Bonjour!
Hope you had a good week.
Bonne Fête Nationale! Happy 14 July! It’s a national holiday in France, us English speakers call it Bastille Day but in France it’s called La Fete Nationale and they say “joyeux quartorze Juillet”.
It’s a day for celebration, fireworks, parades, flea markets and of course food – long lunches and late dinners in the sunshine. French gastronomy has a lot to do with Bastille Day actually. The day marks the storming of the Bastille, a dark fortress in Paris which was stormed by a mob on July 14 1789 to get the weapons and to free the prisoners held there. It was the start of the French Revolution which oversaw the end of the guild system that controlled the food industry. It meant becoming a baker or butcher got easier, plus cooks and servants for the nobility chefs lost their jobs so they opened restaurants and started cooking for everyone and contributed to the art of fine dining that is a French way of life.
This weekend is going be additionally special since the French football team will be playing in the final match of the World Cup on Sunday, the day after Bastille Day. Hopefully there will be something else to celebrate.
Meanwhile, my baby chickens are running around and annoying the grown up birds and having a great time now I’ve let them out of the nursery pen. They scoot about, jump over tree trunks and ducks and generally make a nuisance of themselves. I’ll take some photos and pop them on Instagram for those who’d like to see them – they’re quite unusual as some of them have pompom style hair-dos!
Next week I’ll be in the Loire Valley. I’ll be visiting chateaux and finding out about the events being planned for next year to celebrate the 500th anniversary of the Renaissance in the Loire Valley. Of course I’ll be sharing everything with you when I’m back, but, no newsletter next week…
Wishing you a very bon weekend,
Bisous from France
Janine
Editor
ps I’m giving away a signed copy of my book – pop onto Facebook, enjoy the gorgeous photos and if you share a pic of France this weekend, I’ll send a copy to the person whose photo gets the most likes!
pps Draw for a copy of Le Selfie Gascon, a lovely book of paintings of southern France with a big dollop of humour by artist Perry Taylor, is tomorrow, don’t miss out, enter here: Le Selfie Gason comp
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