The Frog Blog of Louis la Vache

Under Construction

2008-07-30T17:43:00.002+02:00

"Louis" has encountered a series of problems using Blogger as the host for his "Frog Blog" that Blogger has chosen to ignore. These problems have persisted for 22 weeks! So "Louis" will be saying 'good bye' to Blogger and moving his blogs to a new location soon. He will post the new address(es) when the new sites are up and running.

Antoine de Saint Exupéry et «Le Petit Prince»

2008-07-20T05:48:00.026+02:00

Antoine de Saint Exupéry was a French aviator and writer, most famous for writing Le Petit Prince. He is also well known for his books about aviation adventures, including Vol de Nuit, "Night Flight" and "Wind, Sand and Stars."

While not precisely autobiographical, much of Saint Exupéry's work is inspired by his experiences as a pilot. One exception is Le Petit Prince, a poetic self-illustrated tale in which a pilot stranded in the desert meets a young prince from a tiny asteroid. Le Petit Prince is a philosophical story, including societal criticism and remarking on the strangeness of the adult world.

Saint Exupéry was born in Lyon on le 29 juin 1900 to an old family of provincial nobility, the third of five children of Marie de Fonscolombe and Count Jean de Saint Exupéry, an insurance broker who died before Antoine was four. After failing his final exams at preparatory school, Saint Exupéry entered L'école des Beaux-Arts to study architecture. In 1921, he began his military service with le 2 ème régiment des chasseurs (light cavalry), and was then sent to Strasbourg for training as a pilot. He obtained his license in 1922 and was offered transfer to the air force. Bowing to the objections of the family of his fiancée (the future novelist Louise Leveque de Vilmorin) he did not accept the appointment to the air force, settling instead in Paris where he took an office job. The couple ultimately broke off the engagement, and Saint-Exupéry worked at several jobs over the next few years.

By 1926, Saint Exupéry was flying again. He became one of the pioneers of international postal flight, in the days when aircraft had few instruments. Later he complained that those who flew the more advanced aircraft had become more like accountants than pilots. He worked on the Aéropostale between Toulouse and Dakar.

L'Aviateur, ("The Aviator"), Saint Exupéry's first story, was published in the magazine Le Navire d'Argent. In 1929, he published his first book, Courrier Sud (Southern Mail). His career as aviator was also burgeoning. That same year he flew the Casablanca/Dakar route. He became the director of Cape Juby airfield in Río de Oro, Morocco. In 1929, Saint Exupéry moved to South America, where he was appointed director of the Aeroposta Argentina Company.

In 1931, Vol de Nuit (Night Flight), the first of his major works and winner of the Prix Femina, was published and made his name. Vol de Nuit covers his experiences with L' aéropostale. That same year, at Grasse, Saint Exupéry married Consuelo Gómez Carillo, a widowed Salvadoran writer and artist. It was a stormy union, as Saint Exupéry traveled frequently and indulged in numerous affairs, most notably with the Frenchwoman Nelly de Vogüé. De Vogüé became Saint Exupéry's literary executrix after his death, and also wrote a Saint Exupéry biography under the pseudonym Pierre Chevrier.

Consuelo Gómez Carillo

On le 30 décembre 1935 at 14:45 after a flight of 19 hours and 38 minutes Saint Exupéry and his navigator, André Prévot, crashed in the Libyan Sahara desert en route to Saigon. The crash site is believed to have been located in the Wadi Natrun. The team were attempting to fly from Paris to Saigon faster than any previous aviators, for a prize of 150,000 francs. Both survived the landing, but were faced with the prospect of rapid dehydration in the Sahara. They had no idea of their location. According to his memoir, "Wind, Sand and Stars," their sole supplies were grapes, one orange, and a ration of wine. What Saint Exupéry himself told the press shortly after rescue was that the men only had a thermos of sweet coffee, chocolate, and a handful of crackers, enough to sustain them for one day. They experienced visual and auditory hallucinations. By day three, they were so dehydrated they ceased to sweat. On day four, a Bedouin on a camel discovered them, saving Saint Exupéry and Prévot's lives. Saint Exupéry's fable Le Petit Prince, which begins with a pilot being marooned in the desert, is in part a reference to this experience.

Saint Exupéry continued to write and fly until the beginning of la deuxième guerre mondiale. During the war, he initially flew with the GR II/33 reconnaissance squadron of L'armée de l'Air. After France's 1940 armistice with Germany, he traveled to the United States. The Saint Exupérys lived in a penthouse apartment in New York City and a rented mansion in Asharoken on Long Island's north shore between janvier 1941 et avril 1943. He wrote Le Petit Prince in Asharoken in the summer and fall of 1942; the manuscript was completed by October.

After living just over two years in North America, Saint Exupéry returned to Europe to fly with the Free French Forces and fight with the Allies in a Mediterranean-based squadron. Then 43, he was older than most men assigned such duties; he also suffered pain, due to his many fractures from air crashes. He was assigned with a number of other pilots to P-38 "Lightnings."

Saint Exupéry's final assignment was to collect intelligence on German troop movements in and around the Rhone Valley preceding the Allied invasion of southern France. On the evening of le 31 juillet 1944, he left from an airbase on Corsica, and was never seen again. A woman reported having watched a plane crash around noon of le 1 aout near the Bay of Carqueiranne off Toulon. An unidentifiable body wearing French colors was found several days later and buried in Carqueiranne that septembre.

In 1998, a fisherman named Jean-Claude Bianco found a silver identity bracelet bearing the names of Saint Exupéry and his wife Consuelo and his publishers, Reynal & Hitchcock and was hooked to a piece of fabric, presumably from Saint Exupéry's flight suit.

Saint Exupéry, a P-38 "Lightning", et le Petit Prince.

In 2000, a diver named Luc Vanrell found a P-38 Lightning crashed in the seabed off the coast of Marseille. The remains of the aircraft were recovered in octobre 2003. On le 7 avril 2004, investigators from the French Underwater Archaeological Department confirmed that the plane was, indeed, Saint Exupéry's F-5B reconnaissance variant. No marks or holes attributable to gunfire were found. However this was not considered significant as only a small portion of the aircraft was recovered. In juin 2004, the fragments were given to the Museum of Air and Space in Le Bourget. The location of the crash site and the bracelet are less than 80km by sea from where the unidentified French soldier was found in Carqueiranne, and it remains plausible, but has not been confirmed, that the body was carried there by ocean currents after the crash over the course of several days.

In mars 2008, a former Luftwaffe pilot, 85-year-old Horst Rippert, told La Provence, a Marseille newspaper, that he engaged and downed a P-38 Lightning on le 31 juillet 1944 in the area where Saint Exupéry's plane was found. According to Rippert, he was on a reconnaissance mission over the Mediterranean sea when he saw a P-38 with a French emblem behind him near Toulon. Rippert says he opened fire at the P-38, which crashed into the sea.

After the war, Horst Rippert became a television journalist and led the ZDF sports department. Rippert says he came to believe that he had probably shot down Saint Exupéry, a writer Rippert knew of because he had read his books during his youth. Rippert says Saint Exupéry was one of his favorite authors. Rippert has written a book discussing the alleged Saint Exupéry shootdown. Rippert's story is unverifiable, and has met with criticism from some German and French investigators. The diver who found the plane believes Saint Exupéry committed suicide.

Until the euro was introduced in 2002, Saint Exupéry's image and his drawing of tLe Petit Prince appeared on France's 50-franc note.

Le 14 juillet 1789 - La prise de la Bastille

2008-07-14T16:29:00.003+02:00

The storming of la Bastille.

Just as le 4 juillet is known as Independence Day aux États-Unis, le 14 juillet is the analagous holiday in France, symbolic of the beginning of the French revolution against the ancien régime, and la prise de la Bastille, the storming of the Bastille, became symbolic of the beginning of the Revolution.

La Bastille was a prison in Paris, known formally as la Bastille Saint-Antoine at numero 232, Rue Saint-Antoine. The event was commemorated one year later by the Fête de la Fédération. The French national holiday, celebrated annually on le 14 juillet is officially la Fête Nationale, and officially commemorates la Fête de la Fédération, but it is commonly known in English as Bastille Day. Bastille is a French word meaning "castle" or "stronghold."

La Bastille as it appeared at the end of le XVIII ème siecle

Built from 1370 to 1383 as part of the defences of Paris, la Bastille is commonly thought to have been converted into a prison in the XVII ème siecle by Charles VI. At that time it primarily housed political prisoners, but also religious prisoners, "seditious" writers, and young rakes held at the request of their families. It began to acquire a poor reputation when it became the main prison for those taken under lettres de cachet issued by the Bourbon kings. By the late XVIII ème siecle, the building was made up of eight close-packed towers, around 24 metres (80 feet) high, surrounding two courtyards and the armory.

Another view of the storming of la Bastille along with its plan

Prisoners were held within the five-to-seven storey towers, each having a room around 4.6 metres (15 feet) across and containing various articles of furniture. The infamous cachots, the dark, damp, vermin-infested subterranean cells, were no longer in use. The governor of the prison was given a daily allowance per prisoner, the amount depending on their status, from nineteen livres per diem for scientists and academics down to three for commoners. In terms of standards, there were many worse prisons in France, including the dreaded Bicêtre, also in Paris. However, in terms of popular literary accounts, la Bastille was a place of horror and oppression; a symbol of autocratic cruelty.

Following several days of disturbances, the confrontation between the commoners and l'ancien régime the people of Paris assaulted la Bastille. The jail was nearly empty, holding only seven inmates: four counterfeiters, two madmen, and a young aristocrat who had displeased his father. The regular garrison consisted of about 80 invalides (veteran soldiers no longer capable of service in the field) under Governor Bernard-René de Launay. Les invalides however had been reinforced by a detachment of 32 grenadiers from one of the Swiss mercenary regiments summoned to Paris by the Monarchy shortly before le 14 juillet.

A crowd of around 1,000 people gathered outside around mid-morning, calling for the surrender of the prison, the removal of the guns and the release of the arms and gunpowder. Two people chosen to represent those gathered were invited into the fortress and slow negotiations began.

In the early afternoon, the crowd broke into the undefended outer courtyard and the chains on the drawbridge to the inner courtyard were cut. A spasmodic exchange of gunfire began; in mid-afternoon the crowd was reinforced by mutinous Gardes Françaises of the Royal Army and two cannons. De Launay ordered a ceasefire; despite his surrender demands being refused, he capitulated and les vainqueurs swept into the fortress at around 5:30.

Ninety-eight attackers and one defender had died. De Launay was seized and dragged towards l'Hôtel de Ville, but was stabbed to death by the mob in the street outside the Hôtel. Several of De Launay's officers were also killed. Les Gardes Français intervened to protect the Swiss soldiers and invalides of the garrison, though two of the latter were reported to have been lynched. The officer commanding the Swiss detachment later prepared a detailed account of the fall of the fortress which, perhaps unfairly, laid blame on De Launay for indecisive behavior.

The storming of the Bastille was more important as a rallying point and symbolic act of rebellion than any practical act of defiance. No less important in the history of France, it was not the image typically conjured up of courageous French patriots storming a towering fortress and freeing hundreds of oppressed peasants. The telling this false version of the events began onle 17 juillet 1789 with the publication of les Révolutions de Paris. This publication contained a colorful description of the attack and an entirely false description of the many prisoners freed.

Famous inmates of la Bastille include Nicolas Fouquet, Voltaire and le Marquis de Sade.

The propaganda value of the Bastille was quickly seized upon, notably by the showy entrepreneur Pierre-François Palloy, "Patriote Palloy." Palloy secured a license for demolition from the Permanent Committee at l'Hôtel de Ville and quickly organized a force of 500 demolition men around the site on le 15 juillet.

Palloy's crew grew to around 1,000 men. Palloy had control over all aspects of the work and the workers, even to the extent of having two hanged for murders. He put much effort into continuing the site as a paying attraction and producing a huge range of souvenirs, including much of the rubble. The actual demolition proceeded quickly. By novembre the structure was almost completely demolished.

Today the location of the fort is called la place de la Bastille. It is home to l'opéra Bastille. The large fossé,ditch, behind the fort has been transformed into a marina for pleasure boats, le Bassin de l'Arsenal, to the south, and le Canal Saint Martin, extends north from the marina beneath the vehicular roundabout that borders the location of the fort.

Some undemolished remains of one tower of the fort were discovered during excavation for le Métro in 1899, and were moved to a park a few hundred metres away, where they are displayed today. The original outline of the fort is also marked on the pavement of streets and sidewalks that pass over its former location, in the form of special paving stones. A café and some other businesses largely occupy the location of the fort, and la rue Saint-Antoine passes directly over it as it opens onto the roundabout of la Bastille.

La Place de la Bastille, l'opéra Bastille to the right

Photos of Bastille Day celebrations are here, here and here.

Pain de Brioche

2008-07-14T04:00:00.004+02:00

Poor Marie. Not only did she lose her head, she is misquoted as having said "S’ils n’ont plus de pain, qu’ils mangent de la brioche."
The word brioche first appeared in print in 1404. This bread is believed to have sprung from une recette normande traditionnelle. It is argued that brioche is probably of a Roman origin, since a very similar sort of sweet holiday bread is made in Romania ("sărălie"). The method of baking it and tradition of using it during holidays resembles the culture surrounding the brioche so much that it is difficult to doubt same origin of both foods. Brioche is often served as a pastry or as the basis of a dessert, with many local variations in added ingredients, fillings and toppings. It is also used with savory preparations, particularly with foie gras, and is used in some meat dishes.

Perhaps the most popular version is Brioche à tête. Today, we will bake a loaf version, using a slow-rise, cool fermentation method. "Louis" lets the dough ferment in the refrigerator twice overnight before a third rise at room temperature on the third day before baking. You can proof the dough quicker than this, but the long, cool fermentation helps develop the flavor and improves the keeping quality. Without further ado,

À table!
La recette est ICI

Nôtre premier anniversaire

2008-07-11T18:11:00.000+02:00

Our first anniversary

Clic sur l'image pour l'agrandir

"Louis" and the future Mme. la Vache were introduced by a mutual acquaintance not long after "Louis's" return to California from France - on his birthday actually! "Louis," having been divorced for 28 years really, no longer considered marriage to be an option. Then he met Mme. la Vache!

Mme. la Vache was born and raised in China and had lived in Japan for about 15 years. She had worked as a photographer and journalist for a Tokyo newspaper. She published a novel, written in Mandarin, that became a best-seller in China.

She is a smart, funny, wonderful woman and "Louis" thanks God that she has come into his life. "Louis" says that she is the best thing that ever happened to him!

Today is the first anniversary of "Louis" and Mme. la Vache's civil wedding. Following their civil wedding, "Louis" and Mme. la Vache repeated their vows in a church ceremony on le 4 novembre. ("Louis" says, 'I'm glad she has a sense of humor, otherwise she'd kill me for calling her 'Mrs. Cow!' - and who would blame her?! He fears he'll wind up looking like THIS!. He can get away with it largely only because she doesn't want her name on the blogosphere.)

Le 4 ème Juillet: Colombe, aigle ou dinde ?

2008-07-04T00:01:00.001+02:00

July 4th: Dove, Eagle or Turkey

In "1776", Benjamin Franklin argues that the turkey should be our national bird.
(Hat tip to The Pink Flamingo)

Farms in Berkeley*? The Statue of Liberty in Paris?
(Click to enlarge)
* San Francisco Bay Area readers will understand this reference
Don't forget that the Statue of Liberty was a gift from France to the United States. Here is a model of "Lady Liberty" in la Seine in Paris, near la tour Eiffel. Gustav Eiffel engineered the supporting structure of "Lady Liberty". French sculptor Frédéric-Auguste Bartholdi designed the statue and chose its site in New York Harbor.

"Flag Day" aux Ètats-Unis

2008-06-14T17:10:00.014+02:00

Flag Day in the United States

Clic sur les images pour les agrandir

Golden Gate National Cemetery, San Bruno, CA

Aux Ètats-Unis, Flag Day is celebrated on le 14 juin. Flag Day commemorates the adoption of the flag of the United States, when the Second Continental Congress on adopted the Stars and Stripes by a resolution passed on le 14 juin 1777. In 1916, President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation that officially established le 14 juin as Flag Day; National Flag Day was established by an Act of Congress in aout 1949.

