Allons enfants de la Patrie

by chuckofish

Yesterday was Bastille Day. Did you remember? While the date is the same as that of the storming of the Bastille, July 14 was chosen to commemorate the 1790 Fête de la Fédération, celebrating the uprising of the short-lived constitutional monarchy in France and what people considered the happy conclusion of the French Revolution.

I am no francophile, despite my French-Canadian great-great grandfather (the mysterious Fabian Blais) and an enduring admiration for Gerard Depardieu,

Gerard-Depardieu

but I thought we would all enjoy this rousing scene from Casablanca.

 

Also I have been reading the latest novel by my favorite French mystery writer, Fred Vargas. (Fred Vargas is the pseudonym of the French historian, archaeologist and writer Frédérique Audoin-Rouzeau.)

The Ghost Riders of Ordebec is really good! Her mysteries are character driven, not plot driven, which is the way I like them. They are not police procedurals. If you have not read any books by Fred Vargas, I suggest you start with her first Commissaire Adamsberg mystery– L’Homme aux cercles bleus (English title: The Chalk Circle Man). You are in for a treat!

My weekend was a pleasant one. My Episcopal Souffle was a success and dinner on Friday with my compadres was fun per usual.

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I went to several estate sales and bought a few embroidered hand towels and a set of fabric napkins, which you can buy for a few dollars and are usually new, having been put away in a drawer somewhere and never used. They are out of fashion, but I love them–and I use them!

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I worked in the yard, which was hot work, but satisfying. I always feel close to my mother when I toil in the yard, because she used to do so year after year. She frequently had dirty knees because she always wore skirts!

I watched the movie Quartet, directed by Dustin Hoffman, and starring Maggie Smith, Tom Courtenay and Billy Connelly.

quartet

The movie takes place at a home for retired musicians, where the annual concert to celebrate Verdi’s birthday is disrupted by the arrival of Jean, an eternal diva and the former wife of one of the residents. It was filmed at some beautiful house in Buckinghamshire. I enjoyed it and the setting was lovely. Good music too.

And now it is Monday and it’s back to the salt mines!