To our friends in France & around the world, have a wonderful le quatorze juillet. If you aren't French, pas de problème. Celebrate anyway. Always celebrate!
For some last-minute holiday help:
Here's a short history (including two quizzes).
Some easy ways to make the day a little more French, any day of the summer.
Consider putting together a Saint Honoré; it is so much easier than you think.
bisous! xoxo
(photograph by Yanidel)

To all our friends in France (& around the world), have a festive day/evening. Giulia's editor is sitting in a café, trying to hear herself think. Headphones will have to be purchased if this internet crisis lasts much longer. Here is a post on GG's editor's blog if you'd like to say hello. For all posts on France, click here. We'll be back tomorrow, even if only to say bonjour!
...or le quatorze juillet as it is informally (& widely) known. It is also the natal day of one of GG's aunties & we have humorous memories of sparklers & French treats--so as to do justice to both hallowed occasions. We are not French but Giulia is half-French & responds to French much better than English or Italian (she is scolded in Italian & this no doubt explains her language preference). Her editor went to school in Strasbourg, France & a major GG Central feature is our friendship with a Franco-American famille.
Maison Française (part of the French Embassy) in Washington, DC probably has room for you if you'd like to attend the party tonight. They publish France Magazine (which we love); we remember the good old days when it was free. Oh well. It's still worth the money.Please remember, you can always make a donation to UNICEF or to Darfur Peace & Development Organization instead of buying the most expensive champagne. There are several lovely French champagnes that do not cost a fortune. Yes, there are, so do not argue! Oops. Sorry, got carried away there.
We're off to plan all manner of delightful doings (well, for the weekend, truth to tell), so we'll be back on Saturday for week's end. Salut!
ciao-bonjour-meow/Centre d'Activités de Giulia Geranium[Claude Monet, Rue Montorgueil, Paris, Festival of June 30, 1878.1878. Oil on canvas. Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France.]
Vive la Liberte, l'Egalite, et la Fraternite partout dans le monde! ♥
(photo via La Tour Eiffel)