"Louis" adapted this history of Flag Day from Wikipedia:

The earliest reference to the suggestion of a "Flag Day" is cited in "Kansas: a Cyclopedia of State History, published by Standard Publishing Company of Chicago in 1912. It credits George Morris of Hartford, Connecticut:
'To George Morris of Hartford, Conn., is popularly given the credit of suggesting "Flag Day," the occasion being in honor of the adoption of the American flag on June 14, 1777. The city of Hartford observed the day in 1861, carrying out a program of a patriotic order, praying for the success of the Federal arms and the preservation of the Union.'

1885

Working as a grade school teacher in Waubeka, Wisconsin, in 1885, Bernard Cigrand held the first recognized formal observance of Flag Day at Stony Hill School in Waubeka. The school has been restored, and a bust of Cigrand also honors him at the National Flag Day Americanism Center in Waubeka.

From the late 1880s on, Cigrand spoke around the country promoting patriotism, respect for the flag, and the need for the annual observance of a flag day on June 14, the day in 1777 that the Continental Congress adopted the Stars and Stripes.

He moved to Chicago to attend dental school and, in June 1886, first publicly proposed an annual observance of the birth of the United States flag in an article titled "The Fourteenth of June," published in the Chicago Argus newspaper. In June 1888, Cigrand advocated establishing the holiday in a speech before the "Sons of America," a Chicago group. The organization founded a magazine, American Standard, in order to promote reverence for American emblems. Cigrand was appointed editor-in-chief and wrote articles in the magazine as well as in other magazines and newspapers to promote the holiday.

On the third Saturday in June 1894, a public school children’s celebration of Flag Day took place in Chicago at Douglas, Garfield, Humboldt, Lincoln, and Washington Parks. More than 300,000 children participated, and the celebration was repeated the next year.

Cigrand became president of the American Flag Day Association and later of the National Flag Day Society, which allowed him to promote his cause with organizational backing. Cigrand once noted he had given 2,188 speeches on patriotism and the flag.

Cigrand lived in Batavia, Illinois, from 1913–1932.

Cigrand generally is credited with being the "Father of Flag Day," with the Chicago Tribune noting that he "almost singlehandedly" established the holiday.

1888

William Kerr, a resident of Collier Township, Pennsylvania, for a number of years, founded the American Flag Day Association of Western Pennsylvania in 1888, and became that organization's national chairman one year later, serving as such for fifty years. He attended President Harry S. Truman's 1949 signing of the Act of Congress that formally established the observance.

1889

In 1889, the principal of a free kindergarten, George Bolch, celebrated the anniversary of the Flag resolution at his New York City school. Soon the State Board of Education of New York, the Betsy Ross House in Philadelphia, and the New York Society of the Sons of the Revolution celebrated Flag Day, as well.

1893

In 1893, Elizabeth Duane Gillespie, a descendant of Benjamin Franklin and the president of the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania, attempted to have a resolution passed deeming June 14 as Flag Day. That same year, the Colonial Dames of Pennsylvania were responsible for a resolution passed requiring the American flag to be displayed on all Philadelphia's public buildings. In 1937, Pennsylvania became the first state to make Flag Day a legal holiday.

This is Alex, from Guam, standing by the grave of Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. Alex's father served as an orderly for Admiral Nimitz in World War II. "Louis" happened upon Alex at the Golden Gate National Cemetery and learned that Alex was looking for Admiral Nimitz's grave. "Louis", knowing where it was, took Alex to it.

See also:

"ABC Wednesday - S"
"ABC Wednesday - T"
"The Tolling of the Boats"
"Four Admirals"

France sings for the United States!

Don't miss this! Delightful!

Crise sur la plage d'Omaha

2008-06-06T23:23:00.001+02:00

Crisis on Omaha Beach

An absolutely on-target parody of mainstream media, imagining how they might have covered the invasion of Normandy with today’s enhanced technology - and today’s relentless negativity.

La Invasion de Normandie, le 6 juin 1944

2008-06-06T19:57:00.007+02:00

The Normandy Invasion, 6 June 1944
A U.S. Navy Landing Ship-Tank on the beach in Normandie.
"Louis's" previous post on this historic battle is HERE.

See also:
• Charles de Gaulle et l'appel du 18 juin 1940
• Général Alphonse-Pierre Juin
• Henri-Philippe Pétain
• Pierre Laval
Général Henri Giraud
• Winston Churchill
• U.S. General George Patton
• Héros de la résistance: Jean Moulin
• France falls to the Nazis
• The Resistance: les Maquis
• The French fleet scuttles itself at Toulon
• The Normandy Invasion
• 20 July 1944 Plot against Hitler
• Is Paris burning?
• The Liberation of Paris
• The Battle of the Bulge

The invasion beaches

Chocolat à l'ancienne

2008-05-13T14:43:00.004+02:00

Old-fashion Hot Chocolate

Chocolat à l'ancienne with a slice of brioche
The weather forecast calls for today to be very warm, yet this morning, Louis got up craving the chocolat à l'ancienne he has enjoyed at several places in Paris. So, call Louis crazy (Ed: OK, Louis, you're crazy!) but on this warm morning, Louis is posting une recette pour chocolat à l'ancienne, old-fashion hot chocolate. Warning: Nesquick this isn't! Without further ado,
À table!
La recette est ICI.

Plus de recettes for chocoholics:

Pots-de-Crème au Chocolat
Gâteau au Chocolat "Cochon-Qui-Vol"
Tarte au Chocolat Noir

Victoire en Europe, le 8 mai 1945

2008-05-08T16:35:00.033+02:00

Victory in Europe, 8 May 1945

Parisians on l'avenue des Champs-Élysées celebrating the end of the Second World War in Europe. This photo was taken from atop l'arc de Triomphe.

Victory in Europe Day was le 7 mai et le 8 mai 1945, the dates when the Allies formally accepted the unconditional surrender of the armed forces of Nazi Germany and the end of Adolf Hitler's Third Reich. Hitler has committed suicide on le 30 avril during the Battle for Berlin. The surrender of Germany was authorized by his replacement, President of Germany Karl Dönitz. Dönitz had commanded the Kreigsmarne U-boat forces. The administration headed up by Dönitz was known as the Flensburg government.

The French tricolore flies for the first time under l'arc de Triomphe since the fall of France to the Nazis in 1940. The flags of the other Allied countries join le tricolore .

Generaloberst Alfred Jodl signs the surrender document at Eisenhower's headquarters in Reims

The German surrender was signed at the headquarters of General Dwight D. Eisenhower in Reims at 2:41 a.m. on le 7 mai by Colonel General Alfred Jodl, chief of staff of the German armed forces, signed for Germany. On le 8 mai, the signing was repeated in Berlin.

The Stars and Stripes, published for U.S. servicemen and women, announces the end of the war in Europe.

Although the German surrender led to the end of the fighting in Europe, the Japanese remained in the war in the Pacific and the long, arduous, and often fractious task of rebuilding Europe - not to mention the encroachments of the Commuinists - still lay ahead.

See Louis la Vache's other posts about World War II in Europe:
Charles de Gaulle et l'appel du 18 juin 1940
Général Alphonse-Pierre Juin
Henri-Philippe Pétain
Pierre Laval
Général Henri Giraud
Winston Churchill
U.S. General George Patton
Héros de la résistance: Jean Moulin
France falls to the Nazis
The Resistance: les Maquis
The French fleet scuttles itself at Toulon
The Normandy Invasion
20 July 1944 Plot against Hitler
The Liberation of Paris
The Battle of the Bulge

Napoléon Bonaparte est mort le 5 mai 1821

2008-05-05T07:59:00.001+02:00

Napoléon Bonaparte died on 5 May 1821
Napoléon Bonaparte
"The whiff of grapeshot"

Napoléon Bonaparte, also known as Napoléon I, or just simply as Napoléon, was the greatest military genius of his time and perhaps the greatest general in history. He crowned himself emperor and created an empire that covered most of western and central Europe. Napoléon was also an excellent administrator. He introduced many useful reforms, including the creation of a strong, efficient central government and the revision and organization of French laws into collections known today as Napoléonic code. Many of Napoléon's reforms are evident today in the institutions of France and of areas once under French control.

Louis la Vache posed a brief history of Napoléon's life HERE.

Napoléon's tomb at ....

....l'hôtel-des-Invalides, Paris

Tarte alsacienne d'oignon

2008-05-04T18:34:00.004+02:00

Alsatian Onion Tarte

This onion tarte is similar to the various quiche recettes Louis has posted, but this tarte does not call for cheese. However, it is une recette that is easy to experiement with. A cook in a mood to experiment could add cheese, for example, Comté or Gruyére. Louis is going to bake this again adding Pipérade.

La recette est ICI!

l'Achat de la Louisiane, le 30 avril 1803

2008-05-04T04:49:00.009+02:00

The Louisiana Purchase, 30 April 1803
Napoléon cedes Louisiana to les États-Unis.

With the purchase of the Louisiana Territory from France on le 30 avril 1803, the United States added more than 529,911,681 acres (827,987 mi² or 2,144,476 km2) of territory at the cost of about 3¢ per acre (7¢ per hectare); $15 million or 80 million francs in total. Quite a bargain!

The French territory of Louisiana included far more land than just the current U.S. state of Louisiana. The lands purchased contained parts or all of present-day Arkansas, Missouri, Iowa, Minnesota west of the Mississippi River, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, New Mexico, northern Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, the portions of Montana, Wyoming, and Colorado east of the Rocky Mountains, the portions of southern Manitoba, southern Saskatchewan and southern Alberta that drain into the Missouri River, and Louisiana on both sides of the Mississippi River including the city of New Orleans. The land included in the Purchase comprises 22.3 percent of the territory of the modern United States.

The purchase was an important moment in the presidency of Thomas Jefferson. At the time, it faced domestic opposition as being possibly unconstitutional.

The city of New Orleans controlled the Mississippi River. The Mississippi was already important for shipping agricultural goods to and from the parts of the U.S. west of the Appalachian Mountains. Through Pinckney's Treaty signed with Spain on le 27 octobr 1795, American merchants had "right of deposit" in New Orleans, meaning they could use the port to store goods for export. Americans also used this "right of deposit" to transport products such as flour, tobacco, pork, bacon, lard, feathers, cider, butter, and cheese. In 1798, Spain revoked this treaty which greatly upset Americans. In 1801, Spanish governor, Don Juan Manual de Salcedo took over for Governor Casa Calvo and the right to deposit goods from the United States was restored.

Napoléon Bonaparte returned Louisiana to French control from Spain in 1800, under the Treaty of San Ildefonso (Louisiana had been a Spanish colony since 1762). However, this treaty was kept secret, and Louisiana would remain under Spanish control until a transfer of power to France which had yet to be organized. It finally took place on le 30 novembre 1803, just three weeks before the cession to the U.S.

Americans were fearful that they would lose their rights of use to New Orleans. The Jefferson Administration decided that the best way to assure long term access to the Mississippi would be to purchase the city of New Orleans and the nearby portions of Louisiana east of the Mississippi. Jefferson sent James Monroe and Robert R. Livingston to Paris to negotiate such a purchase.

Napoléon was faced with the defeat of his armies in Saint-Domingue (present-day Republic of Haiti) where an expeditionary force under his brother-in-law Charles Leclerc was attempting to reassert control over a slave rebellion that threatened France's most profitable colony.

Political conflicts in Guadeloupe and in Saint-Domingue itself grew with the restoration of slavery on le 20 mai 1802, and the defection of leading French officers, like the black general Jean-Jacques Dessalines and the mulatto officer Alexandre Pétion in octobre 1802, within the context of an ongoing guerilla war. The French had successfully deported Toussaint L'Ouverture to France in juin 1802, but yellow fever was destroying European soldiers and claimed Leclerc himself in novembre.

Lacking sufficient military forces in America, Napoléon needed peace with Great Britain to implement the Treaty of San Ildefonso and take possession of Louisiana. Otherwise, Louisiana would be an easy prey for the British or even for the Americans. Britain had breached her promise to evacuate Malta by septembre 1802 as stipulated in the peace of Amiens, and in the beginning of the year 1803, war between France and Britain seemed increasingly unavoidable. On 11 mars 1803, Napoléon decided to start building a flotilla of barges to invade Britain.

These circumstances led Bonaparte to abandon his plans to rebuild France's New World empire. Napoléon gave notice to his business minister, Francois de Barbe-Marbois, on le 10 avril 1803 that he was considering surrendering the Louisana Territory to the United States. On le 11 avril 1803, just days before Monroe's arrival, Marquess de Barbé-Marbois, Napoléon's minister of the treasury, offered Livingston all of Louisiana instead of just New Orleans. President Jefferson had instructed Livingston to purchase only the Floridas. However, he was certain that the United States would accept such a large offer.

The American negotiators were prepared to spend $10 million for New Orleans, but were dumbfounded when the entire region was offered for $15 million. The treaty was dated le 30 avril 1803 and was signed on le 2 mai. On Bastille Day, le 14 juillet 1803 the treaty reached Washington D.C. The Louisiana territory was vast, stretching from the Gulf of Mexico in the south to Rupert's Land in the north, and from the Mississippi River in the east to the Rocky Mountains in the west.

What a bargain the U.S. got! Cliquez pour agrandir.

The American purchase of the Louisiana territory was not accomplished without domestic opposition. The Federalists strongly opposed the purchase, favoring close relations with Britain over closer ties to Napoléon. The Federalists argued that the purchase was unconstitutional, and that the U.S. had paid a large sum of money just to declare war on Spain. The Federalists also feared that the political power of the Atlantic seaboard states would be threatened by the new citizens of the west, bringing about a clash of western farmers with the merchants and bankers of New England. A group of Federalists led by Massachusetts Senator Timothy Pickering went so far as to plan a separate northern confederacy, offering Vice-President Aaron Burr the presidency of the proposed new country if he persuaded New York to join. Burr's relationship with Alexander Hamilton, who helped bring an end to the nascent northern secession movement, soured during this period. The animosity between the two men grew during the 1801 election and ended with Hamilton's death in a duel with Mr. Burr in the year of 1804.

On le 30 avril 1803, the Louisiana Purchase Treaty was signed by Robert Livingston, James Monroe, and Barbé Marbois at Paris. Jefferson announced the treaty to the American people on le 4 juillet.

The United States Senate ratified the treaty, with a vote of twenty-four to seven, on le 20 october; on the following day, it authorized President Jefferson to take possession of the territory and establish a temporary military government. In legislation enacted on le 31 octobre, Congress made temporary provisions for local civil government to continue as it had under French and Spanish rule and authorized the President to use military forces to maintain order. Plans were also set forth for a mission to explore and chart the territory, which would become known as the Lewis and Clark expedition. France then turned New Orleans over to the USA on le 20 décember 1803. On le 10 mars 1804, a formal ceremony was conducted in St. Louis, to transfer ownership of the territory from France to the United States of America.
Effective on le 1 octobre 1804, the purchased territory was organized into the Orleans Territory (most of which became the state of Louisiana) and the District of Louisiana, which was temporarily under the control of the Indiana Territory.

The Louisiana Purchase led to a dispute between the United States and Spain over the boundaries of the area the United States had bought. According to the Spanish, Louisiana consisted roughly of the west bank of the Mississippi River and the city of New Orleans. The United States, on the other hand, claimed that it stretched all the way to the Rio Grande and the Rocky Mountains, a claim unacceptable for Spain, as it would mean the loss of Texas and half of New Mexico, both Spanish colonies. The two nations also disagreed about the ownership of West Florida, a strip of land between the Mississippi and Perdido Rivers. The United States claimed this area was part of the purchase; Spain said that it was not, and east of the Mississippi only the city of New Orleans was part of the Louisiana purchase. Spain also held that the entire Louisiana Purchase was illegal, because the Spanish treaty handing Louisiana to the French had stipulated the French were not allowed to hand it over to a third power, and also because Napoléon had not adhered to his part of the treaty (giving a kingdom in Italy to the brother-in-law of King Carlos IV).

