La vie en rose: Celebrating France on Bastille Day

Paris has always held a special magic for me.  Though I haven't been in years, and am not likely to do so until my toddler is a bit older, I often imagine the City of Lights and remember my experiences there:

No place in the world can come close to Paris, and I'm lucky enough to have gone there with my husband Horacio on our honeymoon.  I hope everyone gets the chance to visit this glorious city at least once in their lifetime.


Being unable to travel to Paris this year for Bastille Day, we decided to bring Paris to us.

Of course fashion is one of the highlights of Paris, so we started there.  My daughter Leilani's dress with the French poodle may be my very favorite from her closet, and Bastille Day seemed the perfect opportunity for her to wear it one last time before she outgrows it (wistful sigh).  My daughter's dress has a gingham skirt, but the owner of the French café near our home informed us that the pattern is known as Vichy.

We decided to have a tea party.  Yes, traditionally tea parties are British, but we were thinking French thoughts as we drank imaginary tea.  Leilani's guests at the tea party were also French: Madeline and her dog Genevieve.  I even got out a book of children's fables from a French class I took in college.  Sadly it didn't help bring back my French, but it did help set the mood.


Later that day we had a croque monsieur, which sounds a lot better than ham sandwich, at a French café, then we headed downtown for the Bastille Day Waiters' race.

Waiters from all over the city enter the race and have to round a city block twice carrying a tray filled with glasses and bottles of Perrier among other items.  It's become a tradition in my city of Sacramento but the practice was started -- where else? -- in Paris, to showcase the balancing skills of the servers there.

When the day was done, we headed off into the sunset, dreaming of France, and seeing the world through rose-colored glasses for having imagined ourselves there.

Good night, Paris!  Thank you for the inspiration.


* If all this talk of Paris has you in the mood for a movie set in France, then check out "Mr. Bean's Holiday."  It's hilarious, and it's very family friendly.  We love it at our house.  My favorite French movie is "Jean de Florette," starring Gerard Depardieu in his prime, appropriate for teens and up.