Wednesday, July 15, 2009

Celebrating Bastille Day...Vegan-Style

My inner French girl took herself to New York City's annual Bastille Day celebration.

Fair-goers could try their luck at pétanque.

French-themed books for all. One of my favorites, Antoine de Saint Exupéry's classic The Little Prince. Among the wisdom famously delivered from the fox to the little prince: "On ne voit bien qu'avec le coeur. L'essentiel est invisible pour les yeux." Loosely translated: "It is only with the heart that one can see rightly. What is essential is invisible to the eye."

Vegetables over couscous from LeSouk, which specializes in North African cuisine.

Frites!

Tempting, je sais! Veganize.

Wine and sorbet together? Why didn't someone think of this sooner? Luckily, Wine Sorbet Cellar did.

It was a tough choice. The winner: sangria. So refreshing!

Want to learn French, or another language? There are a lot of free resources on the web. Check out About.com's French language page, or sign up for Livemocha. Translate words using WordReference.com or get a little help from Babel Fish.

Request films in the language you are studying from the library. Hit the web for everything from hard news - Le Monde - to the fun and friviouls - French Elle and Paris Match. Check out music, including Belinda Carisle's fun cover album of classic French songs, Voila.

Bonne Chance!

The incomparable Edith Piaf.



Piaf's life was portrayed flawlessly by Marion Cotillard (with singing provided by Jil Aigrot) in La Vie en Rose. There's a touching scene in the film when a journalist asks towards the end of Piaf's short life, "If you were to give advice to a woman, what would it be?" to which she replies "Love." "To a young girl?" "Love." "To a child?" "Love." What could be more essential than that?

2 comments:

Ted Teodoro said...

That vegetables over couscous is exactly the food I love, and there's no meat in it!

Catherine said...

Me too. Simple, wholesome ingredients. It was absolutely delicious.