In 1810, after a revolt in West Florida, the United States annexed the region between the Mississippi and Pearl rivers (known today as the Florida Parishes of Louisiana). In 1812, the Mobile District was annexed (the region between the Pearl and Perdido Rivers, which now forms the panhandles of Alabama and Mississippi). The matter was not fully settled until the signing of the Adams-Onís Treaty in 1819, in which Spain ceded all of Florida to the U.S. and the boundary between the Louisiana territory and the Spanish colonies was set along the Sabine, Red and Arkansas rivers and the 42nd parallel.

When purchased, the boundaries of "Louisiana" were not defined, and the land itself was generally unknown (which led to the Lewis and Clark expedition). In particular, not wanting to anger Spain, France refused to specify the southern and western boundaries. Estimates that did exist as to the extent and composition of the purchase were initially based on the explorations of Robert LaSalle.

Le Premier Mai: Le Muguet Porte Bonheur

2008-05-01T06:29:00.008+02:00

1 May - the Lilly of the Valley brings happiness

Le Premier Mai is La Fête du Muguet in France. The tradition on this day is to give friends and loved ones a little bouquet of muguet, Lilly-of-the-Valley, for wishes of happiness and to celebrate the arrival of spring.

Louis la Vache wishes happiness for all his readers and friends!

Sablés

2008-04-30T07:06:00.003+02:00

Brittany Biscuits

Sablés are French cookies originating in Bretagne, Brittany. These cookies are also known as Biscuits de Bretagne, Brittany Biscuits and in Anglophone countries as French Butter Cookies. The name 'Sablé' is French for "sand", which refers to the sandy texture of this delicate and crumbly shortbread-like cookie. The traditional shape is round shape with fluted edges and the tops of the cookies are usually brushed with an egg wash to give them a shiny appearance. The finishing touch, which makes them instantly recognizable, is to score a criss-cross pattern on the top of each cookie. Butter is what gives these cookies their wonderful flavor so use the best you can afford. (Readers in the U.S. should seek out the Plugra brand of unsalted butter. Plugra is made in the French style. The name is a play on the French plus gras, more fat. Indeed, it is higher in fat and lower in moisture than the typical U.S.-produced butter. Also, it is a sour cream vs. sweet cream butter, which contributes significantly to its superior taste.)

While Sablés are delicious plain, this versatile dough it can be flavored with ground nuts or zests. Sablés can even be sandwiched together with jam or preserves, ganache, or lemon curd.

La recette est ICI.

Les sites de Paris: Avenue-des-Champs-Élysées; Sephora

2008-04-28T08:19:00.000+02:00

French cosmetics retailer Sephora (pronounced "Say-four-ah") is becoming well-known in the U.S. It is only natural that this cosmetics retailing powerhouse would have its flagship store on Paris's Avenue-des-Champs-Élysées. You really have to see this store to take it in. The pictures don't do it justice!

The company was founded in France in 1969. The name "Sephora" is adapted from Zipporah, the Hebrew name of the wife of Moses (Book of Exodus). The Sephora chain includes more than 750 stores in 21 countries. It carries over 250 brands of extremely popular makeup, skin care, fragrance, bath, hair care and beauty accessory items, including Sephora's own moderately-priced private label. The chain targets a fairly upscale market of affluent customers in all age groups.

The leading retail beauty chain in Europe, Sephora opened its first U.S. store in New York in 1997. Sephora is one of the fastest growing retailers in the U.S. Sephora is known for their sampling program and for their lenient 60-day return policy. In 2004, it also started to operate in Canada.

From the entry on L'avenue-des-Champs-Élysées.

Just inside the entrance is a wall of huge flasks of perfume.

More interior views.

Lapins vilains sur l'avenue-des-Champs-Élysées

2008-04-27T05:43:00.004+02:00

Naughty bunnies on the Champs-Élysees

Bunnies doing what bunnies are noted for doing best - in ways most bunnies probably haven't thought of - outside the Swatch Watch shop on l'avenue-des-Champs-Élysées.

Typical Paris street sign, this one on one of the world's best-known streets.

Calissons

2008-04-26T06:40:00.003+02:00

Calissons – a unique candy made from almond paste, candied melon and citrus, and topped with Royal glaze - are traditionallly associated with Aix-en-Provence. Thus most of the world’s supply of Calissons comes from Aix. Most visitors to Aix come away with a penchant for the distinctive candy. Calissons are almond-shaped and are typically about two inches in length. They have a texture not unlike that of marzipan, but with a fruitier, distinctly melon-like flavor. They’re hard to find aux États-Unis, so taking the time to make Calissons from scratch is worth the effort.

La recette est ICI!

La Marseillaise -l' Hymne national français a été composé 25 avril 1792

2008-04-25T17:32:00.014+02:00

La Marseillaise - the French National Anthem was composed 25 April 1792

La Marseillaise is part of the sculptural program of
l'Arc de Triomphe

La Marseillaise a song written and composed by Claude Joseph Rouget de Lisle at Strasbourg on le 25 avril 1792 is now the national anthem of France. Its original name is "Chant de guerre de l'Armée du Rhin" ("Marching Song of the Rhine Army") and it was dedicated to Marshall Nicolas Luckner a Bavarian-born French officer. It became the rallying call of the French Revolution and got its name because it was first sung on the streets by troops (fédérés) from Marseille upon their arrival in Paris.

Rouget de Lisle, Composer of la Marseillaise, sings it for the first time.

Now the national anthem of France, it was also once the anthem of the international revolutionary (read: communist) movement. Indeed, the words of l'Internationale, written in 1870 by Eugène Pottier were originally set to the tune of La Marseillaise. During the Paris Commune (1871), l'Internationale was adopted as an anthem; it was only in 1888 that Pierre Degeyter re-set l'Internationale to the tune known today.

Because great numbers of people on the political left around the world, particularly anarchists, took inspiration from the Commune, the song became an international symbol of leftism. For instance, in Chicago, Illinois, the Haymarket Martyrs went to their deaths singing la Marseillaise. In 1917, after the collapse of the tsarist regime la Marseillaise and l'Internationale were both used as de facto anthems of Russia.

Within a few years l'Internationale gradually prevailed and became the only anthem. The Russian lyrics of la Marseillaise, "Otrechemsya ot starogo mira", are very different from the French lyrics; both French and Russian lyrics were sung in Russia.

The song was banned in Vichy France and German-occupied areas during la deuxième guerre mondiale and singing it was an act of resistance. It was also banned under the French Empire: the France of Napoléon and Napoléon III either used different anthems or no anthem at all for the period of 1799 to 1870.

La Marseillaise was re-arranged by Hector Berlioz around 1830.

In 1882, Pyotr Tchaikovsky used extensive quotes from la Marseillaise to represent the invading French army in his 1812 Overture. This was an anachronism, as la Marseillaise was the French anthem in Tchaikovsky's day, but not Napoléon's.

In France itself, the anthem (and particularly the lyrics) became a somewhat controversial issue beginning in the 1970s, an issue stirred by the multiculturalists who consider it militaristic and xenophobic. Many propositions have been made to change the anthem or the lyrics. However, la Marseillaise has been associated throughout history with the French Republic and its values, making a change unlikely.

Marianne - la Marseillaise

Recently (and despite the lyrics) it was largely sung by leftist protesters after Jean-Marie Le Pen advanced to the second round of the 2002 presidential election.

The song was part of a famous scene in the film "Casablanca" in which French resistance sympathizers used the song to drown out the Nazi soldiers who were singing "Die Wacht am Rhein". These two songs were juxtaposed in exactly the same way five years earlier, in Jean Renoir's 1937 film "Grand Illusion". Renoir, son of the impressioniste painter traced the history of the song in the film he made the following year, La Marseillaise.

Abel Gance's film Napoléon features a striking scene in which the song is first sung by the French masses;
In the 1981 movie "Victory," the final scene features the entire crowd of the stadium in occupied Paris spontaneously sing la Marseillaise at the end of the game.

Paroles Français
Note: only the first verse (and sometimes the 5th and 6th) and the first chorus are sung nowadays in France.

Couplet I
Allons enfants de la Patrie,
Le jour de gloire est arrivé!
Contre nous de la tyrannie,
L'étendard sanglant est levé, (bis)
Entendez-vous dans les campagnes
Mugir ces féroces soldats?
Ils viennent jusque dans vos bras (2)
Égorger vos fils, vos compagnes!

Refrain:
Aux armes, citoyens,
Formez vos bataillons,
Marchons, marchons!
Qu'un sang impur
Abreuve nos sillons!

Couplet II
Que veut cette horde d'esclaves,
De traîtres, de rois conjurés?
Pour qui ces ignobles entraves,
Ces fers dès longtemps préparés ? (bis)
Français, pour nous, ah ! quel outrage
Quels transports il doit exciter!
C'est nous qu'on ose méditer
De rendre à l'antique esclavage!

Refrain

Couplet III
Quoi ! des cohortes étrangères
Feraient la loi dans nos foyers!
Quoi ! ces phalanges mercenaires
Terrasseraient nos fiers guerriers! (bis)
Grand Dieu ! par des mains enchaînées
Nos fronts sous le joug se ploieraient
De vils despotes deviendraient
Les maîtres de nos destinées!

Refrain<

Couplet IV
Tremblez, tyrans et vous perfides
L'opprobre de tous les partis,
Tremblez ! vos projets parricides
Vont enfin recevoir leurs prix! (bis)
Tout est soldat pour vous combattre,
S'ils tombent, nos jeunes héros,
La terre en produit de nouveaux,
Contre vous tout prêts à se battre!

Refrain

Couplet V
Français, en guerriers magnanimes,
Portez ou retenez vos coups!
Épargnez ces tristes victimes,
À regret s'armant contre nous. (bis)
Mais ces despotes sanguinaires,
Mais ces complices de Bouillé,
Tous ces tigres qui, sans pitié,
Déchirent le sein de leur mère!

Refrain

Couplet VI
Amour sacré de la Patrie,
Conduis, soutiens nos bras vengeurs
Liberté, Liberté chérie,
Combats avec tes défenseurs! (bis)
Sous nos drapeaux que la victoire
Accoure à tes mâles accents,
Que tes ennemis expirants
Voient ton triomphe et notre gloire!

Refrain

Couplet VII
Nous entrerons dans la carrière
Quand nos aînés n'y seront plus,
Nous y trouverons leur poussière
Et la trace de leurs vertus (bis)
Bien moins jaloux de leur survivre
Que de partager leur cercueil,
Nous aurons le sublime orgueil
De les venger ou de les suivre!

Refrain

Traduction Anglais

Verse I
Arise children of our fatherland,
The day of glory has arrived!
Against us, tyranny,
Has raised its bloodied banner, (1)
Do you hear in the fields
The howling of these fearsome soldiers?
They are coming into your midst (2)
To slit the throats of your sons and consorts!

Refrain:
To arms, citizens!
Form your battalions!
Let us march, let us march!
Let impure blood (of our enemies)
Soak the furrows (of our fields)

Verse II
What does this horde of slaves,
Traitors, and plotting kings want?
For whom these vile chains
These long-prepared irons?
Frenchmen, for us, ah! What outrage,
What fury must it arouse?
It is us they dare plan
To return to the old slavery!

Chorus

Verse III
What! These foreign cohorts!
They would make laws in our courts!
What! These mercenary phalanxes
Would cut down our warrior sons
Good Lord! By chained hands
Our brow would yield under the yoke
The vile despots would have themselves be
The masters of destiny

Chorus

Verse IV
Tremble, tyrants and traitors
The shame of all good men
Tremble! Your parricidal schemes
Will receive their just reward
Against you we are all soldiers
If they fall, our young heroes
France will bear new ones
Ready to join the fight against you

Chorus

Verse V
Frenchmen, as magnanimous warriors
Bear or hold back your blows
Spare these sad victims
That they regret taking up arms against us
But not these bloody despots
These accomplices of Bouillé
All these tigers who mercilessly
Ripped out their mothers' wombs

Chorus

Verse VI
Sacred patriotic love
Lead [and] support our avenging arms
Liberty, cherished liberty
Fight back with your defenders
Under our flags, let victory
Hurry to your manly tone
So that your enemies, in their last breath [before death]
See your triumph and our glory!

Chorus

Verse VII
We shall enter the career (3)
When our elders will no longer be there
There we shall find their ashes [lit. dust]
And the mark of their virtues
[We are] Much less jealous of surviving them
Than of sharing their coffins
[For] We shall have the sublime pride
Of avenging or joining [lit. following] them

Chorus

(1) The sentence (in French) is inverted, the non-literal translation is : "The bloody banner of tyranny is raised against/before us."
(2) Here and in the next line, this is often sung as "nos" ("our") rather than "vos" ("your"); "vos" remains official.
(3) "la carrière" ("the career"), that is, of being in the army. The seventh verse was not part of the original text; it was added in 1792 by an unknown author.

Architecte Jules Hardouin-Mansart est né le 16 Avril 1646

2008-04-23T17:57:00.007+02:00

Jules Hardouin-Mansart

Jules Hardouin-Mansart was a French architect whose work is generally considered to be the apex of French Baroque architecture, representing the power and grandeur of Louis XIV.

Born Jules Hardouin in Paris on le 16 avril 1646, he studied under his renowned great-uncle François Mansart, one of the originators of the classical tradition in French architecture. Hardouin inherited Mansart's collection of plans and drawings and adopted his uncle's well-regarded name. He also learned from Libéral Bruant, architect of the royal veteran's hôpital in Paris known as Les Invalides. Hardouin-Mansart served as Louis XIV's chief architect, first enlarging the royal château de Saint-Germain-en-Laye, then at Versailles from 1675. He became the superintendent of all the royal works. He designed all the extensions and rebuildings at Versailles for the King, including the north and south wings, the Royal Chapel (with Robert de Cotte, 1710), and the celebrated Hall of Mirrors decorated by Charles Le Brun his collaborator. Outside the château proper he built the Grand Trianon and the Orangerie, as well as subsidiary royal dwellings not far away, such as Marly (begun 1679).

L'Église du Dôme, Hôpital des Invalides

Among his other best-known works in Paris are the Pont-Royal, the great domed royal chapel l'Église du Dôme dedicated to Saint-Louis at les Invalides (designed in 1680), la Place des Victoires (1684–86) followed by la Place Vendôme (1690). Most of these works still set their stamp on the character of Paris and can be seen by a modern-day tourist.

La Place Vendôme

Mansart's prominent position in France put him in place to create many of the significant monuments of the period, and to set the tone for the restrained French Late Baroque architectural style that was influential as far as St. Petersburg and even echoed in Constantinople. At the same time, the size of support staff in his official bureaucratic position has often raised criticisms that he was less than directly responsible for the work that was constructed under his name, criticisms that underestimate the discipline control within a large, classically-trained studio.

Hall of Mirrors, Versailles

Hardouin-Mansart, considered to be one of the most important European architects of le XVII ème siecle, died at Marly on le 11 mai 1708.

- • - • -

Château Dampierre-en-Yvelines: domesticated Baroque at the center of Louis XIV's inner circle.
"Mansart used the mansard roof, named for his great-uncle, at le château de Dampiere-en-Yvelines, built for le duc de Chevreuse, Colbert's son-in-law, a patron at the center of Louis XIV's court. This French Baroque château of manageable size lies entre cour et jardin as even Versailles did, the paved and gravel forecourt (cour d'honneur) protected behind fine wrought iron double gates, and enclosed by the main block and its outbuildings (corps de logis), linked by balustrades, symmetrically disposed. A traditional French touch is the modest pedimented entrance flanked by boldly projecting pavilions. Behind, the château, a central axis is extended between the former parterres, now mown hay. The park, with formally-shaped lawns, was laid out by André Le Nôtre."

Omelet avec Pipérade et Prosciutto

2008-04-18T07:59:00.005+02:00

Omelete with Pipérade and Prosciutto

Pipérade

Here is a simple omelete avec Pipérade et Prosciutto. Pipérade is a Basque dish typically prepared with onion, sweet peppers, and tomatoes sautéed in olive oil. It may be a main or side dish.

