About a decade ago, my sweetheart gave me a book called “The Bohemians” by Dan Franck, all about Paris in the early 20th century, the birth of modern art and modern literature – it is full of the tales of Kiki de Montparnasse, the artists and writers who flocked from all around the world to inhabit the lively creative scene. About how so many of these names collaborated on various projects to bring wonderful things, that changed our cultural world.

Tonight I saw a kind of heaven as Woody Allen created the Paris of my dreams, the Paris of The Bohemians, where you could meet Hemingway in a cafe, attend Cocteau’s birthday party and charleston the night away, whilst Cole Porter plays piano. Gertrude Stein offers to read your unfinished novel and invites you to drop in any time because “we run an open house here”. Your beautiful new friend Adriana, has lovers that include Braque, Picasso and Modigliani….and whilst you reflect on her beauty, Dali is waving his walking cane in your direction like a neglected child in search of excitement.

Opening on October 20th, “Midnight in Paris” is a love letter to Paris, that most favourite of cities. From start to finish it sweeps you up in a fantasy of how life could be… if only…ruminating on the past, present and future. The cast is impressive, the eye candy as wonderful as you’d expect and the script almost effortless. It made me wish for a time machine…and a return to Paris, perhaps this time in the spring or summer (my three visits have all been in the winter). Oh yes, I went along for the ride and loved it.

Owen Wilson and Marion Cotillard, image courtesy Hopscotch Films.

Hopscotch Films have sent me two in-season double passes for the film – if you’d like one, all you have to do is imagine this scenario:

It’s late at night and you walk into a lively party in lush surroundings. Glancing around, you recognise the following people… Zelda Fitzgerald, F.Scott Fitzgerald, Man Ray, Luis Bunuel, Salvador Dali, Pablo Picasso, Jean Cocteau, Cole Porter, Ernest Hemingway, Josephine Baker, Alice B.Toklas, Gertrude Stein, Henri Matisse, T.S. Elliott, Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, Paul Gaugin, Edgar Degas.

Who do you go up and talk to first, and why? Leave a comment on this blog post.

Entries close at midnight on Sunday night. Good luck! Winners will be chosen for their creativity and how much I like your response, and make sure you check back next week to see if you won as I’ll need the postal addresses of the winners to send them the tickets.

If you miss out, you can also win two-for-one tickets from the website – just see here for details.