Five Secret Cinemas No Tourist Knows About

This year's big European vote has left me and the French people in a state of bemused shock…

The Eurovision song contest has been taken over by the Balkan and Russian states. Serbia won on Saturday night with a romantic ballad, the Ukrainian drag queen act came in a close second, followed by Russia, Turkey, and Bulgaria, leaving France and the UK in joint 22nd place-out of 24.

…As for the French elections, no comment for the moment as I'm waiting to see what happens once the dust has settled around Nicolas Sarkozy, the new president, as he chooses his ministers.

And for the world of movies, all eyes are on Cannes right now, and the 60th film festival (May 16-27) is still not showing any wrinkles. My money's on The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, based on the true life novel of Elle France's editor Jean-Dominique Bauby, who suffered a paralyzing stroke. Other European highlights include Emir Kusturica's Zavet, and a French-Hong Kong offering from Wong Kar-Wai, Blueberry Nights, starring Norah Jones and Jude Law.

If you can't make it to Cannes, read on to find out the best places in Paris to see films in style.

Enjoy,

Leigh Fergus
Editor, The European

Five of the best independent cinemas in Paris

by Leigh Fergus

The Latina (20 rue du Temple, 4th arrondissement. Metr Hôtel de Ville) shows movies in Spanish (as well as Italian and Portuguese), and is one of the main meeting places for the South American community in Paris. Upstairs, tango fans hit the floor from Wednesdays to Saturday. The theater's cantina serves pollochipole, Argentine churasco, and various tortillas, and movie-meal-dance deals can be had on Monday and Wednesday evenings. This is a lively spot, even if you don't fancy seeing a movie.

I have a real soft spot for the Champo (51 rue des Ecoles, 5th arrondissement. Metro Cluny or St. Michel) as it's the first place I experienced The Rocky Horror Picture Show: Everyone else watching had brought their lighters and confetti and sang along! This is one of the best cinemas for hosting reruns of classics and running movie festivals-recently a David Lynch week was held, alongside homage to Atom Egoyan. All-night screenings are organized here too, with breakfast served at the end.

The Lucernaire Forum (53 rue Notre Dame des Champs, 6th arrondissement. Metr Notre Dame des Champs) is an art center housing a theater, three cinema screens, a bookshop, art gallery, café, and restaurant. The center is particularly popular with students and the intellectuals of the district. Debates are organized with film directors and writers before some screenings-best to get your tickets early.

The Pagode (57 bis rue de Babylone, 7th arrondissement. Metr St. François-Xavier) is the most beautiful of Parisian cinemas. It stands out by being the only cinema in a pagoda-style building (commissioned by a businessman after his travels at the end of the 19th century), and the only cinema in this very residential arrondissement. The teahouse, alas, is no more.

Number Five on my list is my favorite and I'll write about it at greater length in a coming issue-it's Studio 28 (10 rue Tholozé, 18th arrondissement. Metr Blanche).

Cinéphiles get your fix…
Check which movies are playing where and when from the weekly listings and what's on in Pariscope or L'Officiel du Spectacle, both under 0.50 euro. These small purse-sized publications come out on Wednesdays, when new movies are launched in France, and can be bought at any newsstand or kiosk around town. If you can't see it on display, ask the newsagent for Paree-skop. They also contain theater, music, and restaurant listings.

Further Reading:
Your New Life in Paris is your guide to planning and making the move, a hands-on reference of what to expect and how to go about it. Use the hard-earned knowledge and in-the-trenches experience of those who have gone before you to make the process of moving to the world's most popular city a whole lot easier.
Soon you could be browsing through the contemporary art galleries on rue Louis Weiss…strolling along the Canal Saint-Martin…or relaxing on a terrace with your aperitif while you watch the city go by.

Apparitions and conspiracy theories-but no bus timetables

by Steenie Harvey

Doesn't an "I" for Information on a sign suggest a tourist office, a likely place to find bus timetables? It does to me, but this isn't a normal tourist office. No timetables here: only prayer cards for pilgrims visiting Fatima's Basilica and Chapel of Apparitions. Prayers of the Angel and Prayers Taught by Our Lady ("save us from the fire of hell") are available in almost every major language.

In central Portugal, Fatima is one of the Catholic world's most sacred sanctuaries: The square fronting its Basilica is larger than St. Peter's in Rome and over four million people visit every year. What draws them is a series of events said to have happened in 1917.

The "Three Secrets of Fatima"

Three shepherd children-Lucia dos Santos, and her cousins Francisco and Jacinta Marto-claimed to have seen the Virgin Mary here. For those who believe their story, she made a number of appearances over the subsequent months, passing on to Lucia the so-called "Three Secrets of Fatima." These turned out to be a vision of hell, the rise of communism that could only be prevented by the consecration of Russia, and the assassination of a Pope.

Conspiracy theorists don't believe the Vatican divulged the real third secret allegedly passed on to Lucia. Their favorite theories center on one in which the earth is swallowed by tidal waves or the Virgin Mary declares herself as some kind of über-goddess.