La recette est ICI

Le prisonnier de guerre Général français Henri Giraud s'échappe de sa prison le 17 avril 1945

2008-04-17T04:39:00.000+02:00

Prisoner of War French Général Henri Giraud escapes from his prison 17 April 1945

Général de l'armée Henri Honoré Giraud fought in the First World War and escaped from German captivity during la duexième Guerre Mondiale.

Henri Giraud, of Alsatian descent, was born in Paris on le 18 janvier 1879. He graduated from the Saint-Cyr Military Academy in 1900 and joined l'armée française, serving in North Africa until he was transferred back to France 1914 when la Premiere Guerre Mondiale broke out, when he commanded Zouave troops. He was captured in the Battle of Guise in août 1914 when he was seriously wounded but escaped two months later and returned to France via the Netherlands.

Afterwards Giraud served with French troops in Constantinople under général Franchet d'Esperey. In 1933 he was transferred to Morocco to fight against Rifkabul rebels. He was awarded la Légion d'Honneur after the capture of Abd-el-Krim and later became the military commander of the army fort at Metz in northeastern France near the German border.

When la duexième Guerre Mondiale began, Giraud was a member of the Superior War Council, and disagreed with Charles de Gaulle about the tactics of using armoured troops. He became the commander of the 7th army group when it was sent to the Netherlands on le 10 mai 1940, the day Winston Churchill became British Prime Minister, and was able to delay German troops at Breda on le 13 mai. Subsequently, the depleted 7th army was merged with the 9th. When he was trying to block a German attack through the Ardennes (where the "Battle of the Bulge" occured in late 1944) German troops captured him at Wassigny on le 19 mai. He was taken to Königstein Castle near Dresden which was used as a high-security POW prison.

Giraud planned his escape carefully over two years. He learned German and memorized a map of the surrounding area. On le 17 avril 1942 he lowered himself down the cliff of the mountain fortress. He had shaved off his moustache, and, wearing a Tyrolean hat, traveled to Schandau to meet his underground contact. Through various ruses he reached the Swiss border and eventually slipped into Vichy France.

Giraud's escape was soon known all over France. Heinrich Himmler ordered the Gestapo to assassinate him, and Pierre Laval tried to persuade him to return to Germany. Giraud supported Pétain and the Vichy government but refused to cooperate with the Germans. Consequently he agreed upon an Allied landing in North Africa, but asked to be the commander of such an operation. Eventually Giraud travelled to Algeria, and on le 7 novembre 1942, the British submarine Seraph took him to meet Dwight Eisenhower in Gibraltar. Eisenhower, giving him the code name "King-Pin," asked him to command French troops in Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia after Operation Torch, but Giraud was very disappointed not to command the whole operation. He refused to leave immediately to Algiers, where the French resistance was waiting for him, but rather stayed in Gibraltar until le 9 novembre.

While in North Africa, Giraud made the cover of Time Magazine.

The French resistance acted without him: the day after, le 8 novembre 1942, at 1 a.m., pursuant to secretly made agreements in Cherchell on le 23 octobre 1942 between the Algiers resistance and General Mark W. Clark of the combined Allied command, 400 badly armed French civil patriots neutralized - alone, by their Putsch of le 8 novembre 1942 - the coastal artillery of Sidi Ferruch and the Vichyist XIX ème army Corps of Algiers, in about fifteen hours. To get that result their groups, under the command of José Aboulker, Henri d'Astier de La Vigerie, and Colonel Jousse, took over the majority of the strategic points of Algiers (General Government, Prefecture, Staff headquarters, telephone central, barracks, etc.) during the night and arrested most of the Vichy military and civilian leaders. One of those groups, composed of some youngsters of the Ben-Aknoun College, under the command of the cadet Pauphilet, had succeeded in arresting général Alphonse Juin, chief commander in North Africa, as well as amiral de la marine François Darlan.

Algiers had been occupied on that first day by Allied forces, thanks to the French resistance. General Clark compelled the Vichy amiral Darlan and général Juin, after three days of talks and threats, to order the ceasefire to all French military forces. Darlan agreed to end hostilities, on le 10 novembre in Oran and on le 11 novembre in Morocco, provided that he remained head of a French administration. For this Darlan was disavowed by Pétain's government and Vichy Southern France was 'invaded' by the German army in Case Anton. The ships that had refused to join the Free French Forces in North Africa were scuttled, without any resistance, on le 27 novembre at the French navy base at Toulon on the Mediterranean. This action also deprived the Germans of those ships.

Most French troops in Africa followed Darlan's lead but certain elements joined the German forces in Tunisia. In return General Eisenhower (Giraud being absent) agreed with Darlan's self-nomination as the High Commissioner of France for North and West Africa on le 14 novembre, a move that enraged Charles de Gaulle. Free French Forces refused to recognize his status as a military governor of French North and West Africa. But de Gaulle was not alone. As Darlan maintained the Nazi-inspired exclusion laws and deported people to Vichyist concentration camps in Southern Algeria, British and American war correspondents informed their countries' publics of the real situation in North Africa. Giraud arrived on the evening of le 9 novembre in Algiers, and on the next day, he agreed to submit himself to Darlan as the French African army commander.

That situation, qualified by Roosevelt, who intensely disliked de Gaulle, as "military expediencies", could not be accepted by the French resistance. Consequently, during the afternoon of le 24 décembre 1942, a 22-year-old French patriot, Ferdinand Bonnier de la Chapelle, entered Darlan's headquarters in Algiers and shot him twice. Although de la Chapelle had been a member of the resistance group led by Henri d'Astier, it is believed he was acting as an individual.

After amiral Darlan's assassination, Giraud became his de facto successor with Allied support. He upset the Americans when he ordered that many French resistance leaders who had helped Eisenhower's troops be arrested, without any protest by Roosevelt's representative, Robert Murphy. Giraud took part in the Casablanca conference, with Roosevelt, Churchill and de Gaulle, in janvier 1943.

Giraud, Roosevelt, de Gaulle and Churchill at Casablanca

Later, after very difficult negotiations, Giraud agreed to suppress Petain Hitlerian laws, and to liberate Vichy prisoners of the awful South Algerian concentration camps. Henri Giraud and Charles de Gaulle then became co-presidents of la Comité français de la Libération Nationale and Free French Forces. However, De Gaulle consolidated his political position at Giraud's expense because he was more up to date with the political situation. Giraud also lost influence when he refused to reveal his plans for the invasion of Corsica until the last minute.

Giraud and de Gaulle shaking hands at Casablanca with Roosevelt and Churchill looking on. Churchill wrote it took considerable persuasion for de Gaulle to shake hands with Giraud for this photo.

On le septembre, Giraud led the landings at Corsica arming Corsica's Communist-oriented Front National resistance group. This drew more criticism from de Gaulle, and he lost the co-presidency in novembre 1943.

When the Allies found out that Giraud was maintaining his own intelligence network, the French committee forced him from his post as a commander-in-chief of the French forces. He refused to accept a post of inspecteur général de la Armée and chose to retire. On le 28 août 1944 he survived an assassination attempt in Algeria.

On le 2 juin 1946 he was elected to the French Constituent Assembly as a representative of the Republican Party of Liberty and helped to create the constitution of the Fourth Republic. He remained a member of the War Council and received a medal for his escape. He published two books, Mes Evasions (My Escapes, 1946) and Un seul but, la victoire: Alger 1942-1944 (Only one goal, victory: Algiers 1942–1944; 1949) about his experiences.

Henri Giraud died in Dijon on le 3 mars 1949.

Harriet Quimby est allé bien à la première femme à voler à travers la Manche

2008-04-16T07:16:00.014+02:00

Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel
le 16 avril 1912

Harriet Quimby

American aviatrix Harriet Quimby became the first woman to fly across the English Channel on this day, le 16 avril 1912. She made her historic flight in a plane built by Louis Blériot, the first person to make the flight across la Manche.

Blériot flew from France to Dover, Quimby flew from Dover to France.

Harriet Quimby was noted for her daring, courageous spirit and achieved fame as one of the first woman reporters for a major newspaper, "The San Francisco Call." By 1902 she had written in several other publications, but she is best remembered as the first American woman to earn a pilot's license.

Harriet Quimby was born on le 11 mai 1875, in Kinderhook Township, Michigan and educated in private schools in America and Europe. The family came to California, and she took a job as a writer for the "Dramatic Review of San Francisco."

She moved to New York City in 1903 to work for "Leslie's Illustrated Weekly," which published over two hundred-fifty of her articles in her nine-year career there. It was in her position as drama critic for Leslie's Weekly that her attention turned to aviation 1910, when she attended the Belmont Park International Aviation Tournament on Long Island, New York and met John Moisant, a well-known American aviator and operator of an early flight school, and his sister Matilde. Harriet asked John to teach her and his sister to fly.

She took flying lessons at the Moisant's School of Aviation in Hempstead, Long Island. Having taken thirty-three lessons in four months, Harriet flew for her Fédération Aéronautique Internationale License (FAI) on le 31 juillet 1911. On le 1 août 1911 she became the first licensed female aviator in the United States. Her license number was FAI # 37. Matilde Moisant soon followed and became the nation's second licensed female pilot.

Quimby in a flight suit

Quimby bought a Blériot monoplane and had it shipped to Dover, England, with the intention of becoming the first woman to fly the English Channel. On Tuesday, le 16 avril 1912, at 5:30 a.m., she took off across la Manche from Dover. Gustav Hamel, her adviser, worried that a woman could not complete such a feat. Harriet's goal was Calais, France, but she was off-course and landed fifty-nine minutes after take-off in Dover twenty five miles north of Calais at Hardelot on a sandy fishing beach. She was met by many villagers who had heard about her attempted flight. Although she was fêted in Paris and London and received a big welcome to the United States upon her return in mai, the news of her flight was overshadowed by the news of the Titanic which has sunk two days before. She brought back a new Blériot two-seater and performed at various aviation meets at the beginning of that summer, often carrying passengers.

Quimby's career ended sadly on le 1 juillet 1912. Flying in the Third Annual Boston Aviation Meet at Squantum, Massachusetts, with William Willard, the event's organizer aboard, her brand-new, two-seat, Blériot monoplane unexpectedly pitched forward for reasons that are still unknown. Both Willard and Quimby were ejected and fell to their deaths in an accident that publicized the importance of wearing seat belts.

A group of men, including Quimby's flight instructor (right), examine her downed monoplane following her tragic accident. The plane had flipped over onto its back after landing in Dorchester Bay.

Although Quimby lived only to age 37, she had a major impact on women's roles in aviation. She was a true pioneer and helped break down stereotypes about women's abilities during the first decade of flight.

U.S. timbre-poste honoring Harriet Quimby

More about Harriet Quimby HERE

La France chante pour les Etats-Unis!

2008-04-15T05:01:00.012+02:00

France sings for the United States!

Don't miss this! Delightful!

When Louis la Vache was living in France (then under the feckless Chirac government) more than one Français volunteered to Louis words to the effect that "we do not hate les Américains, that is our government and our media". Louis's experience in la belle France bore out those voluntary statements. This video brought back Louis's memories of those French who offered those comments without being asked to do so. Vive la France! Vive l'Amérique!

Les Boulangeries-Pâtisseries de Paris: Gèrard Mulot

2008-04-14T02:46:00.011+02:00

...and his recette pour Financiers
Gèrard Mulot 76, rue de Seine 75006, Paris
In one corner of the toney VI ième arrondissement, near the beginning of the VII ième arrondissement, and in the shadows of l'église-Saint-Sulpice (the church made famous by Dan Brown's fiction, "The DaVinci Code" in the quartier St.-Germain-des-Près is one of the finest boulangeries-pâtisseries in Paris, Gèrard Mulot. Also nearby is the palais du Luxembourg, home to the French Sénat and surrounded by le jardin du Luxembourg.

Pâtisserie offerings, edible art, at Gèrard Mulot

Born in the Vosges region of northeastern France in 1949, Mulot says simply that pastry captured his imagination because "when I was young, my mother always made me the most delicious cakes." In 1971 he joined Dalloyau, the old-guard Paris chocolatier and pastry house, where, as a floater, he learned every aspect of his métier.

Macarons, varying in size from huge (on the left) to tiny (at the far right) wait temptingly on the top of Mulot's pâtisserie display case

Mulot likes to experiment with flavor combinations, yet refrains from becoming too avant garde. An example of his experimentation is his orange-cinnamon macarons. (Macarons in France (notice the slight difference in spelling), are very different from the coconut macarOOns of the U.S. In France, macarons are little almond meringue sandwiches filled with various flavors of ganache.) The beauty alone of the products in his showcases make a trip to Gèrard Mulot worthwhile, but sampling the offerings here will confirm that the baked goods here taste as good as they look.

Downstairs from the sales area is the workroom, staffed by as many as 15 pâtissiers et boulangers, many of whom began their work day at 3:30 a.m.

While famous for his pâtisserie and for his chocolates (and unlike many pâtisseries), Mulot also produces very fine breads. (The skill set for boulangerie is different than that for pâtisserie, so it is not particularly common to find a shop skilled in both. Gèrard Mulot is one of the exceptions having both very fine pâtisserie et boulangerie.

Examples of Mulot's traiteur offerings
Mulot's divine house-made chocolates

In addition to le pain et la pâtisserie, Mulot offers beautifully-crafted chocolates and a small selection of items found at un traiteur (caterer). There is a tiny coffee bar at the back of the store where you can enjoy a fine espresso along with your choice of treats. One of the more popular of the small treats sold here are financiers, for which Louis la Vache will now give you Gèrard Mulot's own recette.
À table!

Gèrard Mulot's recette for quiche lorraine is HERE.

Deux Recettes Avec Noix de Coco

2008-04-13T09:10:00.007+02:00

Two recipes with Coconut

Congolais
Congolais are often baked in pyramid-shaped molds

What in the U.S. we call "coconut macaroons" in France are called "Congolais," "from the Congo." The French version is more moist and "custardy" than what we call macaroons here, thus Congolais must be baked in a mold. Congolais are very easy to make.

Macarons (note the tiny difference in spelling) in France are little almond meringue sandwiches filled with various flavors such as raspberry, coffee, pistachio, etc. San Francisco Bay Area residents, may find real macarons at the Boulangerie (scroll down) on Pine Street between Fillmore and Steiner in San Francisco. This boulangerie is owned by un vrai français, Pascal Rigo, who is originally from Bordeaux. Stepping into his boulangerie is like stepping into a little corner of la belle France. Another place in the Bay Area where you can find real macarons is Pâtisserie Philippe on Townsend Street, another petit coin de la France in San Francisco.

As you see, macarons are not the same as macarOOns!

Allez ici pour la recette pour Congolais.

Coconut Chess Pie

Chess Pies originated in the Deep South. There are several versions, coconut, buttermilk and lemon being the most common. How the name originated is uncertain. Here are two stories about how the name “Chess” came about, one probably more accurate, the other (and more fun one) very probably apocryphal.

The more probable origin is that because these pies are made with cream, butter and eggs, they needed to be kept in the “ice chest,” thus the “chest” was contracted to “chess.” The more fun version is that someone walked through the kitchen on a plantation and asked the black cook what she was making. Her reply was “Jes’ pie.”

This pie has always been one of Louis la Vache's favorites. His mother baked this pie and it was always on the table as one of the dessert choices at Thanksgiving and Christmas. The recette below for the crust is not the one Louis's mother used, but it is her recette for the filling you see here.

This pie may be made with a standard 9” deep dish pie shell. Here, however, is a version with a French twist. Rather than the standard pie shell, this version uses a French pâte sucrée. Louis occasionally adds a hint of almond extract to the pâte. The almond is a nice complementary flavor to the coconut, and makes the crust a bit more interesting.

Allez ici pour la recette pour Coconut Chess Pie,
et bon appétit!

Le poèt français Jacques Prévert est mort: le 11 avril 1977

2008-04-12T22:17:00.015+02:00

The French Poet Jacques Prévert died: 11 April 1977

Jacques Prévert's ever-present cigarette became his trademark.

