In reply to Blue Straggler:
From what I can remember and I've read, at the time that Binoche was shooting 'Les Amants du Pont Neuf', she was in a longer term relationship with Andre Halle, the father of her first child. I believe she finished the liaison with Carax, and this affected him so much that it was several years before he returned to film-making. All this could simply be rumour and gossip, of course. Binoche is (in)famously private and quite prickly too with members of the press who quiz her on her private life.
I know 'The English Patient' is well regarded; I've never shared the appreciation of this, however, and I've watched it several times trying to see whatever it is that I'm maybe missing. Her acting in the film, though, is superb, so that is perhaps more to the point. To my mind, 'The English Patient' was her first major international film and role, and the one that set her career on a different trajectory from the more experimental and cerebral films of her peak. It was only a short hop from 'English Patient' to 'Chocolat'.
She was great in 'Code: Unknown', but of the two films I much prefer 'Cache'. The latter film is almost all about the quality of the acting and the way the characters are affected by the voyeur in their midst. Binoche was totally believable as the frightened and distracted wife who is finding out more than she knew about her husband.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paris_(2008_film) - Paris. A wonderful film with the great Romain Duris. Highly recommended.