Monday here is slipping away with little to show for it. But you could make this French tomato tart & feel quite accomplished. It is very easy (don't tell anyone). Another good & easy tomato tart; more Meatless Monday ideas. And a poem about tomato pies (yes) for good measure. xo
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!
If you're not there: pretend. There is a particularly long list of good French films (& films set in France) available on Netflix Instant this summer. (Use A Better Queue for a quick list.) Some favorites: My Best Friend, La Cage Aux Folles, Pauline at the Beach, & Happily Ever After. 
Some friends overseas have asked us about the Occupy Wall Street movement. We're not experts but we are sympathetic to the cause, certainly. Here is their website, Flickr account, & the OWS Twitter account. 
The weather here is distracting: gray, windy, occasional downpours. Very dramatic. Or very gloomy. Maybe both. There's little time to write or post. Still, these photographs by Elisabeth Perotin, a wedding photographer living in Reims, France are inspiring; we do love carousels.
Yes, we're pushing it, the season. It's close but not quite here. We know, we've searched. Dashing off to the farmers market near the White House & to check in on marchers downtown & see what's up. Reports back on Twitter.
Il pleut des cordes.* 
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!
At a Fourth of July party we met up with an acquaintance who was flying off to France & Italy the next day. Her excitement as she detailed her itinerary for her much-delayed first trip to Europe was exhilarating. She flew into Nice & so today we are wishing that we were meeting her for an apéro somewhere in Provence/the French Riviera. Lest you think that you would never take children to the Riviera, how wrong you are!
Generous Jordan of Oh Happy Day is so happy with her new life in Paris that she put together a giveaway for a trip for 2 for one week. The website is having a few problems with traffic today, but you can easily follow the Facebook & Twitter instructions right away. (The giveaway is open until June 20, 11.59PST.) 
Settle in with some coffee or tea, your cat or pup, & browse through Swedish Madelene's beautiful photographs & writings. For terrific suggestions about a trip to Paris, check out Smartypants Goes to France (or "The Clever Pup will set you straight":).
This is fun - for any age. Plan a trip to the Eiffel Tower with children by visiting the children's page on the Tower's website. (What? No plans to go? Why ever not - start now!) There are puzzles, memory games, & you can work out an illumination plan. (See our handwork in the top image.) There are riddles & history lessons. There's also a teacher's guide & a free downloadable pamphlet. If you have photographs from a trip to the Tower, upload them on the site to share with everyone.
A little trip to France for some merry-go-round photographs. Also, two coloring pages of a carousel horse & a merry-go-round. In Italy, our friends are so lucky to celebrate Pasquetta. Picnics & pastiera rule. And with that, we're off!
We had a lot of positive reactions to the Italian language lesson post earlier this week. As we're pressed for time today for a longer post, take a look at the BBC's French language page, too. It's very much worth checking out all the links. If you have slower internet, you can read transcripts rather than watch videos; you can also access these from outside the UK, so no excuses! If you can't be in Paris (or elsewhere in France) in April, you can at least refresh your French - or begin it for the first time.
For some free Christmas cheer, some Strasbourg scenes. Visit the Noël à Strasbourg website (it has English & German language options). This year there's even a little streaming Christmas market-cam. If you're feeling a bit low, this will cheer you up. Don't worry about the countdown & how many days are left until Christmas. GG's editor figures getting the tree up, doing a little dusting is most important. (Giulia helps with this by sliding across the wooden floor. It really works.)
GG Central is in a mad Friday/Saturday- Hallowe'en-Rally for Sanity rush...oof. So pull up a chair, sip on some hot chocolate (or a glass of wine) & dip into the recent Parisian adventures of our Canadian friend. This is a new & ongoing venture, not the Pup you might be accustomed to (note the Breton shirt, ballerinas, & the beret placed just so). Très mignon, non?