The thick, movable eyebrow, the round, black glasses: fans of the series American Pie (1999-2012) or Schitt’s Creek (on MyCanal and Prime Video) will have recognized in the first close-up Eugene Levy, Canadian actor and co-creator of the nine-time Emmy Award-winning sitcom in 2020. Others will discover him in his new role – his own – in the documentary series The Reluctant Traveler. With a particular flavor since season 2 which arrives this March 8 is dedicated to Europe.
The choice of stops is imbued with a certain North American vision of Europe. So in France, our Toronto discoverer sets his sights on Saint-Tropez. Like before him Beyonce, George Clooney and the British actress Joan Collins, with whom he will have lunch – however we much preferred the ride in 2 CVs with the young guide Sonia, the tour of small producers and the preparation of the picnic -nice.
Likewise in Italy, where, after going to Venice for season 1 (still on Apple TV), he comes to taste the Dolce Vita with assumed partiality, since it is his “favorite country”. This time he goes to the sublime Florence, where the vision of the Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo, Michelangelo’s David and the Tuscan countryside quickly make him forget the touk-touk traffic jams.
Hotels and gastronomy
In Germany, which he presents as the “first economy in Europe [which] cares above all about its well-being”, Eugene Levy settles on the luxurious little island of Sylt, a sort of northern Quiberon, in the very north of the North Sea, for an offbeat episode, mainly devoted to the 76-year-old actor’s express spa treatment… Each episode tells the story of two days. In Greece, he spends them on the island of Milos where the white of the houses contrasts with the azure blue of the sea. “If America is an adolescent country, Greece is a grandfather,” he laughs. -he. In Gammelstad, Sweden’s unique church village, he says: “A country that has 47 varieties of mosquitoes impresses me. »
But you shouldn’t tell him about it. Gastronomy plays a central role in the series – “tortillas” in Andalusia, “pasta” in Tuscany – even when it is made dietary with a “chewing broth”. So we are almost shocked that the very chic Saint-Tropez hotel serves granola, fruit and scrambled eggs for breakfast, and not a croissant.
Other points common to the seven episodes: the hotels, each more extraordinary than the last, and the humor, which no one can resist. Scotland, on the other hand, is distinguished by a more personal tone. Eugene Levy will indeed return to the house in Glasgow where his mother lived until the age of 13, before emigrating with her family to Canada.
The traveler only conceives of discovery by “stepping out of his comfort zone”. Also in Scotland as elsewhere, he strives to take up challenges. Small ones, like kayaking, milking a goat or watching the derby between Sevilla FC and Real Betis Balompié; a more perilous one in Andalusia, at the Caminito del Rey, where he will take the footbridge built on the side of a steep wall overlooking the gorges of El Chorro.
Unless the most trying thing for him is going to Chez Madeleine in Saint-Tropez, where “unfortunately for [him], the specialty is oysters”.