French poet and screenwriter Jacques Prévert died on le 11 avril 1977 in Omonville-la-Petite, Normandie. Prévert was born on le 4 février 1900 in Neuilly-sur-Seine.

Prévert grew up in Paris where he was bored by school. He often went to theater with his father, a drama critic, and acquired a love of reading from his mother. After receiving his Certificat d'études attesting to his having completed his primary education, he quit school and went to work in Le Bon Marché department store in Paris. Then, he was called up for military service in 1918 and after the war was sent to the Near East. He became a Communist, but left the party after a few years.

Prévert is often associated, like artist Salvador Dali, with surrealism. However, it is often pointed out with those familiar with his works that Prévert was "too much of a free spirit to be completely tied to any one group." His poems are typically about life in Paris and life after the la deuxième guerre mondiale. They were published in his books Paroles (Lyrics or Words) (1946), Histoires (Stories) (1946), Spectacle (1951), La Pluie et le beau temps (Rain and Good Weather) (1955), Fatras (1971) and Choses et autres (Things and others) (1973). Some of his works were set to music by Joseph Kosma and others such as Christiane Verger and Hanns Eisler and were sung by prominent XX ème siecle French vocalists including Yves Montand and Édith Piaf. His poems are widely taught in French schools. His writings are popular inserts worldwide into French language books.

Prévert also wrote a number of screenplays for French film director Marcel Carné, among them Drôle de drame (Bizarre, Bizarre, 1937), Le jour se lève (Daybreak, 1939), Le Visiteurs du soir and, perhaps most famously, Les enfants du paradis (The Children of Paradise, 1945). Le Visiteurs du soir was interpreted by many as being an allegory of the Nazi occupation of France, though Prévert denied this.

Below is a brief outline of Prévert's life:

1900, le 4 février
Jacques Prévert was born in Neuilly sur Seine, the second son of Suzanne and André Prévert. The oldest son, Jean was already two years old.

1906
His second brother, Pierre, was born. Pierre and Jacques became very close. His father lost his job and the family experienced financial difficulties for a year.

1907
Jacques went to school. His father introduced him to theatre and reading. His father was given a new job by Auguste, Jacques's grandfather. Jacques didn't much like his grandfather. Later, Jacques, with very leftist political leanings, considered his grandfather to be a royalist reactionary.

1911
Jacques was baptized.

1915
He received his school certificate and began working odd jobs. He was a rather rebellious teenager but he began to appreciate reading and poetry.

1920
He began his Military service in Saint-Nicolas-de-Port, near Lunéville. He met the painter Yves Tanguy. He was then sent to Turkey by l'armée.

1921
During his military service in Constantinople, he met Marcel Duhamel.

1922
Jacques returned to Paris where his friend Marcel Duhamel provided him an accomodation at 54, rue du Château. Yves Tangui lived with them.

1924
54, rue du Château became the meeting place for the surrealist movement with André Breton as the leader. Jacques was an active member of the group.

1925
Jacques married Simone Dienne, his long time friend.

1928
Prévert, Tanguy and Duhamel leave rue du Château after a problem with Breton.

1930
Jacques openly criticized Breton and left the surrealist movement. The members of the surrealist movement published Un Cadavre, "a corpse." The text from Jacques is named "Death of a Sir" and Prévert took this opportunity to publish another paper, Souvenirs de famille ou l’Ange garde-chiourme.

1932
Jacques set up the Octobre group and became the main member. He wrote screenplays for a comedy group.

1933
Trip to Moscow with Octobre group and the play La Bataille de Fontenoy.

1934
He became acquainted with a poor musician from Budapest, Joseph Kosma, who later would set some of Prévert's poems to music.

1935
He wrote the screenplay for the movie Crime de Monsieur Lange for Jean Renoir, son of the peintre impressionniste. He left his wife Simone.

1936
He met Jacqueline Laurent, and travelled with her to Baleares islands. The Octobre group ended and Jacques broke away from Communism. His father died this year.

1938
He wrote the screenplay Quai des Brumes, a film of Marcel Carne with Jean Gabin and Michèle Morgan. He travelled to the U.S. to find his love Jacqueline.

1939
He wrote Le jour se lève together with Marcel Carné and actors Jean Gabin and Arletty.

1940
Jacques was dismissed from the army during the Second World War. He left Paris and went to Saint-Paul-de-Vence in the South of France with his latest girlfriend, Claudy Carter. Kosma and Trauner worked with him on new films.

1941
He wrote the screenplay for Les Visiteurs du soir with Marcel Carné and actors Jules Berry and Arletty.

1943
Jacques fell in love with Janine Loris.

1944
He wrote the screenplay for Les Enfants du Paradisfor Marcel Carné with actors Jean-Louis Barrault et Arletty.

1945
Death of his mother. His first book of poem was released, selling over 2 million copies.

1946
Janine gave birth to their daughter, Michèle.

1947
He published Visiteurs du soir and Contes pour enfants pas sages with pictures by Elsa Henriquez.

1948
Jacques fell from a window and was in a coma several days. Serious neurological disorders resulted from this incident and troubled him for years after.

1949
He published Les Amants de Vérone.

1950
He publishes Des bêtes and wrote the cartoon le petit ramoneur with Paul Grimault, which in 1979 was used to produce the cartoon le Roi et l’Oiseau, "The King and the Bird."

1951
He published Spectacle and Grand Bal du printemps.

1952
Jacques returned to Paris and travelled to London. He published Lettre des îles Baladar and Guignol.

1953
He published L’Opéra de la lune.

1955
He returned again to Paris and lived in the artist area of Montmartre. He published La pluie et le beau temps.

1957
He exhibited sixty collages at the galerie Maeght in Paris.

1963
He published Histoires et d’autres and exhibited his collages in several cities of France.

1966
He published Fatras.

1967
He published Arbres.

1971
He bought a house at Omonville-la-Petite, in Normandie; his good friend Alexandre Trauner was a neighbour.

1974
Jacques became the grandfather of Eugénie, doughter of Michèle and Hugues Bachelot.

1977, le 11 avril,
Jacques died in Omonville-la-Petite.

Barbar l'eléphant

2008-04-07T00:11:00.002+02:00

The cover of the first Barbar, 1931
Barbar l'Éléphant is a popular French children's fictional character who first appeared in L'Histoire de Babar by Jean de Brunhoff in 1931 and enjoyed immediate success. English language versions entitled The Story of Babar, appeared in 1933 in Angleterre et aux États-Unis. The story is based on a tale de Brunhoff's wife, Cecile, had invented for their children. It tells of a young elephant called Babar who leaves the jungle, visits a big city, and returns to bring the benefits of civilization to his fellow elephants.

Cecile de Brunhoff was born on le 16 octobre 1903 and died on this day, le 7 avril in 2003.

Cecile de Brunhoff

She told the stories to her son when he was sick, and her husband Jean de Brunhoff wrote and illustrated the children's books that became popular world-wide.

Jean de Brunhoff published six more stories before his early death in 1937 at the age of 37. His son Laurent de Brunhoff was also a talented writer and illustrator and he carried on the series from 1946 with Babar et Ce Coquin d'Arthur and many more.

Jean de Brunhoff

Jean de Brunhoff was born on le 9 décembre 1899 and died on le 16 octobre 1937. The creation of the Barbar stories marks a turning point in the history of children's illustrated books. It represents the beginning of the modern album.

Hachette bought the printing and publishing rights to the Babar series, and Jean's son, Laurent de Brunhoff, took on his late father's role of illustrating the books. The first seven Babar albums were reprinted and millions of copies were sold all around the world, but they were all abridged; they had 30 pages instead of the original 48.

Laurent de Brunhoff

De Brunhoff is buried in the famous cimetière Père Lachaise in Paris.

The cover of the second Barbar, 1932

Babar is the son of the King of the Elephants but Babar's mother is killed by cruel hunters, and wandering alone he finds his way to France where he is brought up by the Old Lady in Paris. He eventually returns to the Elephant realm following the death of the previous King, who had eaten some poisonous mushrooms. In later books Babar marries his cousin, Celeste, and founds the city of Celesteville. Babar, who tends to wear a bright green suit, introduces a very French form of western civilization to the elephants, and causes them to dress in western attire.

Barbar in his trademark green suit

Among Babar's other associates are the monkey Zephir, the old elephant counsellors Cornelius and Pompadour, his cousin Arthur, and his children, Flora, Pom, and Alexander. The Old Lady from Paris comes to live in the Kingdom as an honoured guest. Despite the presence of these counsellors, Babar's rule seems to be totally independent of any elected body, and completely autocratic.

Besides his Westernizing policies, Babar engages in warfare with the warlike rhinoceroses, who are lead by King Rataxès.

The books are written in a charming and appealing style with an attention to detail which captivates both children and adults. Some critics, particularly those on the policial left, say that underneath the Barbar stories could be seen as a justification for colonialism, with the benefits of French civilization being visited on the rustic African elephant kingdom. Others argue that the French civilisation described in the early books had already been destroyed by the Great War and the books were originally an exercise in nostalgia for pre 1914 France. Louis la Vache is of the opinion we should just enjoy the delightful Barbar stories at face value and not politicize them.

Les fromages de la France: Roquefort

2008-04-06T09:11:00.003+02:00

The cheeses of France: Roquefort

Les fromages de la France - la série:
Camembert
Brie
Pont l'Évêque
Comté

There is no doubt that Roquefort ranks (along with Brie and Camembert) as one of the three most famous fromages de la France. The name is derived from the Occitan word ròcafòrt. (Occitan is a Romance language spoken in Southern France and pockets of Italy and Spain. Rare now, Occitan, la langue d'oc, once was a strong competitor to la langue d'oïl, the dialect spoken around Paris and northern France.)

In keeping with its Occitan-derived name, Roquefort is produced in the south of France. It is an unpasteurized ewe's-milk blue-veined cheese and is one of the world's greatest blue cheeses, along with bleu d'Auvergne, Stilton and Gorgonzola. The Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée (A.O.C.) law dictates that only those cheeses aged in the natural Combalou caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon may bear the name Roquefort, as it is a recognized geographical area. Advocates for Roquefort compete with the advocates for the Italian Parmigiano Reggiano, the French Brie de Meaux and Époisses de Bourgogne, and the advocates for the English Stilton cheeses for the title "King of Cheeses".

Roquefort is white, crumbly and slightly moist, with distinctive veins of blue mold. It has a characteristic odor and flavor with a notable taste of butyric acid; the blue veins provide a sharp tang. The overall flavor sensation begins slightly mild, then becomes sweet, then smoky, fading to a salty finish. It has no rind; the exterior is edible and slightly salty. A typical wheel of Roquefort weighs between 2.5 and 3 kilograms (5 - 6 pounds), and is about 10 cm (4") thick. Each kilogram of finished cheese requires about 4.5 litres of milk making Roquefort high in protein and minerals, especially calcium - and high in fat.

Legend has it that the cheese was discovered when a young shepherd, eating his lunch of bread and ewes' milk cheese, saw a beautiful girl in the distance. Abandoning his meal in a nearby cave, he ran to meet her. When he returned a few months later, the Penicillium roqueforti mold had transformed his plain cheese into Roquefort.

Cheese similar in style to Roquefort is mentioned in literature as far back as AD 79, when Pliny the Elder remarked upon its rich flavor. In 1411 Charles VI granted a monopoly for the ripening of the cheese to the people of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon as they had been doing for centuries. Cheesemaking colanders have been discovered among the region's prehistoric relics.

In 1925 the cheese was the first recipient of France's Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée designation when the regulations controlling its production and naming were defined. A landmark ruling in 1961 by the Tribunal de Grande Instance at Millau decreed that although the method for the manufacture of the cheese could be followed across the south of France, only those whose ripening occurred in the natural caves of Mont Combalou in Roquefort-sur-Soulzon were permitted to bear the name Roquefort.

The Penicillium roqueforti mold that gives Roquefort its distinctive character is found in the soil of the local caves. Traditionally the cheesemakers extracted it by leaving bread in the caves for six to eight weeks until it was consumed by the mold. The interior of the bread was then dried to produce a powder. The mold is now typically produced in a laboratory, which allows for greater consistency. The mold may either be added to the curd, or introduced as an aerosol, through holes poked in the rind.

Roquefort is made entirely from the milk of the Lacaune, Manech and Basco-Béarnaise breeds of sheep. Prior to the A.O.C. regulations of 1925 a small amount of cows or goats milk was sometimes added.

The cheese is produced throughout the département de Aveyron and part of the nearby départements de Aude, Lozère, Gard, Hérault et Tarn. This area of France is notable for its limestone geology, which dictates what species of grass and wildflowers grow upon it, and thus influences the taste of the milk.

The départements producing Roquefort. Note Languedoc which derives its name from la langue d'oc, discussed briefly above. Oc is Occitan for "yes," so the name translates literally as "the language of yes." The "cit" in the name Occitan is the root for the English "city".

The largest producer, accounting for 60% of production, is la Société des Caves de Roquefort, which holds several caves and opens its facilities to tourists. They market their cheese under the label Société Roquefort. Roquefort Papillon (Butterfly) is another well-known brand. The five other producers, each holding only one cave, are: Carles, Gabriel Coulet, Fromageries occitanes, Vernières et Le Vieux Berger. Production of all brands in 2005 totaled 18,830 tons, (about three million cheeses) making Roquefort, after Comté, France's second most popular cheese.

Société Roquefort: this brand accounts for 60% of Roquefort production.

The A.O.C. regulations that govern the production of Roquefort include:
• All milk used must be delivered at least 20 days after lambing has taken place.
• The addition of rennet must occur within 48 hours of milking.
The Penicillium roqueforti used in the production must be produced in France from the natural caves of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.
• The salting process must be performed using dry salt.
• The whole process of maturation, cutting, packaging and refrigeration of the cheese must take place in the commune of Roquefort-sur-Soulzon.

As with the other parts in this series on les fromages de la France, Louis la Vache will now give you une recette, this one naturellement using Roquefort.

La recette est ICI

À table!

Plus de recettes en utilisant le Roquefort

Flan au Roquefort
Hamburgers avec buerre Roquefort

Vieux Paris: L'hôtel de Sens

2008-04-05T01:20:00.015+02:00

Old Paris: Hôtel de Sens
L'hôtel de Sens, one of the few remaining mediaeval structures in Paris.
A true reminder of vieux Paris, old Paris, is the l'hôtel de Sens in the 4 ième arrondissement.

Originally inhabited by the archevêque de Sens, the archbishop of Sens, this mansion was built between 1475 and 1507. L'hôtel de Sens was soon considered to be one of the most beautiful palaces in Paris. It has beautiful windows and a stunning gothic porch. In 1558 the Concile de Sens, led by the archibishop, found Martin Luther guilty of heresy. Sens is a city in Bourgogne, and at the time l'hôtel de Sens was built, the archevêque de Sens oversaw the Diocese of Paris.

L'hôtel de Sens is one of only four medieval residences remaining in Paris. One of the others is l'hôtel de Cluny, now home to Le Musée Nationale du Moyen Âge on the rive gauche, left bank; the other two are side-by-side half-timbered houses near l'hôtel de Sens on rue François-Miron.

The last two remaining mediaeval half-timbered houses in Paris, rue François-Miron, 4 ième.

In 1605, long after the archbishops had departed, the unfaithful wife of Henri IV, Marguerite de Navarre, better known as la reine Margot, lived here, apart from Henri. Her new lover, "younger and more virile," murdered her old lover as she looked on in amusement.

Courtyard, l'hôtel de Sens.

L'hôtel de Sens was built in what architects call the "flamboyant Gothic" style, with its lacy stonework, its three-centered arches, and its vaults with their complex ribbings, heralding the end of le moyen âge and the arrival of the Renaissance. The "flamboyant Gothic style invaded the Parisian churches of Saint-Merri, Saint-Séverin and Saint-Germain-l’Auxerrois, but also manifested itself in les hôtels de Cluny et Sens, garnishing them with finely wrought dormer windows, with mullioned or transomed windows and with finely sculpted balustrades."