The information lady can't help with bus times but insists on giving me a card to pray for the canonization of Francisco and Jacinta. Both died when they were children. Although I'm not the praying type, it's easier to accept it than argue. Lucia, who entered a convent, passed away in 2005 at the age of 97. Under Vatican rules, it's normally at least five years after death before sainthood is conferred.

The major pilgrim occasions are May 13 and October 13, but there's a daily program of sanctuary events from 7:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. Although there aren't too many people at the Basilica today, Fatima's main street is buzzing. Countless shops and stalls cater to visitors' spiritual desires with votive candles, rosary beads, and all manner of religious paraphernalia. Piles and piles of other paraphernalia too…

Mallorca: Spain in a teacup

by Abigail Sarah Chesapeake

Mainland Spain was just too big and our time was limited, so we did the next best thing: We went to Mallorca.

Mallorca, the biggest island in the Balearic group, about 120 miles off the coast from Barcelona, has everything peninsular Spain has, just pushed closer together. Mountains, plains, forests, caves, coves, and the long sandy beaches that first made it famous in the sixties are all here on an island that's only 60-odd miles top to bottom and side to side.

Time warp

For the first two nights, we stayed in Binissalem, a medieval wine village that seems stuck in a time warp. A short drive took us to Petra and a museum honoring Junipero Serra, the friar who founded the missions in California that later turned into the cities we know today as San Francisco, San Diego, and Carmel. This is a must-see if you're from California or are interested in 18th-century history.

Reminiscent of Barcelona

Now we were ready for Palma, a thousand-year-old Mediterranean capital that reminded me of Barcelona before it got developed and trendy, although Palma's heading that way, too. This is a city small enough to walk across in an hour, yet sophisticated enough to support art galleries, a thriving musical scene that embraces jazz, folk, rock and classical, and Michelin-starred restaurants. The new Es Baluard museum of contemporary art exhibitions is worth a visit, but look out for even better collections in the smaller museums such as Foundation March and the collections owned by the La Caixa and Sa Nostra banks.

Walk up to Bellver Castle, a round-topped fortress dating from 1309, and you'll find an archaeological museum and-if you're lucky-a free evening concert in the open air at the top. It's chilly up there so late in the day, but the acoustics are fine and the views spectacular. The views over the city and bay include the King's summer palace and the five-mile-long marina that runs along the oceanfront.

Our hotel, the San Lorenzo, was downtown, a short stroll from almost everything we wanted to see, including the cathedral, a huge Gothic basilica second in size only to St. Peter's in Rome. Impressive on the outside, the inside is curious, with 14th-century work mixed with elements added by Gaudi in 1909. There's a bijou park next door and the people-watching along the tree-lined ramblas outside is first class.

After only four days, we'd clocked up a wealth of sights, sounds, and pleasures-this island had given us a teacup taster of what makes Spain special.

A secret Viennese playground-
beyond the Ringstrasse

by Bartosz Nabrdalik

No need to give you reasons to visit Vienna-the winter waltzes, symphonies, blue Danube, and cafés are all typical clichés-but to penetrate deeper you should go beyond the crowds on the Ringstrasse and head for the suburbs. Here, most people still live comfortably in pastel-colored two- or three-story tenements from the 19th century, close to the surrounding woods.

Far from craggy Alpine peaks
The Lobau, a national park of thousands of acres of pristine marshland in District 22, is located close to the city and is watered by various arms of the Danube. Long wooded paths stretch all the way to the Slovak border, a good eight-hour walk east of the city. I covered the entire 30-mile stretch in one day and it was well worth it, despite the blisters. The gently swaying reeds, thick deciduous forests along the riverbanks, and the flat fields of munching cows are far removed from the Austria of craggy Alpine peaks.

In the southeastern part of the city in District 13, also known as Hietzing, the former hunting grounds of the Habsburgs now welcome everyone. Empress Maria Theresa (1717 - 1780) and her children liked to shoot deer and boar here. To make sure they didn't miss their shot, the creatures were often released from cages right in front of their guns. Her successor, Emperor Joseph, gave the animals more of a sporting chance and chased his prey up and down the hills with his hounds. The royal hunting grounds are separated from the rest of the woods by a wall, and are now a nature reserve-the deer are so tame you can practically feed them by hand.

Nature reigns supreme
The only large building among the 2,000 acres of forests and meadows is the Hermesvilla, built by Emperor Franz Josef as a retreat for his reclusive wife, Elisabeth, better known as Sissi. He hoped that by giving her more privacy from his courtiers they could spend more time together and she would abandon her life of endless travel. Sissi did not swallow the bait and soon resumed her vagabond ways. Since the palace was never really lived in, it has an institutionalized feel, reinforced by the presence of a branch of the Vienna City Museum.

Beyond the Hermesvilla, nature reigns supreme, sliced up by more than 30 miles of hiking paths. The trek up to the Hubertus Warte, the city's highest point at 1,777 feet, is worthwhile for the views. To the west you can see the higher ranges of the Wienerwald, peaking in the distant stony humps of the northern limestone Alps, the first truly "Alpine" range said to herald the Tyrolean giants farther west.

[Editor's note: Watch out for more news of Austria in future issues of The European, covering real estate, cost of living, and must-sees.]