I've got an idea for you: travel to Paris without leaving DC. Actually, without leaving the National Gallery of Art... On September 20th, the National Gallery of Art is hosting a 4PM screening of Les Nuits de la Pleine Lune/Full Moon in Paris, a masterful comedy of manners by new wave film maker Eric Rohmer that was recently restored. You can read a summary of the film here. Also on view at the National Gallery of Art right now (and through October 4th) are 50 of the most important and beloved paintings of Paris and its environs by impressionist Gustave Caillebotte. Never heard of Caillebotte? You're not alone ;-) "Known" as the “unknown Impressionist” in light of Cézanne, Degas, Monet ...
French Culture
Dîner en Blanc – Part Deux, DC Edition
When Washington played host to its first Diner en Blanc last year, the main complaints from participants concerned the location. Yards Park in Southwest DC was a beautiful venue, don't get me wrong, but it didn't strike anyone as particularly iconic. Compared to some of the other famous locations where the all-white diners have popped up across the globe -- Lincoln Center in New York, the Trocadero with the Eiffel Tower as backdrop or on 6 bridges over the Seine in Paris, Covent Garden in London, Rodeo Drive in Los Angeles to name a few -- the 42-acre development on the Anacostia River waterfront was a bit lacking in Washington monuments and recognizable sites. It was also a bit out of the ...
Six Budget-Friendly French Wines for Bastille Day
From a baguette relay race at Paul to diner at Bistrot du Coin or a fancy patio fête at the Sofitel Hotel, there are plenty of options to celebrate France's national holiday, le Quatorze Juillet, in Washington, DC. If you're more of a homebody, why not stay at home and watch a great French film while sipping a good bottle of French wine! For the films, I've narrowed down 20 of the best French films available on Netflix right here. And to help you find the perfect bottle of wine to go along whichever flick you pick, I turned to Michelle Lim Warner and Michael Warner, co-owners of DCanter, for some suggestions. One of the things I love about the Capitol Hill wine boutique (other than the ...
Liberty Enlightening the World… For 130 Years
Did you know that the Statue of Liberty, this universal symbol of freedom, is technically French? Yep, one of America’s most iconic monuments was born in France to Mr. Frederic Bartholdi, a French sculptor who modeled her after his mother, and given to the people of America as a gift of friendship from the French people. 130 years ago today, she arrived in new York Harbour after a long trip across the Atlantic Ocean in 350 individual pieces. These pieces took about a year to be reassembled and the 450,000-pound statue was officially dedicated on October 28, 1886, by President Cleveland. To celebrate the anniversary of the Statue of Liberty's arrival in the United States, google created a ...
Hermione & the Spirit of Lafayette Back in the US
Nope, I'm not talking about a Hermione Granger, the Harry Potter character, but Hermione, the Frigate of Freedom, a ship. The replica of the ship that brought the Marquis de Lafayette to the United State some 235 years ago to carry the message from King Louis XVI that France was going to aid the colonies. In 1997, a group of people came up with the idea of reconstructing the frigate using the same building methods applied in the original. Some 17 years later, on April 18, 2015, she left Rochefort in France to set sail for Virginia and retrace a journey through American history. For the past month, L'Hermione plied across the Atlantic, retracing Lafayette's journey. She's set to arrive in ...
Discover the Wines of the Languedoc Region
Is it August yet? I'll be traveling to Montpellier, Bezier and Carcassonne in the Languedoc-Roussillon region in a few weeks and I can't wait!! The Languedoc isn't as famous when it comes to wine as say Burgundy or Champagne, but the Southwestern French region is one of the largest and oldest wine-producing area in France. Two wines that I personally love from the Languedoc are Corbière reds and rosés. The Languedoc, which spans the Mediterranean coastline from Provence to the France’s border with Spain, enjoys a warm and sunny weather, with 320 days of sunshine a year, and produces some wonderful rosés. Since today is #LanguedocDay, an occasion for wine lovers around the world ...
Happy St. Honoré to all the bakers & pastry chefs
The Catholic Church has a long tradition of assigning saints as special guardians and protectors of different trades and professions, and bakers and pastry chefs are no exception! Saint Honoré, the former Bishop of Amiens in the North of France, is revered by bakers as their patron saint, in part due to a church that was built in his honor in 1202 that became the site of the bakers' guilt. Technically, the patron saint of pastry chefs is St. Michel. But the line between boulangers (bakers) and pâtissiers (pastry chefs) is often blurred in France, with most boulangeries selling pastries in addition to bread. The St. Honoré also happens to be a delicious dessert made of cream puffs, puff ...
Ici Urban Bistro Joins Thousands of Restaurants Across the World to Celebrate Goût de France
This Thursday, March 19, some 1,300 chefs will cook up special dinners at restaurants and embassies in 150 countries across all five continents for a worldwide celebration of French cuisine and gastronomy. Under the patronage of France’s foreign minister Laurent Fabius and famed Michelin-starred chef Alain Ducasse, "Goût de France / Good France" was inspired by Auguste Escoffier’s Dîners d’Épicure (Epicurean Diners), in which one menu was served to as many guests as possible worldwide in one day. This time, however, the chefs have some creative freedom to come up with their own menus, though they must adhere to a strict traditional degustation format and serve, in this order, a French ...
Francophonie Festival, 2015 Edition
The largest celebration of French culture and language in the world—the Francophonie Cultural Festival—is returning to the US capital March 5 to April 1, 2015. Organized by the D.C. Francophonie Committee in association with l'Alliance Française and Smithsonian Associates, the festival engages over 40 embassies for a month of cultural events ranging from lectures to concerts and movie screenings, culminating as usual with la Grande Fête de la Francophonie, a huge foodie bash at la Maison Française at the French Embassy. What I've loved about the partnership with Smithsonian Associates this year is how active Smithsonian at 8 (the 21+ after-hours event planning art of the Smithsonian) has ...
20 Best French Films on Netflix Right Now
Looking for a quick escape to France without leaving the comfort of your couch? (and without having to spend $1000 on plane tickets...) I've got you covered with this list of some French films I've been pleasantly surprised to find on Netflix. I wasn't easy narrowing them down, but here are 20 plus of the best French films you can stream or get on DVD via Netflix, according to moi: AVAILABLE ON DEMAND Populaire ~ The French could learn a thing or two from Hollywood when it comes to RomCom's, but occasionally, we get it right! Populaire is kitschy, funny and colourful. Its heroin, Rose, is an adorable small town girl with big dreams and fingers that can type so fast they might just ...
