If Britain were indeed a person, one could add that it suffers from body dysmorphic disorder and mythomania. - Agnès Poirier

Eve Gilles' win at this year's Miss France is cause for celebration – it is a continuation of a longstanding French tradition of championing unique beauty and saying merde to conventions. Vive la différence!

I was 12 when I first saw Les Enfants du Paradis, at the Ranelagh theatre in Paris, a stone's throw from Balzac's house. The neo-Renaissance theatre screened this story of mimes, actors, impresarios and swindlers every week-end for more than 20 years until the 35mm print became too fragile. Two generations of cinephiles did as we did, going up the little street like pilgrims on a quest. If God was a film director, he would have made this film, thought the child that I was. Later in my teens, I would go back to the Ranelagh, dragging school friends along. If they didn't get it, I'd never speak to them again.

I was called Agnès after a character in a Molière play. When I looked at names for my daughter, I wasn't sure until Garance was uttered, and that was it.