Savoring Paris - Hallmark

Paris, cheese (or should I say fromage), romance and reverse bucket lists. What’s not to love about this movie?!  As you can see, I have so much to talk about this week, so let’s dive right in and get to it!

Hi, I’m Stephanie and welcome to the Magical Movie Club where, like you, I love to watch and chat about Hallmark movies. On June 8th we watched Savoring Paris, starring Bethany Joy Lenz and Stanley Weber.

Bethany Joy Lenz has made a lot of Hallmark movies I haven’t actually seen yet. But I’ll bet her most popular one now is A Biltmore Christmas. A fabulous movie! Stanley Weber is a new name for me, but I can see he’s done a lot of work in Europe and he’s been on some other cable and streaming networks like AMC, Apple TV, HBO. I am intrigued that Hallmark is finding regional talent this month to star in their international Passport to Love movies. 

Savoring Paris opens with a somewhat sharp transition from these happy, carefree scenes of Ella, played by Bethany Joy Lenz, vacationing in Paris, to her wiping away tears in a New York City conference room. It turns out those tears were because she was turned down for a promotion where she works at Bistro bon Vivant. She is, however, credited for coming up with their newest menu item, a croque monsieur with Comté cheese.

When one of her coworkers came up to give her a pep talk after the meeting, Ella told her the story of how Comté cheese changed her life back when she was in her 20s, which also explains the opening carefree scenes of her in Paris. Those were all photos of that wonderful vacation she tells about here. She says she worked in a sandwich shop, saved all her money and spent it on a two-week vacation in Paris.

Meanwhile, her mother is texting her. This movie is actually full of pop-up messages on the screen which help with translations later on. This particular text is about a condo her mother wants Ella to buy. They meet over lunch to see the condo and we quickly learn that she and her mother have vastly different perspectives on life. 

Back at the office the meeting continues and they all get to try Ella’s new sandwich. Only when she opens it up it’s not quite what Ella expected to see. She’s actually rather disgusted by it and yet everyone in the meeting room is savoring every bite. After she has a moment of a panic attack her coworker suggests she needs a vacation. So guess where she’s off to for the next two weeks? Paris!

Only this time things don’t start out quite as wonderfully as she remembers. We see here that she’s wandering around trying to find her bearings, bumping into people. But then she finds La Fromagerie! What could be better? Aside from the fact that it’s not open, yet!

Well, she parks it right outside the window, still rolling her suitcase around, and she waits. That alone seems to bother the owner so he gets up from the middle of eating his lunch and that’s where she meets whom I like to call Mr. Fromage because, as it turns out, he’s rather grumpy. Not to mention a tad insulting toward Americans, if I do say so with his wisecrack about "cheese in a can."  It’s something he’s almost proud of in his own way. And he refuses to even tell her his name.

Once she has her cheese, though, she heads straight for the beach just like she did before and sits down to enjoy every bite of it. It’s also here where she first meets the handsome and flirtatious Gaston.

Next she arrives at the apartment, or flat, which she’ll be subletting for the next couple of weeks and meets the wonderful Clotilde. They become friends almost immediately.

Later Ella goes back out for a walk to explore the city and she makes several stops to enjoy some local foods. And, of course, that includes another trip back to La Fromagerie. She casually opens up a bit and shares why she came to Paris and, I think her famous line from the previews, how she enjoys the experience she has while eating cheese. So when he offers her a Mimolette and comments that if any cheese will change her life, this one will, she asks him if he knows that from personal experience. And once again, he avoids the question. 

Actually, on her way out she comments about all the ways she enjoys Cheddar, which he had previously mocked. And when she prompts him to reveal his name, he continues to remain a mystery. Hence the nickname, Mr. Fromage.

While she’s back exploring the city she struggles with the fact that her emails and text messages are piling up, both from work and her mother, and dreads the realization that she can’t escape her life in only two weeks in Paris.  Clotilde reminds her that her tourist Visa allows her stay for 3 months and she convinces her to quit her job and do just that!

And boy does her mother object! But nonetheless, she celebrates by returning to La Fromage and declaring she’s going to try one of every cheese in his shop before she leaves. And I love seeing how he doesn’t willingly show it, but he’s quite amused by her. And you just know from this smile that he’s happy that she’s staying and will be coming in more frequently.

