Vive la Revolution

Although I'm not much of a flag waver, I do love the French and Bastille Day with its waving tricolor is a favorite from the pick of holidays. Storming the Bastille, eating brilliant cheese, drinking good wine and toasting my long standing crush on La Fayette makes for a fine celebration.

So I started the day with a cafe and croissant at the Red Hen Baking Company http://www.redhenbaking.com. (How they manage to make croissants that melt in your mouth seems to be a mystery this side of the Atlantic, as I've searched long and hard for that particular taste memory of Paris with much cardboard disappointment. But Red Hen whips them up without flaw. So perfect, I will dare to say their croissants are even better than memory because they are only fifteen minutes away.)

Later after a shopping stint and a whole load of books (more on this later), the husband and I hungrily feasted on brie and baguette while Little Miss poked and picked the brie off her soggy baguette with a wry little face.

The only thing lacking to our fine celebration was a bit of accordion playing. (As unlikely as it may sound we do have a beauty, although I will kindly say that other instruments are more successfully played around here.) And truthfully, I only think of the accordion in recollection of a particularly fine Bastille celebration at La Creperie http://www.lacreperieusa.com where a friend and I were serenaded by old French men in striped shirts and berets while we dined outdoors on pate and crepes and drank plenty of fine French wine. Eventually and after many renditions of La Marseillaise, we took a late night taxi ride home. Vive la France.