Life Letters (August): Le Francais

Ah to be French or live in France or simply have the French accent. I would give anything. And in a former life, I hailed from that elegant, wine-filled country I swear. The French culture speaks to my heart, and it has for nearly all of my life. I simply adore all things le francais.

And mark my words that someday when our youngest baby is to a good self-sufficient age, we will spend a month in the country of France exploring all that it has to offer. I have it planned out already of course :)

We will fly to Nice and keep that as our home base. Renting a home and taking day trips from there to see the sights. To Monte Carlo. To Marseille. Then we will spend a few nights in Lyon before heading to Paris to wrap up our summer dream trip. Ahh the smell of fresh chocolate croissants followed by endless espressos, then cheese & many many glasses of wine for an afternoon snack. The sound of waves crashing and little giggles playing. I simply cannot wait.

In an effort to continuously channel my inner French goddess, I spent some time refreshing my skills de francais. From dining to learning to lounging, I made the best efforts possible to incorporate French into my daily life. Even if only briefly on some occasions.

I completed a French workbook. A lesson a night helped me wind down for bedtime and feel like I was educating myself after the crazy days.

I listened to a full French CD throughout the month in my car...a trip to Hershey, PA + several trips to New Haven, CT + a few drives into Flushing Meadows made the tape and time go by quickly!

On the French cuisine front...

We had a girls night out to Le Jardin du Roi in Chappaqua where I enjoyed escargot (a French classic) as well as le gateaux *cake* for dessert!

We did brunch at Little Crepe Street the day before Adelaide turned 3.

We even had "oyster" macaroons from La Tulipe Desserts for Adelaide's Under the Sea birthday party!

And to wrap up the month of French love, I watched Julie & Julia. It is one of my favorite movies and chronicles a woman who spent a year of her life making one of Julia Child's recipes daily. The movie follows the story of both Julia Child in her French culinary school days and of Julie who struggles to find herself but succeeds with a little help from her friend JC!

Such a blast channeling my inner Francais and emerging myself in a bit of culture!