Clotilde decides to throw a party to show off her new American roommate and it’s here where she sees Gaston again. It turns out he’s Clotilde’s cousin. Unfortunately, though, as much as she tries to mingle and meet her friends, you can tell she just never feels comfortable. It’s here during this period of uncertainty and trying to find herself that she agrees to go out with Gaston.

Of course we’re not to forget about Mr. Fromage, either. The next day when she’s out trying some more delicious French crepes, he sees her making a bit of a mess of it and smiles and takes the opportunity to go over and offer her a napkin. As they’re walking away she tries asking him a few more questions but finds he just won’t budge! But! She does get him to finally reveal his name is Serge. I don’t know, he’ll always be Mr. Fromage to me!

It’s also at that very moment that she notices the Help Wanted sign in his store window. She proposes that as a tourist she could intern and he could pay her with 5 cheeses a day. It’s a win-win! He acts like it takes her a little bit to encourage him, but you know he loved the idea right from the start. He’s just being a “handsome grump” as Clotilde calls him. What did she say, “Best cheese, worst attitude!”

Now we’re not to forget about Gaston, yet. Ella has her date with him and she still looks as uncomfortable as she did at that party. Of course it turns out Gaston is a food critic. And not only that, he’s still a flirt with all the ladies. And yes, he’s also still quite a charmer with Ella.

The next day was Ella’s first day on the new job at La Fromagerie. And as you can see, she’s in a terrific mood and feeling much more optimistic. She even shows it in her appearance, her dress and how she carries herself. She still hasn’t cracked Mr. Fromage, yet, but she doesn’t let that bother her one bit. She’s excited to learn more about cheese. I have to say I thought they showed us just the right amount of history or lessons in cheese-making. Unlike last week where the entire movie was one big history lesson or PSA on bees, this one focused on the people and the relationships and balanced it all out with just the right amount of education. 

And most importantly, I suppose, it kept me watching and wanting to see more! I couldn’t wait to get back after the commercial breaks. Sadly, that wasn’t entirely the case last week. 

Time fast-forwards a bit and we see her truly enjoying herself and interacting with people. She’s finally fitting in, shall we say. And continuing to go out with Gaston. Something which Clotilde notices and even laughs at the suggestion that things may be getting serious with him. Just then Ella receives a text from Serge, aka Mr. Fromage, inviting her to a picnic. That's when Clotilde comments to her, "You’re becoming more French every day!"

The picnic was so romantic. She and Serge were discussing her attitude toward eating 5 different kinds of cheese a day and how her perspective is changing. Serge hands her a Mimolette and finally opens up a bit about how it changed his life from that of a big-city lawyer to becoming a cheesemaker. What’s funny was at the end of their picnic Ella tells him she has a date with Gaston. She’s surprised by his reaction that he knows him, and he says “Everybody knows Gaston he’s a cad!”

The problem with her date with Gaston is she’s still not fitting in with his crowd. Or with him for that matter. She gave him a taste of her new favorite Mimolette cheese to try, and even as a food critic he wrinkles his nose and says, “It’s just cheese!”  

It’s my humble opinion that she’s quite obviously happier and more comfortable around Serge, but she’s still convinced that she wants to be with Gaston. Probably because he’s far more popular.

Unfortunately, she finds herself in a difficult situation when she misunderstands his next words. He tells her how important she is to him and how much he likes her, but she thinks he’s telling her he loves her. Oops! Because now she’s convinced that he must be the one even though she’s admittedly not in love with him. She just ponders the possibility that maybe someday she will.

The next day started out as what is now a typical day for her, she was strolling to work and stopped to pick up some flowers along the way, when she noticed the space next door to the cheese shop now has a sign up that it’s for lease. It turns out it used to be a bistro but the owner retired and closed it down.  Ella thinks Serge should consider opening up a place of his own. (I think you should open up a wine and cheese bar and host tastings and events and workshops). She actually has lots of wonderful ideas. 

We get to see how much she’s learning at the shop and honestly, how much Serge is enjoying teaching her, when suddenly Gaston shows up. Clearly they do not like each other. I honestly thought there would be a back story about the two of them, like maybe there was someone else from their past that they both cared for, but no, that did not appear to be the case. I guess they’re just two completely different personalities and they clashed when they were around one another. Of course it didn’t help for Serge to see him with Ella talking together outside of the shop. 

But that doesn’t stop his plans to teach her how to make camembert cheese or show her the empty space next door. It appears the landlord asked him to watch the space so he has the keys. Ella had many wonderful ideas on what he could do with that space. It was so fun to see them both dreaming a bit and sharing ideas together. For example, Serge told her about his “reverse bucket list” where he crosses off everything he can do without, leaving the rest as the things that are the most important to him. They were bringing out the passion for life again in each other.