L'hôtel de Sens has a small but lovely formal garden on its west side. As impressive as this splendid building is today, it without doubt stood in sharp contrast to the squalid hovels most Parisians lived in during le moyen âge.

Formal garden, L'hôtel de Sens.

Note on the language: Using the word hôtel to describe a building like l'hôtel de Sens seems odd to speakers of English. Hôtel is not, as is sometimes the case in comparing French and English words, a false-cognate. The French hôtel and English 'hotel' share their origin in Old French. In English, this is a reminder that French was the court language of England for 400 years dating from the Norman Conquest in 1066.

In French, when the ˆsymbol appears over a vowel, it is a signal that in Old French an 's' followed the vowel. The word hôtel is derived from the Old French hostel, from which English also got the word 'hostelry.'

The French have used the word hôtel in a number of ways. In the case of l'hôtel de Sens, its meaning is closely equivalent to the English 'mansion.' Not far from l'hôtel de Sens, across from la cathédrale-Nôtre-Dame-de-Paris is l'hôtel de Dieu, which translates literally as 'God's Hospital.' Across le rive gauche, the left bank, of la Seine, west of Nôtre-Dame is l'hôtel des Invalides, a hospital built by Napoléan (ahem, at taxpayer expense, of course) for invalids of his many wars. So we see that in French usage, hôtel can mean 'mansion,' or 'hospital,' and it is also used exactly as in English - hotel, a place where you can rent a room in which to spend the night.

Recettes classiques de la cuisine française: Coq-au-vin

2008-04-04T19:38:00.003+02:00

Classic recipes of the French kitchen: Coq-au-vin
Chicken in Red Wine with Onions, Mushrooms and Bacon
Une vendeuse de volaille, poultry seller, at the market in Antony on the southwest side of Paris.
Louis la Vache will share with you aujord'hui la recette pour le cog-au-vin de nôtre dame de la poche, "Our Lady of the Ladle," Julia Child.

Occasionally you will find this recette classique de la cuisine française made with white wine (for example reisling from the Alsace region) but most commonly it is made with vin rouge. In the French countryside, coq-au-vin is often made with older roosters because they contain a lot of connective tissue, which creates a richer broth when cooked. In France it is usually accompanied only by parsley potatoes; buttered green peas could be included if you wish a green vegetable.

La recette est ICI

Nouveau blog des photos par Louis la Vache.

2008-03-27T20:15:00.004+01:00

Louis la Vache has begun a new photo blog: San Francisco Bay Daily Photo.

"Aile et voile" par l'épose de Louis la Vache
Here's a recap of the first eight posts:
1. Maundy Thursday, le 20 mars "Claire de lune"
2. Good Friday, le 21 mars "0630 heures"
3. Holy Saturday, le 22 mars "Vapeur et voile"
4. Easter Sunday, le 23 mars "La lune au dessous le pont Oakland-San Francisco Bay"
5. Lundi, le 24 mars "Le pont Oakland-San Francisco Bay au jour"
6. Mardi, le 25 mars "Le pont Oakland-San Francisco Bay la nuit"
7. Mercredi, le 26 mars "Aile et voile"
8. Jeudi, le 27 mars"Encore le pont Oakland-San Francisco Baie"

Recette pour Pâques : Jambe d'agneau Provençal

2008-03-19T21:07:00.006+01:00

Recipe for Easter: Rotisserie Leg of Lamb
UPDATE and CORRECTION! Louis la Vache, not being a native francophone, sometimes makes errors in his use of la langue française. A case in point is his use of "jambe d'agneau". Louis had an unease about using the word jambe, but couldn't remember the correct term (if he was, in fact, wrong) and no native French speaker was available to ask when he wrote the post. He was kindly corrected by Alex, who writes Marseille Daily Photo.

Alex wrote:
"Is it very reasonable for a cow to cook lamb ??
In french, we say 'gigot d'agneau"' for 'Leg of Lamb'.
"Jambe d'agneau" is a very funny expression for us!!"

If any of you readers find that Louis has made a mistake in his use of la langue française, PLEASE do not hesitate to correct him! He appreciates your corrections very much!

The slow roasting on the rotisserie makes the leg of lamb self-basting and absolutely delicious.

À table!

La recette est ICI

Le labyrinthe à la cathédrale de Chartres

2008-03-17T05:58:00.028+01:00

The labyrinth at Chartres Cathedral

On the floor of la cathédrale de Chartres , near the Royal Portal entrance, is un labyrinthe. The church had all but forgotten about the labyrinth, and it was usually covered with chairs for services. In the 1990s, a group of visitors from San Francisco to la cathédrale, one of them being Lauren Artress of Grace (Episcopal) Cathedral. Artress, along with Alan Jones, Dean of Grace Cathedral, and the other visitors from San Francisco located le labyrinthe and began moving chairs off of it. Custodians of la cathédrale were alarmed at these San Franciscans moving chairs and security was called. In the ensuing row, the San Franciscans explained that they wanted to uncover and explore this forgotten labyrinthe. From this grew a project at Grace Cathedral in San Francisco to replicate le labyrinthe de Chartres.

Seen from outside the city, la cathédrale de Chartres seems to float like a vast ocean liner on a sea of wheat.
The Royal Portal at la cathédrale de Chartres

Dr. Artress explains: "The Labyrinth is an archetype, a divine imprint, found in all religious traditions in various forms around the world. By walking a replica of the Chartres labyrinth, laid in the floor of Chartres Cathedral in France around 1220, we are rediscovering a long-forgotten mystical tradition that is insisting to be reborn.

The labyrinth has only one path so there are no tricks to it and no dead ends. The path winds throughout and becomes a mirror for where we are in our lives. It touches our sorrows and releases our joys. Walk it with an open mind and an open heart.

There are three stages of the walk:
1) Purgation (Releasing) ~ A releasing, a letting go of the details of your life. This is the act of shedding thoughts and distractions. A time to open the heart and quiet the mind.
2) Illumination (Receiving) ~ When you reach the center, stay there as long as you like. It is a place of meditation and prayer. Receive what is there for you to receive.
3) Union (Returning) ~ As you leave, following the same path out of the center as you came in, you enter the third stage, which is joining God, your Higher Power, or the healing forces at work in the world. Each time you walk the labyrinth you become more empowered to find and do the work you feel your soul reaching for."

Walking the ancient labyrinthe de Chartres.
Although in the quote above, Dr. Artress said that le labyrinthe de Chartres dates from 1220, subsequent research showed that it was laid in the floor in 1201. Le labyrinthe de Chartres is made of Beauce quarry stone and an unnamed black stone to delineate the path, was inlaid into the stone floor in 1201. It had been forgotten for the last 250 years, until Artress led a small group of people into la cathédrale de Chartres to remove the chairs to experience the meditative walk first hand.

Le labyrinthe de Chartres.

Of the eighty Gothic cathedrals that were built during le moyen âge, twenty-two of them had labyrinths. Sadly, the only one remaining in its original form is at Chartres.

The Prayer Labyrinth, also known as a meditation labyrinth, is one of the oldest contemplative and transformational tools known, having been used for many hundreds of years for prayer, ritual, initiation, and spiritual growth.

It is believed that the first labyrinth originated in Greek mythology, where it was an elaborate structure constructed for King Minos of Crete and designed by the legendary artificer Daedalus to hold the Minotaur, a creature that was half man and half bull and which was eventually killed by the Athenian hero Theseus. Theseus was aided by Ariadne, who provided him with a fateful thread to wind his way back again, a clue to the single path of the labyrinth. Labyrinths were also used as spiritual aides in ancient Egypt, Peru, and India. Labyrinth designs were found on pottery, tablets and tiles that date as far back as 5000 years. Many patterns are based on spirals and circles mirrored in nature. In Native American tradition, the labyrinth is identical to the Medicine Wheel and Man in the Maze. The Celts described the labyrinth as the Never Ending Circle. It is also known as the Ka bala in mystical Judaism. One feature labyrinths have in common is that they have one path that winds in a circuitous way to the center.

The term labyrinth is often used interchangeably with maze, but modern scholars of the subject use a stricter definition. For them, a maze is a tour puzzle in the form of a complex branching passage, with choices of path and direction, while a single-path ("unicursal") labyrinth has only a single path to the center. A labyrinth has an unambiguous through-route to the center and back and is not designed to be difficult to navigate.

As other pagan cultural practices, the Prayer Labyrinth was adopted by the Church across Europe during the medieval times, being often used as a means to meditate, pray and connect with God in a higher spiritual way. Numerous cathedrals in Europe have prayer labytinths embedded into their floors, with la cathédrale de Chartres, located about 80 km from Paris having one of the most famous prayer labyrinths in the world. Prayer Labyrinths were often viewed and modeled as a journey to Jerusalem and were even called le chemin de Jerusalem (Road of Jerusalem) serving as a spiritual pilgrimage for those who could not afford to travel to Jerusalem, the center of the world.

The widest accepted Prayer Labyrinth in the Church was the eleven-circuit labyrinth, which is more symbolic of Christ's cross with its four quadrants, and grace being symbolized by the never-ending path to the center and back, allowing the pilgrim to walk the path at his own pace, stop for prayer and meditation as needed.

Le labyrinthe de Chartres is an eleven-circuit path, symbolic of Christ's cross.

By the 17th and 18th centuries however, Prayer Labyrinths had lost much of their spiritual meaning. In modern times, some clergy and other believers associate labyrinths with "New Age" mystical practices. Despite opposition to labyrinths in some quarters, the practice of walking the Prayer Labyrinth has become popular again in contemporary Christianity. Christian denominations from across the theological spectrum are again adopting the practice of walking the Prayer Labyrinth, with some churches opening their labyrinths to any pilgrim in need of contemplation and prayer, pointing out that the Prayer Labyrinth is not a maze and rather has one path on which one cannot get lost, serving a powerful symbol of individual life journeys and pilgrimage in faith.

A Catholic writer describes their spiritual significance in this way: "The labyrinth is a universal symbol for the world, with its complications and difficulties, which we experience on our journey through life. The entry to the labyrinth is birth; the center is death and eternal life. In Christian terms, the thread that leads us through life is divine grace. Like any pilgrimage, the labyrinth represents the inner pilgrimage we are called to make to take us to the center of our being. It is but one example of how early Christians adapted pre-Christian allegories to Christian doctrine. The center of the labyrinth at Chartres actually once contained an engraved copper plate depicting the battle between Theseus and the Minotaur."

In some Christian circles today the labyrinth continues to be used as an instrument to facilitate meditation, prayer, and personal reflection. For example, when walking the Chartres style labyrinth the believer meanders through each of the four quadrants several times before reaching the goal. An expectation is created as to when the center will be reached. At the center is a rosette design which has a rich symbolic value including that of enlightenment.

After her experience in Chartres, Lauren Artress returned home to San Francisco, painted the design on canvas and opened it to the public. In 1994 the indoor tapestry labyrinth was installed and in 1995 the outdoor terrazzo labyrinth was installed outside. In the summer of 2007, Grace replaced the tapestry labyrinth with a beautiful new stone labyrinth in the floor of the cathedral.

Despite the world-wide renewal of interest in labyrinths that grew from Lauren Artress's and Alan Jones's visit to Chartres in 1991, le labyrinthe de le cathédrale de Chartres remains largely unappreciated by the parish and is usually covered with chairs (as Louis la Vache found much to his chagrin on all three of his visits to Chartres). Le labyrinthe de la cathédrale de Chartres remains unused except on selected Fridays. By contrast, the two labyrinths at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, patterned as they are on le labyrinthe de Chartres, have had millions of visitors.
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See also Louis la Vache's histoire de la cathédrale de Chartres.

The tapestry labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco, was installed in 1995.

A stone labyrinth replaced the tapestry one at Grace, San Francisco in 2007.

L'épouse de Louis la Vache on the outdoor labyrinth at Grace Cathedral, San Francisco

Le mois du Macaron!

2008-03-04T04:56:00.001+01:00

Les fromages de la France: Comté

2008-03-03T04:51:00.021+01:00

The Cheeses of France: Comté

Les fromages de la France - la série:
Camembert
Brie
Pont l'Évêque

Comté is a French cheese made from unpasteurized cow's milk in the Franche-Comté region of eastern France.
Comté has the highest production figures of all French Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC) cheeses. Production totals around 40,000 tons annually.

Appellation d’origine contrôlée (AOC), "controlled term of origin" is the French certification granted to certain French geographical areas for wines, cheeses, butters, and other agricultural products, all under the auspices of the government bureau Institut National des Appellations d'Origine (INAO). The name Comté is French for 'county', and the cheese is named after the Franche-Comté region.

Franche-Comté

The cheese is made in flat circular discs, each between 40 and 70 centimetres in diameter, and around 10 centimetres in height. Each weighs up to 50 kilograms (110 pounds). The fat content is around 45%. The rind is usually a dusty-brown color, and the internal pâte is a pale creamy yellow. The texture is relatively hard and flexible, and the taste is mild, slightly sweet, and "nutty." Comté is very similar to the Swiss-made Gruyére.

The manufacture of the cheese began as early as le XII ème siècle. Shepherds would spend the summer months in their remote huts of the Jura massif. The distance from towns of any size meant that any cheese they made would need to mature over a period of months. The milk was pooled between neighboring shepherds, and the cheeses were stored until being carried to market at the end of the season.

As summer ended, so did production of Comté, with the cows' milk instead being used to make Vacherin Mont d'Or. Eight départements, each of which surrounds Franche-Comté, are now entitled to produce the cheese. The eight départements include parts of Bourgogne, Rhône-Alpes et Lorraine.

To make the cheese, milk is poured into large copper vats where it is gently warmed. Rennet is added, causing the milk to coagulate. The curds are then cut into tiny white grains that are then stirred before being heated again for 30 minutes. The contents are then placed into molds and the whey is pressed out. After several hours the mold is opened and left to mature in cellars, first for a few weeks at the dairy, and then over several months in curing/storage facility. Comté is aged 6 months to a year, whereas Swiss Gruyère is sometimes only aged for 3 months. Each cheese takes up to 600 litres (158.5 gallons) of milk to produce.

The manufacture of Comté has been controlled by AOC regulations since it became one of the first cheeses to receive AOC recognition in 1958, with full regulations introduced in 1976. The AOC regulations state that:
• Only milk from Montbéliard cows are permitted, and each must have at least a hectare of grazing.
• The cows may only be fed fresh, natural feed, with no silage.
• The milk must be transported to the site of production immediately after milking.
• Renneting must be carried out within a stipulated time after milking, according to the storage temperature of the cheese.
• The milk may be heated to no more than 40º C (104º F).
• Salt may only be applied directly to the surface of the cheese.
• A casein label containing the date of production must be attached to the side of the cheese, and maturing must continue for at least four months.

Each cheese is awarded a score out of 20 by inspectors, according to 'overall appearance' (1 mark), 'quality of rind' (1.5), 'internal appearance' (3.5), 'texture' (5), and taste (9). Those scoring 15 or above are given green casein labels (with the characteristic image of a bell), with 12-15 being given red labels. Any cheese scoring under 3 marks for taste, or under 12 overall is prohibited from being named Comté.

Comté is one of the most popular cheeses in France - it is as ubiquitous in French kitchens as cheddar is in American kitchens. No grated cheese may be sold under the Comté name.

No article about food at The Frog Blog is complete without une recette, so Louis la Vache offers you this recette pour quiche avec oignons et poivrons.

À table!

Vraie pâtisserie française - dans San Francisco - Pâtisserie Philippe!

2008-02-28T20:42:00.003+01:00

Real French pastry - in San Francisco: Pâtisserie Philippe!
Philippe Delarue, owner of and maître pâtissiere at Pâtisserie Philippe

Although we'd all love to go to Paris for many reasons, one reason Louis la Vache loves Paris is because of the fabulous pâtisseries that can be found there. Alas, we may not be able to go to Paris at the moment, but San Francisco Bay Area residents can step into a little corner of Paris by visiting Patisserie Philippe at 655 Townsend Street in The City. This little corner of la belle France is adjacent to the burgeoning SOMA Mission Bay development. (SOMA = South of Market Street for you Aüslanders - to throw a bit of allemand into the mix here!)

