steps, the Palme d’Or, the dress code for evening screenings and what the public can actually see: everything you need to know about the most famous film festival...
Oysters, foie gras, brie: the dishes that catch you out
Should you drink the oyster’s liquor? Can you spread foie gras? Where do you start on a brie? The dishes that make even regulars hesitate, and the most famous faux...
The lost art of the thank-you note
In the age of instant messaging, a few handwritten lines have become a small event. Why they matter so much, and how to write them without falling back on formulas.
Grace Kelly, an elegance that cannot be taught
An Oscar winner at twenty-five, a princess at twenty-six, she gave her name to a handbag and her silhouette to generations of women. A look back at a style built...
Six paintings to see once in your life in Paris
From the Louvre to the Orangerie, a walk through six masterpieces, with the story of each and the detail to look for when you stand in front of it.
Knowing what to say after a film
The lights come up, someone asks “So, did you like it?”, and you manage a yes. Four simple angles to turn that question into a real conversation, without playing the...