Viva la France!

Break out the flags and fireworks.  Chill that bottle of champagne.  Don’t forget to dig out your old, souvenir beret.  It’s time to celebrate freedom and equality the French way!

No, I don’t plan on commemorating July 4th and the American quest for independence by sipping glasses of sparkling wine while wearing a red, wool beret.  Instead I will be toasting our revolutionary brethren, the French, on July 14, Bastille Day.

This year marks the 220th anniversary of the storming of the infamous prison and freeing of its seven prisoners.  On that day in 1789 the Bastille stood for everything that the people of Paris and France despised – a government of despotic monarchs such as King Louis XVI.   Just as the signing of the Declaration of Independence did in America in 1776, the takeover of the Bastille kicked off the start of a revolution in France.  It likewise went on to symbolize the birth of the Republic and a new way of governing.

On my first trip to France I mistakenly thought that I would visit this famous, 14th century fortification.  No such luck.  The Bastille was demolished a few months after the assault.  At the Place de la Bastille there now exists a traffic circle.  The prison is, as my Lonely Planet guidebook indicated, the “most famous monument in Paris that doesn’t exist.”    

Bricks and mortar may have disappeared but the significance of the structure perseveres.  The 14th of July, or le quatorze juillet as it is called in France, is the country’s largest national holiday with festivities occurring throughout the land.   

In Paris the celebration kicks off on the evening of July 13.  On that night revelers dance in Bastille Square and at various balls throughout the city.  In other regions candlelit parades invigorate the crowds.

On the morning of July 14 the fetes adopt a more patriotic but no less joyful tone.  In Paris the President leads a military parade from the Arc de Triomphe down the Champs Elysées to the Place de la Concorde.   Jets fly in formation overhead while the throngs look on from the parade route along Paris’s most prestigious avenue.

The events continue throughout the day with special luncheons, picnics and games.  At night fireworks fill the sky across the country, capping off 24 hours of conviviality.    

Americans aren’t exempt from Bastille Day mania.  In New York mimes, cancan dancers, picnic tables, food vendors and wine tasting stands line four blocks of 60th Street, from Fifth to Lexington Avenues.  Sponsored by le Comité du 14 juillet, the day-long event includes a petanque contest.  Originating in Provence, this popular French game resembles Italy’s bocce.  In petanque players throw large metal balls with the goal of landing the balls near a wooden ball or jack.  

Sports, chorus line dancers, and white-faced performance artists obviously enhance the atmosphere but for me the party doesn’t start until I’ve had my first bite of fabulous French food.  At the New York street fair this means noshing on such quintessential French offerings as buttery, flaky croissants, fruit-filled crepes, Brie and Camembert cheese-stuffed baguettes, chocolate-topped éclairs and powdered sugar-dusted cream puffs.  Trés magnifique!

Closer to home in the Fairmount section of Philadelphia Francophiles come out in droves for “Fairmount French Fling Weekend.”  For Bastille Day restaurants such as London Grill, Rembrandt’s and the Belgian Cafe pull out all the stops and showcase the best of French cuisine.  Hungry patrons dine on such specialties as the stewed vegetable dish ratatouille, escargot, the grilled, hot ham and cheese sandwich croque monsieur and coq au vin or chicken cooked in red wine.  They top off the meal with such classics as a slice of apple-studded tarte tatin, bowl of rich, chocolate mousse, or plate of deep-fried beignets.  Bottles of champagne, Kronenbourg 1664 beer, and créme de cassis, a black currant liqueur from Burgundy, flow freely throughout the holiday.

French cuisine represents only a small part of Bastille Day in Fairmount.  In 2008 the four-day event featured lawn screenings of “Ratatouille” and “Paris Je T’aime” at the Eastern State Penitentiary, the “Tricycle Tour de France,” champagne brunches, a street fair and a bar crawl. This year proves to be just as spectacular, particularly as it marks the 15th anniversary of this raucous neighborhood festival.    

The highpoint of the Fairmount bash is undoubtedly the reenactment of the storming of the Bastille.  Portrayed by members of the Old Fort Mifflin Historical Society, costumed revolutionaries rush the Eastern State Penitentiary.  There Marie Antoinette, played by London Grill’s co-owner Terry McNally, shouts “Let them eat Tastykake!” while hurling 2,000 Butterscotch Krimpets from the prison tower.  

Captured, the Queen of France is taken to a functioning guillotine where the public decides her fate.  Great fun is had by everyone.  Everyone except, of course, Marie Antoinette.         

No celebration of France would be complete without a feast hosted by our region’s renowned French chef and restaurateur, Georges Perrier.  Raised in the countryside near Lyon, France, Perrier is the owner of the awarding winning Le Bec-Fin and Table 31 in Philadelphia, Georges’ in Wayne and Mia in Atlantic City.  

Along with his restaurants Georges has been showered with accolades.  Earlier this year France’s President Nicolas Sarkozy awarded him the Légion d’honneur, the highest decoration in his homeland.  He received this medal for his contributions to the culinary arts and French society.

Needless to say, an esteemed chef steeped in French culture will observe his country’s venerated day with food, music and fun.  This, however, was not always the case.

“Since the age of 15, I have been working so I did not have any special family traditions for July 14.  I did watch the parade on the Champs Elysées and by the age of 19 was celebrating outdoors with dancing and music,” says Georges, who has been credited with introducing haute cuisine to Philadelphia.   

Today Chef Perrier indulges on Bastille Day with fine food, music, merriment and the guests of his restaurants.  At the now defunct Brasserie Perrier he treated gourmands to a prix fixe menu with wine pairings, special cocktails, mimes, accordion players and staff “dressed as they did during the Revolution,” he says.

