My Donkey, My Lover & I: Caroline Vignal’s film is a light, breezy comedy, made charming mostly due to the energy of its protagonist, and also by the charisma of its second most important character. No, not the married man that the protagonist has a relationship with and who she pursues during her summer vacations, but the donkey she takes with her. Laure Calamy is very entertaining as the fish out of the water as she embarks on an arguably misguided mission, definitely not taking things in stride. The many people she meets on the road are finely played by the cast, chief among them Benjamin Lavernhe (who plays her lover) and Olivia Côte (his wife). But the other two stars of the show are Patrick (or the animals who play Patrick, as the case may be), the lovable and loving donkey, and the region of Cévennes. The breathtaking mountain vistas and small villages are captured with a bright, sunny palette by cinematographer Simon Beaufils; the first thought after the film is finished is the desire to reproduce Antoinette’s (and before hers, Robert Louis Stevenson’s) journey.