Bastille Day - Celebrate it state-side!

Tomorrow is Bastille Day, the French Fourth of July... Quatorze Juillet as they say in the lingo. In Paris you'll find everything from solemn military processions along the Champs-Elysées to dirty dancing in the streets and raucous all-day-long celebrations... Not to mention the knock-out fireworks displays.

If a flight to France is out of the question, why not find a way to celebrate this fete locally...right here in the hood...or at least in the vicitiny. It can be done, you know...c'est possible.

A few suggestions to get you started:

Eat French

Go to Ridgefield and make a stop at Patisserie Des Anglaises, 408 Main Street. Their gâteaux go way beyond délicieux. You'll want to try several. Don't feel guilty, "let them eat cake" is a Bastille Day saying if ever there was one. Patisserie Des Anglaises also carries a beautiful line of French note cards.

Also in Ridgefield, for an extraordinary French dining experience treat yourself to lunch or dinner at Bernard's Inn. To my mind, it's the best French in the Housatonic Valley, the best in Fairfield County for that matter, and I know from French (French husband, French employer, JFK-CDG frequent flyer). Anyway, Sunday July, 18th is Bernard's "Bastille Day" Garden Party & Wine Tasting Dinner". ...Extraordinaire!

Ondine at 69 Pembroke Road in Danbury is another charming choice for fine French dining ...with a truly sublime Prix Fixe menu.

Drink French

Enjoy a Bastille Day cocktail, (or two, or three). Tip: These drinks are always best shared with a French lover.

Shop French

Go on-line and order French flags and other Bastille Day stuff.

Sing French

Know how the Star Spangled Banner can give you goose bumps? Ditto for "La Marseillaise". Listen to it and learn at least the first verse:

Allons enfants de la patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé.
Contre nous de la tyrannie
L'étendard sanglant est levé.

Play French

Petanque...boules...It's that French game where you throw steel balls across a gravelly surface trying to get as close as possible to a small wooden ball, whimsically called the "cochonnet" (meaning "piglet" in French). You can play it at Bastille Day 2004,the 5th Annual French Festival in Fairfield, CT on Sunday July 18. For more information call:Saint Tropez Bistro Français - (203) 254-8094.

Learn French

Make a commitment to learn French. Wanna know why? Because French is better then anything...Including: Chocolate, Coffee, Shopping, Drinking, Sleeping...even Sex! Need Proof? It's here!

So there you have it. Happy Bastille Day! Kisses XXX, Patricia

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