Ten days after the U.S. elections and one week before Thanksgiving, it’s time to celebrate a French holiday for a change: the arrival of the first wine of the season, le Beaujolais Nouveau. As always, it happens on the third Thursday of November, so unless you were up until 2 a.m. celebrating at Bistrot du Coin today’s […] ...
Things to do
U.S. Supreme Court? CHECK!
FINALLY!! After 6 years on my DC-to-do-list, I can cross off visiting the U.S. Supreme Court! Well, actually, the item on my list was a little more ambitious than just visiting the U.S. Supreme Court. I wanted to sit through an oral argument. And that's not exactly what I did this week, but close enough. Thanks to a former colleague, I sat through a lecture on property rights in the progressive era, organized by the U.S. Supreme Court Historical Society and hosted by Justice Samuel Alito. The lecture itself was waaaay over my head, I have no legal background whatsoever, but the reception afterwards, in one of the court's stunning conference rooms, was right up my alley! I mean, of course ...
Drink all the French Bubbles at DC’s First Champagne Week
If you missed Champagne Day on October 21, don't worry! Champagne shouldn't be celebrated in a day anyway, it clearly deserves its own week! At least that's what my friends Jess and Alison thought. These two wine pros are throwing DC's first ever Champagne Week, from Sunday November 6 to Thursday November 12. The idea for DC Champagne Week started off small. Jess runs Young Winos of DC, a group that connects people in the District with wine tastings and events. She reached out to Alison, who runs her own wine consulting business Bon Vivant DC, to partner up on a champagne focused event. Jess jokes that Alison took a small idea and blew it up, but Alison retorts that Jess never would've ...
Christine & The Queens at the All Things Go Fall Classic Festival
Have you heard of Christine And the Queens? Did you go see her and her band when she played at the 9:30 Club earlier this year? I couldn't make it, so I'm stoked she's coming back! As part of a small North American tour, she'll be performing at the All Things Go Fall Classic Music Festival at Yards Park this Saturday, October 8th. DC's not a big music festival town and I've loved seeing this one grow from its beginning at Dock 5 behind Union Market in 2014. And of course I love that there's a French artist in the line-up!! The headliners this year are Empire of the Sun (the videos from the Australian band are amazing, like this one for Alive, so I bet they put on quite a show!). They'll ...
Premières Visites du Nouveau Musée d’Histoire & Culture Afro-Américaine
Ça y est! Le tout nouveau Musée National de l’Histoire et de la Culture Afro-Américaine (l'acronyme c'est NMAAHC en anglais) a ouvert ses portes au public samedi dernier à Washington. Et il les a ouvertes en grande pompe et circonstance, avec l'ancien président George W. Bush, Barack et Michelle Obama, Oprah Winfrey et plein d'autres célébrités ainsi que deux jours de fête et de concerts sur le National Mall. L'inauguration du NMAAHC c'est l'événement culturel de l'année ici... les billets d'entrée (qui sont gratuits d'ailleurs, comme ceux pour tous les musées nationaux gérés par l'Institution Smithsonian) se sont arrachés comme des petits pains en ligne. Il faut maintenant quasiment ...
5 Events To look forward to this September
I actually love summer… I don’t mind fall, but it reminds me that winter is coming, so I’m usually sad when labour days comes around. That being said, there are actually quite a lot to look forward to in D.C. in the fall. Here are 5 events happening in Washington this September that I’m particularly excited about: THE DC SHORT FILM FESTIVAL I have a short attention span, so seeing 7-9 movies in 90 minutes sounds pretty great to me. The DC Short Film Festival runs from Septembre 8-18, 2016 and showcases 131 films from 33 nations around the world, including plenty from France. A lot of the festival is geared towards aspiring filmmakers, with practical workshops on fundraising to finance your ...
What’s the Best Baguette in Washington, DC?
I've lived in the District for over 10 years now and as the French expat one of the top question I usually get asked is "where can I find good bread?" Usually it's recent transplants from France asking... The answer partially depend on where you live I guess. I mean, Bread Furst probably makes the best baguette in the city. But I live in Shaw. It's bad enough I have to spend close to $3 for bread, I'm not trekking all the way across town on top of it. So I get my baguette mostly at A Baked Joint now, and occasionally at Paul or Le Pain Quotidien. Two places where I would never buy bread back home...but hey, I have limited options here ;-) Of course, Parisians take their bread very ...
Soirée Guerre des Etoiles au Match de Baseball
Dans la catégorie experience typique Américaine à faire au moins une fois, je vous présente le baseball. Mon premier match c'était à Fenway Park, le terrain de jeu des célèbres Red Sox de Boston, qui est aussi le stade de baseball de plus ancien encore utilisé aux U.S. Tant qu'à faire, autant choisir un stade historique et une équipe mythique non? L'équipe de D.C. c'est les Washington Nationals et elle est plutôt nouvelle. La capitale Américaine avait été privée de son sport national pendant des années, jusqu'à ce que les Expos de Montréal débarquent sous un nouveau nom et branding en 2005, pour la plus grande joie de tout le monde. En contraste au Red Sox et à Fenway qui sont pleins ...
Weekend Highlights: Flower Crowns, Mucha and Football
Happy Monday! Did you have a good weekend? After keeping a low profile last weekend and throughout most of the week (I've had the worst cold!) I made up for lost time and had quite a wonderful 3-day weekend. It all started with rosé and flowers on Friday. One of the best part about having friends from different parts of the world is learning about their culture and traditions (oh, and the amazing food too!) On Friday, my friend Bianca showed us how the Finns celebrate summer solstice. Midsommar is one of the most important national holiday in Finland (and it's a big deal in many other Nordic countries too.) While her rooftop does have a fire pit, we didn't light any kokko (bonfires) to ...
So You Wanna Visit the Broad Museum?
Today, I dedicated 3 hours of my life to visiting Los Angeles' latest contemporary art space, The Broad (note: it's pronounced brode not brawd... ) Opened in September 2015, the brand new museum has already become one of the city's most instagrammed venue, thanks to some amazing (and very photogenic) art from the private collection of philanthropists Eli and Edythe Broad, as well as a stunning building designed by world-renowned architectural firm Diller Scofido + Renfro. When I said I dedicated 3 hours to the museum, I should specify that only one of those was spent inside. The other two I spent lining up outside in the standby line. I learned a few things visiting The Broad, so here are a ...