Pâtisserie that tastes as good as it looks! In the photo below is Philippe's "Queens Cake."

The owner of the eponymous Pâtisserie Philippe is Philippe Delarue. (The name translates as "of the street.") Philippe was born and schooled in Le Mans. He did an apprenticeship first in cooking, then in pâtisserie. From Le Mans, he went to Paris where he worked at the world-famous Établissement Lenôtre.

The savory case - sandwiches, Croque Monsieur, quiche, and salads.

In French baking, there is a distinction between boulangeries and pâtisseries, and this distinction is important in understanding Philippe's self-appointed mission. A boulangerie typically emphasizes bread and related products, with very little emphasis on pâtisserie. Boulangeries that also offer pâtisserie typically offer pâtisserie rustique. A Bay Area example of this is Pascal Rigo's Boulangerie on Pine Street just off Fillmore in San Francisco.

Heavenly clouds of meringue

On the other hand is the pâtisserie, which focuses on artisan pastry making, placing very little emphasis on bread. There is a practical reason for this: boulangerie requires one skill set; pâtisserie another. Thus at Pâtisserie Philippe, you will find baguettes, but very few other bread items. Instead, just as if you had walked into Gérard Mulot in the shadows of Saint-Sulpice in the VI ème arrondissement of Paris, at Pâtisserie Philippe you will find displays of some of the most beautiful pâtisserie you can imagine. And best of all, Philippe's pâtisserie tastes as wonderful as it looks!

Financiers, Philippe's sinfully-good version of the All-American Chocolate Chip cookie, brioche and other treats near the cash register

Philippe, having a strong wanderlust, realized that as a maître pâtissiere with experience at Lenôtre on his résumé, he could find work anywhere in the world. From Paris, he went to Londres, Montreal, Florida, New York City, Boston and New Orleans before landing in San Francisco. About San Francisco, Philippe says, "I love it here. The people, the city, the weather, the scenery. I love everything about The City."

Viennoisserie (croissants and their relatives) along with Bostock, Pithiviers and other items are below the meringues.

When he moved here seven years ago, Philippe worked at Pascal Rigo's Boulangerie where, most often, he found himself making macarons. There he realized "it was time to open my own shop as I knew i could offer to the San Franciscan something I didn't see in The City at the time: really truly French pastries, and the quality, not the quantity or mediocre pastries. I thrive on doing my best and keeping the quality and being always consistent. Probably my favorite thing to bake is macarons. You can be very creative and there are no limits." Philippe has just added a macaron avec cassis to his offerings. Louis la Vache attests to it's qualité!

Pâtisserie Philippe opened on le 26 mars 2007. Bay Area residents hungry for a little taste of France will be well-pleased by a visit to 655 Townsend Street!

Philippe was kind enough to share with us his recette for a popular morning treat at his shop: bostock. Bostock would remind nous américains of what we call "French toast."
A slice of Bostock reposes on a table by the lillies, not realizing that it is about to be devoured by a hungry Louis la Vache!

À table!

La recette est ICI.
Bon appétit!

Recette: Ratatouille Niçoise

2008-02-24T21:17:00.002+01:00

Ratatouille "on the hoof," so to speak (please forgive Louis la Vache for using that term), at the market at Antony, southwest of Paris.

Ratatouille Niçoise is a traditional French Provençal stewed vegetable dish, originating (as the name implies) in Nice. The dish, already popular, became even more so as a result of the Pixar movie of the same name.

The word ratatouille comes from touiller, which means to toss food, an appropriate name as the ingredients are tossed into the pan . Originally ratatouille was a dish for poor farmers, prepared in the summer with fresh vegetables. The original ratatouille niçoise used only courgettes (zucchini), tomatoes, poivrons (bell peppers), onion, and garlic. Most modern versions add aubergine (eggplant) to that mixture.

In France ratatouille is usually served as a side dish, but also may be served as a meal on its own (accompanied by rice, or une baguette). Ratatouille can be used as a filling for savory crêpes or in an omelette.

There are variations of ratatouille in other cuisines. American chef Thomas Keller, owner of The French Laundry restaurant in California's Napa Valley, served as food consultant to the Pixar film, "Ratatouille." The film's producer, Brad Lewis, spent two days in the kitchen of Keller's restaurant. Lewis asked Keller how he would cook ratatouille if the most famous food critic in the world were to visit his restaurant. In a moment of inspiration, Keller fanned the vegetables in a high sculptural form with a palette knife. The dish became the focus of the climactic scene in the film.

In Keller's version, a pipérade is made of peeled, finely chopped, and reduced bell peppers, yellow onions, tomatoes, garlic, and herbs. The pipérade is spread thin in a baking tray or casserole dish, then layered on top with evenly-sized thinly-sliced rounds of zucchini, yellow squash, Japanese eggplant, and roma tomatoes, covered in parchment paper, then baked slowly for several hours to steam the vegetables. The parchment is removed so that the vegetables may be roasted. To serve, the pipérade is formed into a small mound, and the vegetable rounds arranged in a fanned-out pattern to cover the pipérade base and a balsamic vinaigrette is drizzled on the plate.

Thomas Keller's version of ratatouille.

Without further ado,
À table!

La recette est ICI

Recette: Gâteau "velours-rouge" pour le jour de Valentine

2008-02-13T04:25:00.000+01:00

Red Velvet Cake, a favorite in the U.S. south, here decorated for Valentine's Day

Louis la Vache admits that this recette is decidedly NOT French - but it is perfect for Valentine's Day! The true origins of Red Velvet cake are obscure and complicated by Urban Legend stories. The cake has long been associated with the cooking of the U.S. south more than with any other region, although it is also known in Canada. A resurgence in the popularity of the cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film "Steel Magnolias" in which the groom's cake (another southern tradition) is a Red Velvet cake.

À table!
La recette est ICI

Recette: Gâteau au Yaourt

2008-02-03T10:06:00.000+01:00

Yogurt Cake

Une recette pour Gâteau au Yaourt is a found in almost every cuisine française, French kitchen. Il est très facile de faire, very easy to make, and it is enjoyed by the young, the old, and everyone in between. The key to its simplicity is it uses a pot de yaourt, a tub of yogurt, and the empty tub becomes the measure for the rest of the ingredients. This no-scale recipe is a notable exception to the normal méthode française, in which quantities are measured by weight rather than volume.

Gâteau au Yaourt is very popular with kids, who love a simple, moist and fluffy cake. But what they especially like is that they can make it almost entirely on their own. None of the steps are difficult, none of the ingredients are weighed, and with the intensive sandbox training kids have, they are usually experts at the emptying and filling of small-sized containers.

The basic recette pour gâteau au yaourt lends itself to many variations. You can add citrus zest or peel for a tasty lemon or orange cake, you can add nuts to the batter, you can slice the baked cake in two and spread a layer of jam in the middle, you can add fresh raspberries or blueberries to the batter, you can add a (drained) can of sliced pears - whatever strikes your fancy.

Without further ado,
À table!

La recette est ICI.

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand est né le 2 février 1754

2008-02-02T10:11:00.000+01:00

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand was born 2 February 1754

Charles Maurice de Talleyrand was a French statesman famous for his diplomatic achievements under Emperor Napoléon I and at the Congress of Vienna.Born in Paris on le 2 février 1754, his full name was Charles Maurice de Talleyrand-Perigord, Prince de Benevent. Known since the turn of le 19 ème siècle simply by the name Talleyrand, he is widely regarded as one of the most versatile and influential diplomats in European history.

By Tallyrand's own account, a leg injury in childhood left him unable to enter the anticipated military career, although it is more likely that he had a birth defect. Deprived of his rights of primogeniture by a family council, which judged his physical condition incompatible with the traditional military careers of the Talleyrand dukes, he was instead directed to an ecclesiastic career. This was considerably assisted and encouraged by his uncle Alexandre Angélique de Talleyrand-Périgord, then archevêque de Reims. He attended the collège d'Harcourt and seminary of Saint-Sulpice until the age of 21. He was ordained as a priest in 1775. In 1780, he became a Catholic Church representative to the French Crown, the Agent-General of the Clergy. In this position, he was instrumental in drafting a general inventory of church properties in France as of 1785, along with a defence of "inalienable rights of church", a stance he was to deny later. In 1789, due to the influence of his father and family, the already notably non-believing Talleyrand was appointed évêque de Autun, a bishopric that was something of a family possession.

Talleyrand was a great conversationalist, gourmand, and wine connoisseur. From 1801 to 1804, he owned Château Haut-Brion in Bordeaux. He employed the renowned French chef Carême, one of the first celebrity chefs known as the "chef of kings and king of chefs." His Paris residence on the Place de la Concorde, acquired in 1812 and sold to James Mayer de Rothschild in 1838, is now the Embassy of the United States.

Talleyrand was elected in 1789 to the Estates-General, the French parliament. He became a moderate leader of the French Revolution. He favored constitutional monarchy and signed the Declaration of the Rights of Man and of the Citizen. He was elected president of the National Assembly (part of the Estates-General) in 1790. Talleyrand won popularity for proposing that the government take church property to pay its debts. The pope excommunicated him in 1791 for his part in giving control of the French Catholic Church to the state and for taking an oath to the Constitution.

Talleyrand was in England on a political mission when the revolution took a radical turn in 1792. The new French government accused him of supporting the monarchy and forbade his return to France. After two years in England, he fled to the United States, where he purchased extensive property.

Talleyrand was allowed to return to France in 1796. Through the influence of Madame de Stael, one of his friends, Talleyrand was made minister of foreign affairs in the new French government called the Directory. While serving his nation, he decided to rebuild his fortune. In the infamous XYZ Affair in 1797, he was accused of demanding bribes of the United States representatives

Talleyrand also decided to build his political future by attaching himself to Napoléon. He helped Napoléon replace the Directory, first with the Consulate in 1799, and then with the Empire in 1804. As Napoléon's adviser and foreign minister, he led delicate negotiations, such as those producing the Peace of Tilsit with Russia in 1807.

Napoléon depended on Talleyrand but distrusted him. Talleyrand came to oppose Napoléon's conquests as harmful to France and to European peace. After 1807, Talleyrand was dismissed by Napoléon and became the center of the growing opposition to the emperor. In 1814, he helped remove Napoléon from power and put Louis XVIII, of the Bourbon royal family, on the French throne. Talleyrand's diplomatic skill at the Congress of Vienna of 1814 and 1815 gave defeated France an acceptable peace settlement.

After 1815, the Bourbon court excluded Talleyrand from public affairs. But in 1830, when the Bourbons lost public confidence, he helped steer a revolution toward constitutional monarchy under Louis Philippe. Talleyrand became ambassador to the United Kingdom, where he guided negotiations that made Belgium independent, and brought France and the United Kingdom into alliance.

Near the end of his life, Talleyrand became interested in Catholicism again while teaching his young granddaughter simple prayers. The Abbé Félix Dupanloup came to Talleyrand in his last hours, and according to his account Talleyrand made confession and received extreme unction. When the abbé tried to anoint Talleyrand's palms, as prescribed by the rite, he turned his hands over to make the priest anoint him on the back of the hands, since he was a bishop. He also signed, in the abbé's presence, a solemn declaration in which he openly disavowed "the great errors which . . . had troubled and afflicted the Catholic, Apostolic and Roman Church, and in which he himself had had the misfortune to fall." Many, however, have doubted the sincerity of the conversion given Talleyrand's history. He died on le 17 mai 1838 and was buried at his Château de Valençay.

Today, when speaking of the art of diplomacy, the phrase "he is a Talleyrand" is used to denote a statesman of great resource and skill.

Nôtre mariage dans l'église 4 novembre 2007

2008-02-01T06:44:00.000+01:00

Our church wedding, 4 November 2007
Zion Lutheran Church, Piedmont, CA

Clic sur les images pour les agrandir.

Although Yuna and I were married in a civil ceremony on le 11 juillet, we wanted a "real" wedding dans une église. We assembled components of the historic Lutheran liturgy around a theme of carrying the Gospel to the four corners of the earth. (Matthew 28:19) Accordingly, the Gospel lesson was read in the four languages we speak: English by Pastor Aldrich, in Mandarin and Japanese by two of Yuna's friends et en français par un de mes amis française.

More images and text HERE.

Recette: Gougères

2008-01-20T07:43:00.000+01:00

In French cuisine, a gougère is a savory pâte de choux with cheese. Grated cheese may be mixed into the batter, cubes of cheese may be pushed into the top, or both. Gougères are sometimes called cheese puffs en anglais.

Gougères can be made as small, finger-sized pastries, or filled with ingredients such as mushrooms, beef, or ham. In the latter case, the gougère is usually made using a ring or pie tin. Traditionally, gougères are made with Gruyère, but other cheeses are sometimes used. Gougères are a specialty of Bourgogne.

À table!

La recette est ICI

Note for San Francisco Bay Area readers: If you don't want to make your own gougéres, you can order them from Pâtisserie Philippe, 655 Townsend Street, San Francisco, 94103 ~ 415.558.8016. Philippe's version is quite tasty! He adds chopped fresh herbs to the pastry.

L'expression "héros français de guerre" n'est pas un oxymoron! - Partie deux

2008-01-20T05:04:00.000+01:00

The Expression "French War Hero" Is Not An Oxymoron - Part Two
Jean Moulin: un autre véritable français héro de guerre
Jean Moulin: Another True French War Hero
Partie Une, Alphonse-Pierre Juin ICI

The French have an unfortunate (and in fact, untrue) reputation for surrendering at the slightest military setback, providing much fodder for jokesters, late-night TV hosts, pundits and even Google! For example, here's Google:

Click here.
Type in "French Military Victories."
Click on "I'm feeling lucky."

American pundit Jonah Goldberg is noted for making famous the Simpsons-inspired description of the French as being "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." As with most stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth in this one of the French, and it has a history more than a century-long.

This history began with France's crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Napoléon III grossly underestimated his Prussian adversaries and the Prussians rolled through France with ease, right into Paris. Napoléon III himself was captured by the Prussians and had to sign a humiliating peace with Bismarck.

The image of French surrender was hastened in la premiere Guerre Mondiale when French troops were on the cusp of mutiny against les générals, safely ensconced in their châteaux, never venturing to the front lines to see the horrors to which they were subjecting the poilus in the squalid, rat-infested, water-logged, disease-ridden trenches.

With the German Blitzkrieg through France in 1940, the rapidity with which France fell to the Nazis combined with the sycophancy of Pétain's Vichy Government to Hitler solidified the myth of French surrender.

The idea that the French wave the white flag with only the slightest of adversities demeans the heroic efforts (efforts epitomized by les Maquis) of la résistance française dans la deuxième guerre mondiale. And, just as the popular image obscures the story of Général Alphonse-Pierre Juin, it also obscures the story of Jean Moulin, another true French war hero.

Jean Moulin was a high-profile member of the French Resistance during World War II, remembered today as an emblem of la résistance because of his courage and death at the hands of the Germans.

Moulin was born in Beziers on le 20 juin 1899 and enlisted in l'armée francaise in 1918. After the war, he resumed his studies and obtained a degree in law in 1924. He then entered the prefectural administration as chef de cabinet to the deputy of Savoie in 1922, then as sous préfet of Albertville, from 1925 to 1930. He was France's youngest sous préfet at the time, and was also the youngest préfet in 1930.

In septembre 1926 Moulin married Marguerite Cerruti, but the couple divorced in 1928.

In 1930, he was the sous préfet of Châteaulin. During that time, he also drew political cartoons in the newspaper Le Rire (The Laugh), under the pseudonym Romanin.

In janvier 1937 he became France's youngest préfet in the Aveyron département, in the commune of Rodez.

During the Spanish Civil War, it is believed by some that he supplied French planes to the anti-fascist forces from his place within the le ministère d'aviation.