For Benjamin Borror, formerly of Brasserie Perrier and current general manager of Georges’ in Chester County, the high turn-out for this event was a nod not only to France but also to Chef Perrier.  “It’s not a holiday that’s really celebrated in large proportion here, and yet everyone comes out to celebrate.  With a French chef who’s as well known and successful as Georges Perrier, people want to celebrate him and with him,” Ben says.

The same holds true for Georges’ at 503 Lancaster Avenue in Wayne’s Spread Eagle Village.  There between 80 and 100 diners gather for a casual yet cheery Bastille Day dinner.  

In past years Georges has shipped in sand so that guests could play petanque and compete for prizes in the restaurant’s parking lot.  Costumed staff attend to the needs of the party-goers while colorful cancan dancers and mimes perform for their pleasure.   

At the end of meal Georges’ celebrants invariably raise their glasses to toast the presidents of America and France.  They likewise sing “The Star Spangled Banner” and “La Marseillaise,” France’s national anthem.    

Surprisingly, although France may be the most food-oriented country in the world, the French do not possess a traditional dish for July 14.  What makes this especially astonishing to me is the fact that food held such great importance for the prisoners of the Bastille.  Because so many intellectuals and noblemen, including the writer and philosopher Voltaire and the novelist and revolutionary Marquis de Sade, were held there, the prison cooks catered to their tastes.  According to late New York Times food editor Craig Claiborne, the Bastille created some of the best cuisine in Paris and even gave inmates the option of two bottles of champagne or Burgundy with each meal.

Another startling aspect of this absence is the longevity of France’s cuisine.  By the late 18th century the country already boasted of a rich food history.  The soon-to-be-guillotined King Louis XVI had popularized the potato, an essential ingredient in his country’s cuisine, and pâté de fois gras or goose liver pate.  Bechamel, a milk-based sauce thickened with flour and butter and the base of many other sauces, also came into existence during this time.  

Then there was the restaurant craze.  Before 1789 roughly 100 restaurants had existed in Paris.  By 1824 nearly 1,000 operated within the capital.  These early dining establishments carried such time-honored fare as pâté, turkey with truffles, ham, ice cream, sorbet, wine and lemonade.  They also introduced such standbys as the soufflé, sole Normande and lobster Thermidor. Still no chef stepped forward and created a dish to honor the liberating of the Bastille.

Since no set menu for July 14 exists, Chef Perrier focuses on popular French offerings for his three-course meal at Georges’.  “We keep the food simple.  Steak pomme frites.  A terrine.  Jambon.  Food people like to eat,” he says.

As an appetizer, vichyssoise remains a perennial favorite.  In this soup chopped leeks and Idaho potatoes are simmered in a flavorful chicken stock.  Once cooked, the three get pureed together and then enriched with heavy cream, white pepper and salt.  Vichyssoise is served cold, adorned with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.       
Georges’ whole, spit-roasted pig is not only palate pleaser but also an eye-popping jaw-dropper.  Carried out on an enormous platter surrounded by mushrooms, carrots and greens, the dramatic pork entree takes diners’ breaths away.  Prior to cooking it on a spit for eight to nine hours, the chef stuffs the pig with mushrooms and forcemeat, finely ground meat seasoned with spices, so that, after it’s carved, every guest receives a picture-perfect slice of stuffed pork.      

Time-honored French sweets and drinks cap off the evening.  For dessert the chef pairs strawberry and raspberry tarts, the chilled, caramel-crusted custard créme brulée, chocolate pot de créme and cream and berry-filled mille-feuille with white dessert wines from Bordeaux.  I am partial, though, to Georges’  île flottante.  “Floating island” gets its name from the island of meringue floating in the sea of light, vanilla-laced sauce known as créme anglaise.

Beyond the delectable cuisine and excuse to either throw or attend a party, some may question why Americans should recognize this French holiday.  For Georges Perrier, the answer lies, in part, in the American Revolution.   

“There is a strong attraction between France and America. The great visionary General Lafayette came to the U.S. and had great rapport with Americans.  There was a strong alliance between the two countries.  Today the French celebrate July 4 and seem more American than even Americans,” he says.

History supports this strong connection between the two countries.  During America’s quest for independence France secretly supplied both munitions and men to the revolutionaries.  One of the most notable soldiers was the Marquis de Lafayette, who served in the Continental Army under George Washington.  Wounded at the Battle of Brandywine, General Lafayette went on to lead troops in the Battle of Rhode Island and against Great Britain’s Cornwallis at the Siege of Yorktown.

The ties don’t end here.  In September 1783 John Adams, Ben Franklin and John Jay signed The Treaty of Paris in, of all places, Paris.  The treaty marked the end of the American Revolutionary War.    

Martine Cheuvet, executive director of Alliance Française de Philadelphie, notes that we can also observe France’s influence in our region’s architecture.  “Philadelphia’s City Hall was designed in a style of French architecture while the Parkway was designed by a French architect to look like the Champs Elysées,” says Martine, whose Walnut Street non-profit hosts concerts, lectures, films, wine discussions, book clubs and an annual Bastille Day gala.     

In addition to the Second Empire-influenced City Hall and the Jacques Gréber-constructed Ben Franklin Parkway, Memorial Hall in Fairmount Park possesses an opulent beaux-arts style.  Emphasizing bold sculptural details and cornices, this form was taught at the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. The ornate, iron and glass-domed Memorial Hall was constructed for the 1876 Centennial Exhibition and now houses the Please Touch Museum.

Perhaps the best reason, though, to kick up your heels on Bastille Day is that it’s the perfect opportunity to have a good time.  As Georges Perrier says, “It’s a fun party.  Come and have fun.”