Showing posts with label Bastille Day. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Bastille Day. Show all posts

Sunday, July 14, 2013

Dreaming of France -- Molière


Please join this weekly meme. Grab a copy of the photo above and link back to An Accidental Blog. Share with the rest of us your passion for France. Did you read a good book set in France? See a movie? Take a photo in France? Have an adventure? Eat a fabulous meal or even just a pastry? Or if you're in France now, go ahead and lord it over the rest of us. We can take it.
Maybe we can all satisfy our yearnings for France, until we get there again.
What did you do to celebrate Le Quatorze Juillet?
Yes, we're in the U.S., but don't want to pass up the opportunity to celebrate a French holiday. Our local library had a section of French movies available for the holiday weekend. We watched Molière.
Confession, I did doze off during part of this movie, but I think it had more to do with my early morning rather than the movie. Earl enjoyed it and laughed out loud during parts of it.
The story tells how Molière got the material for his famous play Tartuffe. It begins with him trying and failing to perform a tragedy. Everyone sees that Molière is meant for comedy, but he wants more than a farce. He remembers his own journey and tells it beginning with his arrest for debts. He is bailed out by a rich merchant who wants to catch the eye of a young, beautiful Marquise. He needs Molière's help with writing a play and acting to win the woman's approval. Molière, masquerading as a priest, moves into the merchant's home and is enchanted by the merchant's wife. Hilarity ensues.
I enjoyed the main character with his flowing brown hair and his thin mustache, portraying Molière who lived in the 1600s. His lack of confidence about his writing seemed reassuring as he then grew into a better, more confident writer, whispering words of love. The merchant is, of course, a fool for the Marquise but in the end redeems himself. 
The rest of our Bastille Day celebration included watching the Tour de France as the cyclists headed toward Mont Ventoux, having brie fondue at Bon Vie, a local restaurant, and watching House Hunter's International in Nice. I'd say we immersed ourselves in French culture. 
I'm linking to Paris in July again. I have plenty of French posts this month. Paris in July is hosted by  Thyme for Tea and Bookbath.

  

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Bastille Day

Continuing with my obsession for all things French, I celebrated Bastille Day by buying croissants for breakfast and watching the Tour de France before I had to dash off to work.

I love watching the Tour de France for the scenery but then I get sucked in to the bike race part too.
If you haven't been watching, the most awful crash happened on Sunday. Two crashes, actually, one that ended with a guy who broke his pelvis and another guy with a dislocated shoulder. The worst crash though happened when one of the media cars swerved and knocked into the leading group of five riders. One of the guys flipped in the air and landed in a barbed wire fence. He, of course, got back up and kept riding while the doctors car pulled up next to him and bandaged his legs. As he kept riding, blood fell in drips down his legs. After the race that day, he had 33 stitches.
Can you imagine?
Here's hoping your Bastille Day includes croissants, but no bike crashes.
If you want to read more about Bastille Day celebrations in France, take a look at Corey's blog or Days on the Claise

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