Keep in mind while she was developing a deeper connection with Serge aka Mr. Fromage, she was still dating Gaston. But was she even aware of what was happening? I mean she was cooking dinner for Gaston one night but taking pictures of what she was making and sending them to Serge. Isn’t that odd that she’s preparing dinner for one man while thinking of another? Before dinner she may not realize she was doing that, but by the end it was more obvious that she was coming to the realization that she and Gaston weren’t going to last.

And then there’s her mother. She’s happy that her daughter has been enjoying herself in Paris but she’s not supportive of the idea of her possibly staying. Ella hasn’t necessarily decided to stay, but with the wine and cheese bistro they’re opening she is certainly considering it. And while she and her mother debate the topic they both get a little heated and Ella says something that unintentionally hurts her, “There’s nothing for me at home.”

In this next scene Serge cooks for Ella and finally opens up about his feelings for her. But they hit a snag when she tells him she hasn’t had a chance to break up with Gaston, yet. Yep, that ruined their evening!

But the next day she sees Gaston holding hands with Adele, the pretty but empty-minded girl who introduces herself to Ella for the first time every time they meet throughout the movie. I love the subtle humor! This leads to the breakup and the realization that Ella misunderstood him before when she thought he said he loved her. They actually parted as friends, which was good.

What was NOT good was Serge putting the walls back up where Ella is concerned again. After he told her he could not be with her when she doesn’t even know who she is, she confesses to her mother that she’s decided to go home after all.

She came so close to it, too. Her mother picked up at the apartment to head to the airport together. But kind of like Rachel on Friends, she never actually got on the plane. Not that particular flight anyway! I’ll leave the details for you to see how it unfolded. But let me just tell you I never in my life thought I could get choked up over a wheel of cheese. Yes, I was very much invested in this love story!

You know, as I was reflecting on this movie I thought of Sabrina. I happen to like both versions, the original with Audrey Hepburn and Humphrey Bogart as well as the 1995 version with Julia Armond, Harrison Ford and Greg Kinnear. It’s not exactly the story per se, but Ella is similar to Sabrina in that she thought she would be happy with the charming, popular guy, you know the one all the ladies want to date. But by the end she realized she had developed a much deeper connection and had in fact, fallen in love with the older, more reserved man in her life. My husband was quick to point out that that sounds kind of like the story of my life!

Something I’ve come to realize about myself since I started reviewing Hallmark movies and sort of picking apart the characters a little bit is I like nice people. I know that may sound very simplistic, but it’s absolutely true in real life as well as in movies. Stick with me here, there’s actually a point to this. I love seeing positive, meaningful character development in a story. They can start out as selfish, arrogant, shallow, or maybe even just lost and trying to find their sense of purpose. Well, this movie had perhaps a little bit of all of the above. Ella was lost and looking for a sense of purpose. Serge was content but guarded. He needed a sense of purpose but was either afraid to admit it to himself or open himself up to finding it, so he came across as arrogant. The two of them coming together was so special. They found their sense of purpose and realized their lives were much fuller, more enriched together than they were separate.

I was just as impressed by how Ella touched others’ lives as well, including her mother and Clotilde - her new best friend who found her own purpose by the end of the movie, and yes, even Gaston, the cad! Add to all of this a touch of humor and some Parisian culture and this movie is fantastic.

I’m usually a bit apprehensive about giving out a top rating of 5 out of 5, but this one earned it. I got choked up at the end and felt so wonderful for having seen it. I will definitely watch this again and again. Thank you Hallmark for knocking this one out of the park!

So, now I’m opening myself up a little bit in asking what you thought of this one?  Perhaps you loved it, too, or maybe it just didn’t resonate the same way with you? Either way I always enjoy reading your thoughts about these movies. 

Well I think that wraps up my review of Savoring Paris. Next week we’ll be watching the third premiere for June in the Passport to Love series called A Greek Recipe for Romance starring Danielle C. Ryan. And after that we’ll be watching Two Scoops of Italy with Hunter King.

As always, thank you so much for being here and being a part of the Magical Movie Club. We'll be back next week to chat more about our favorite magical movies!  

Hallmark Channel's Original Preview:  Savoring Paris - Preview

Hallmark Channel Movie Site: Savoring Paris