Bastille + 1

Yesterday, July 14, Bastille Day, the day the French celebrate the storming of the infamous prison where the king threw those poor Third Estaters who couldn't pay their taxes, I just couldn't find my inspiration.  I worried,

fretted,

contemplated,

mulled,

and started looking through all 27, 611 photos in my MacBook's iPhoto files (this took up a couple of my morning hours... once I start, it is hard to stop).  I looked at recipes I've already posted and through the file I transferred from Chef Érick's computer onto one of those USB trucs he bought for me at the French version of Office Depot before I left in 2008.  I guess I was just feeling a bit triste at writing about the French holiday from afar.  So I wrote rien, nothing at all. 
I thought about how I would spend the day if I could be in France, just plopped down there.  Too many things to do to fit into one day. 
Paris?

Montépilloy?

Near Sarlat?

Arles?

The Pont du Gard?

So, I thought about some of my favorite things.  Once again, how could I chose? 

My favorite Frenchies?  I would love to assemble them all in one place and just listen to them talk.

Preferably about food, not the storming of the Bastille.
After coming in from the beach for the day, I cranked up the iPod and Francis Cabrel, poured myself a chilled glass of Domaine de Martinolles 2010 Chardonnay Mise en Bouteille au Domaine in Saint-Hillaire, France, and sang along with Francis.  (Randy, mon ami, it was a fine choice.  Thanks for giving me a taste and encouraging me to take it home in spite of my usual "I hate Chardonnay" protest.)  The vineyard is in Languedoc, next door to Provence, 50 km from the Mediterranean.  Maybe I could even feel a bit of the Languedoc sun in that glass?  Whatever it was, I felt better, a little closer to France. 
It was our night to go out to dinner here at Sunset.  We love Twin Lakes, just across the bridge.  I chose yellowfin tuna, medium rare, with a pineapple-mango chutney

and was wished Bon appétit by our server (how did she know to say that to me, just at the moment when I needed to hear it the most?) when she delivered our plates.  I savored every bite. 
I miss France, it is a constant longing in me, but surrounded by my family, listening to the waves of the Atlantic Ocean and the voices of my boys, life is good and all is right with my world.

Bon appétit, to my family, friends, and the two countries I love.