In 1939 Moulin was appointed préfet of the Eure-et-Loir département. The Germans arrested him injuin 1940 because he refused to sign a German document that falsely blamed Senegalese French Army troops for civilian massacres. In prison, he attempted suicide by cutting his throat with a piece of broken glass. This left him with a scar that he would often hide with a scarf — the image of Jean Moulin remembered nowadays.

In novembre 1940, the Vichy government ordered all préfets to dismiss left-wing elected mayors of towns and villages. When Moulin refused, he was himself removed from office. He then lived in Saint-Andiol (Bouches-du-Rhône), and joined la résistance. Moulin reached Londres in septembre 1941 under the name Joseph Jean Mercier, and met General Charles de Gaulle, who asked him to unify the various resistance groups. On le 1 janvier 1942, he parachuted into the Alpilles. Under the codenames Rex and Max, he met with the leaders of the resistance groups:
Henri Frenay (Combat)
Emmanuel d'Astier (Libération)
Jean-Pierre Lévy (Francs-Tireur)
Pierre Villon (Front National, not to be confused with the present-day far-right French political party Front National)
Pierre Brossolette (Comité d'Action Socialiste)
In his work in la résistance, he was assisted by his private administrative assistant Laure Diebold.

Moulin and his sister, Laure.
In février 1943, Moulin went back to Londres, accompanied by Charles Delestraint, head of the new armée secrète group. He left on le 21 mars 1943 with orders to form le Conseil National de la Résistance (CNR), a difficult task since each resistance movement wanted to keep its independence. The first meeting of the CNR took place in Paris on le 27 mai 1943.

Jean Moulin was arrested le 21 juin 1943 in Caluire-et-Cuire (near Lyon), in the home of Doctor Frédéric Dugoujon, where a meeting with most of the resistance leaders was taking place. Interrogated in Lyon by Klaus Barbie, head of the Gestapo there, and later in Paris, he never revealed anything to his captors. He died after three weeks of brutal torture near Metz, in the Paris-Berlin train which was taking him to a concentration camp. It is widely believed that Barbie personally beat Moulin to death, though the injuries resulting from his torture certainly contributed to his death.

Nazi, member of the SS, and sadistic henchman for the Gestapo: Klaus Barbie
The exact circumstances leading to Moulin's capture by the Nazis have never been determined. It is believed by many that a member of la résistance, René Hardy, led the Gestapo to Moulin, though even after two post-war trials, Hardy's guilt was never proven. What is not in doubt is that rivalries within la résistance created conditions which made Moulin's betrayal possible.

The trail which led the Nazis to Moulin goes back to mars when the Germans obtained résistance documents about one of the résistance groups, l'armée secrèt AS. These documents were considered sufficiently important for summary to be sent to Hitler in person.

On le 28 avril the Gestapo arrested a man with a family name of Multon, a member of Combat (one of the groups within la résistance. Multon agreed to work for the Nazis. Hardy also belonged to Combat. Multon's treachery resulted in the arrest of 120 resisters, among them Charles Delestraint, the head of l'armée secrèt (AS). The arrest of Delestraint was a terrible blow, and it was to discuss the consequences that Moulin called the Caluire meeting.

Hardy was at the meeting. He had been arrested by Klaus Barbie on le 7 juin, thanks to information provided by Multon. Hardy was quickly released after interrogation; at Caluire, he managed to escape arrest. This luck seemed to good to be true, and several resisters were convinced that Hardy had betrayed Moulin. Some even tried to kill him by sending him a package of poisoned jam, which he did not open. Despite his postwar aquital in two trials, suspicions of Hardy's guilt remain strong. Two German reports in l'été of 1943 imply that Hardy was working for the Gestapo, although he may have been playing some double game that tragically backfired. The interesting question is why Hardy was at Caluire at all. Believing the purpose of the meeting was to designate a replacement for Delestraint, the leaders of Combat wanted to be fully represented in the discussions, a measure of the rivalries between résistance groups. For this reason, Hardy was sent (without Moulin's knowledge) to reinforce the other Combat representative, Henri Aubry. The presence of someone who had been in the hands of the Gestapo was a breach of elementary security, but the rivalries between the movements, and between the movements and Moulin, caused such precautions to be ignored.

The Gestapo had followed Hardy when he came to the meeting at the doctor's house in Caluire, thus leading the Germans to Jean Moulin. Some believe that this was a deliberate act of treason by René Hardy; others think Hardy was simply reckless.

In the post war years, there have been many allegations that Moulin was a Communist, due to the fact that some of Moulin's friends were Communists. While these allegations continue, no hard evidence has ever backed up this claim. As préfet, Moulin even ordered the repression of Communist 'agitators' and went so far as to have police keep some under surveillance.

Statue of Jean Moulin in Lyon
One of Moulin's biographers, Marnham, looked into the allegations that Moulin was likely to have been a Communist but at each turn finds no evidence to support the accusation (though members of the party could easily have seen him as a 'fellow traveler' due to his Communist friends and support for the anti-fascist forces in Spain). ("The Death of Jean Moulin, Biography of a Ghost")

It has also been suggested, principally in Marnham's biography, that Moulin was betrayed by Communists. Marnham specifically points the finger at Raymond Aubrac and possibly at his wife, Lucie Aubrac. He makes the case that Communists did at times betray non-Communists to the Gestapo and that Aubrac has been linked to harsh actions during the purge of collaborators after the war.

To counteract the number of baseless (if not downright fictional) accusations leveled at Moulin, his personal secretary during the war, Daniel Cordier, has written an ambitious biography of his former patron. In what has been termed 'The Cordier Revolution,' he has insisted on basing his research on paperwork and other verifiable evidence rather than allow l'histoire de la résistance to become, as Napoléon might have termed, 'a set of lies agreed upon.'

Moulin was initially buried in le cimetière Père Lachaise in Paris. His ashes were later transferred to le Panthéon on le 19 décembre 1964. The speech that André Malraux, writer and minister of the Republic, gave upon the transfer of his ashes is one of the most famous speeches in French history.

In France, many schools and a university (Lyon III), as well as innumerable streets and squares, have been named after him.
Today, Jean Moulin is used in French education to illustrate civic virtues, moral rectitude and patriotism. More than a symbol of la résistance, Jean Moulin is another proof that l'expression "héros français de guerre" n'est pas un oxymoron.

Plaque honoring Moulin in Caluire-et-Cuire, where he was arrested by the Gestapo.

La fête de l'Épiphanie

2008-01-05T22:20:00.000+01:00

The Feast of the Epiphany

La fête de l'Épiphanie on le 6 janvier is the twelfth and last day of Christmas. The feast marks the visit of the magi to the Christ child as recorded in Matthew's Gospel. (Matthew 2:1-12) In France, l'Épiphanie is celebrated with a meal that is the rival of the Christmas feast or le réveillon of New Year's day. The traditional dessert served at le repas de l'Épiphanie is la galette des rois. La galette consists of two circles of pâte feuilletée filled with frangipane or almond-flavored crème pâtissiere - or a combination of the two.

La Galette à Chez la Vache. To the surprise of no one (except peut-être herself) Yuna found le feve under her tranche de la galette.

La galette is both a pastry delight and a fun game of chance. La galette is presented at the table by the host(ess) with a crown on top. The host(ess) has hidden une fève under some portion (other than the center) of the cake. The crown is set aside and la galette is cut and served to the guests. The guest who gets the slice with la fève in it is presented with the crown to wear and thus becomes the Queen or King for the day. It's all great fun and a properly made galette des rois makes a most enjoyable dessert.

À table!
La recette est ici.

Related post:

Une autre brève histoire de la galette des Rois

Note for San Francisco Bay Area readers: If you don't want to make your own galette, you can order one from Pâtisserie Philippe, 655 Townsend Street, San Francisco, 94103 ~ 415.558.8016. Les galettes are so popular with Philippe's customers that he offers them all the way to le 31 janvier!

Joyeux anniversaire à Yuna

2007-11-01T13:22:00.000+01:00

Aujourd'hui est l'anniversaire de Yuna, la belle épouse de Louis la Vache!
Joyeux anniversaire, Yuna!
Je t'aime!

Gâteau Blanc Classique

2007-10-11T19:43:00.000+02:00

Classic White Cake

The type of cake in this recette is very rare in France. This is a classic Américain-style layer cake. Les Américains translate gâteau as "cake," but the layer cake so common aux États-Unis is not typical of baking en la belle France. A more typical gâteau français is something like gâteau Basque. Without further ado,
la recette est ici.

Fougasse avec fromage de chèvre, herbes et pignons

2007-10-05T15:23:00.000+02:00

What les Français call fougasse, les Italiens call focaccia and Louis la Vache calls délicieux. Fougasse can be made plain - without any topping at all - adorned only with a brushing of huile d'olive or it can be made with whatever toppings suit your fancy. Fougasse is typically associated with Provence but found in other regions. Some versions are sculpted or slashed into a pattern resembling an ear of wheat.

Fougasse is used to make the French version of calzone, which can have cheese and small squares of lardons (bacon) inside the pocket made by folding over the bread. Other tasty variations include dried fruit, Roquefort and nuts or olives and goat cheese. The interpretation depends on the whim of le boulanger. In the version shown here, Louis la Vache baked it with un mélange des herbes méditerranéennes, fromage de chèvre et pignons. The uses of fougasse are as many as the possibilities for ingredients. Without further ado,

La recette est ici.

Chien Chaud - C'est comment dire "hot-dog" en français

2007-10-02T21:24:00.000+02:00

How to say "hot dog" in French

Les Français, recognizing a good chose américaine, American thing, when they see it, have adopted the hot dog! Mais naturellement, but of course, have added their own twist to it. Many boulangeries in Paris (as well as sidewalk food kiosks) offer la version française du hot-dog. They take a small baguette, fill it with Gruyère cheese and sauce béchamel, sometimes adding a little honey-dijon moutarde along with le hot-dog and heat it. Et voila! C'est comment vous dites "le hot-dog" en français!

La recette est ici.

La belle épouse de Louis la Vache

2007-10-02T05:51:00.000+02:00

The beautiful wife of Louis la Vache

Louis la Vache hasn't posted to either of his blogs for months. He has good reason. He met this beautiful femme japonaise. She became Louis's jeune mariée in a civil ceremony on 11 July. We will have a formal church wedding on le 4 novembre. Louis promises to post more regularly starting now.

Androuët - Maître Fromager à Paris

2007-05-16T17:51:00.000+02:00

Androuët - Master Cheese Sellers in Paris
Fromagerie Androuët(Cliquez pour agrandir)

One of the most famous fromageries, cheese shops, in Paris is Androuët. In 1909 Henri Androuët, who started off as a peddler for the laiterie (dairy) Gervais, had the idea of making cheeses from all the regions of France available for tasting to Parisians who were unaware of their country’s rich cheese heritage. Henri Androuët opened his crémerie on rue d’Amsterdam.

After the tragedy and disruption of the Great War, Henri Androuët continued to develop his business, curing and aging the cheeses himself. The banality of the products then being distributed encouraged Henri Androuët to seek out new ones, even going to visit the producers directly in order to get them. His quest for cheeses led him to crisscross France at a time when country roads were still unpaved, slowly acquiring a unique and profound knowledge of the cheeses of France, the places where they are made, and the people who make them.

In the mid-1920, the fame of the house of Androuët, which by then was offering more than one hundred cheeses, had reached the point where Henri Androuët was prompted to open a tasting cellar which soon became a gathering place for cheese lovers.

The cheeses of Corsica are featured on this table at Androuët(Cliquez pour agrandir)

Around 1925, out of a desire to familiarize people with the resources of France’s terroirs, Henri Androuët created his “cheese calendars.” They listed over one hundred types of cheese, each presented under a regional or local name and accompanied by its period of full maturity. The innovative brochures were a huge success.

In the early 1930s, Henri's son, Pierre, decided not to pursue his architecture studies and went into the family business. His passion for it soon led him to extend the cheese shop and add a restaurant, for which he drew the plans himself, in 1934.

Success was immediate, and the Androuët gourmet restaurant became an institution. Following in his father’s footsteps, Pierre Androuët took to the highways and byways of France to look for cheeses, buying them directly from the producers as much as possible. Like a prospector looking for gold, he continued the search. At the same time, he extended the cellars. There he perfected the curing and aging techniques that, along with the restaurant, have made the house of Androuët famous. Famous customers of Androuët have included Charles de Gaulle, the novelists Colette and Ernest Hemingway, the creators of Astérix, and stars like Jean Gabin and Orson Welles, Toshiro Mifune, and opéra soprano Maria Callas.

By the 1950s, Henri and Pierre Androuët were considered the most illustrious maîtres fromagers affineurs in France and in the world. Never lowering his standards of quality, Pierre Androuët became the unchallenged ambassador of les fromages français, traveling the world to learn about, understand, and catalogue production techniques and specialties and become a living encyclopedia of cheese.

Today the house of Androuët comprises six fine fromageries in Paris. Androuët is also a team of people who are passionate about cheese, all of them professionals and connoisseurs of artisanal cheeses.

Cheese at chez Androuët means more than two hundred products from different terroirs, exclusively made with lait cru (raw milk), each of them unique, cured and matured under the supervision of maîtres affineurs and aged or prepared in curing cellars.

(The above was adapted from the Androuët website.)

Louis la Vache, always happy to support les fermiers français de laiterie (French dairy farmers), thinks this would be a good place to offer une recette avec fromage: Salade au Fromage de Chèvre avec Noix, a salad including goat cheese and walnuts.

"How can you be expected to govern a country that has 246 kinds of cheese?"
- Charles de Gaulle

Sarko

2007-05-14T14:30:00.000+02:00

Arrêtez l'abus de tofu! Mangez le foie gras!

2007-03-26T19:36:00.000+02:00

Stop tofu abuse! Eat foie gras!

Louis la Vache is gravely concerned about the growing abuse of tofu and proposes a solution: mangez le foie gras! Louis has noticed that the consumption of tofu has grown far past its origins in the Asian cuisines. The abuse of tofu seems to have begun when the tree-hugging-granola-crunching-Birkenstock-wearing crowd centered around The People's Republic of Berserkeley en la Californie began using tofu as the main source of protein. Louis's concern is that so many of the Birkenstock Brigade are eating tofu that there is an impending shortage of tofu for use in Asian cuisines. Mind you, Louis la Vache est trés heureux, very happy, that these left-over-from-the-sixties hippies don't eat beef! Nonetheless, Louis feels it is time to put an end to this abuse of tofu and suggests that the solution is manger le foie gras!

Now, une peu d'histoire du foie gras. Foie gras is one of the most popular delicacies in French cuisine. Its flavor is described as rich, buttery, and delicate, unlike that of a regular duck or goose liver. Foie gras can be sold whole, or prepared into pâté, mousse, or parfait. It is often spead on toast or baguette slices topped with sliced cornichons or served as an accompaniment to another food such as steak. We can thank the ancient Egyptians for giving us foie gras.

Egyptian bas-relief showing foie gras production

Some 2,500 years ago, the Egyptians noticed that migratory geese in the Nile delta were able to stock fat in their liver in preparation for their long-distance flights. They found the meat and liver of these geese succulent. So they started to reproduce this natural phenomenon and fatten geese with figs and cereals.

During their captivity in Egyptthe Hebrews learned how to make foie gras from the Egyptians. After leaving Egypt, the Jews brought the foie gras processing method everywhere they settled, from Eastern Europe to Israel. Preserving meat in goose and duck fat was not forbidden by their religious principles. They were thus able to avoid starvation during their long migrations.

Foie gras was a dish appreciated by Greeks, Romans and Gauls. Romans fattened geese with figs and then dipped their liver in a mix of milk and honey. In fact, 'foie gras' comes from the Latin word 'ficatum' which means 'fig.'

Foie gras on the hoof. Well, maybe "hoof" isn't the correct term, but Louis la Vache was thinking in the context of his own existence...

The practice of geese-fattening spread from Egypt to the Mediterranean. The earliest reference to fattened geese is from le V ème siècle BC Greek poet Cratinus, who wrote of geese-fatteners, yet Egypt maintained its reputation as the source for fattened geese. When the Spartan king Agesilaus visited Egypt in 361 BC, he was greeted with fattened geese and calves, the riches of Egyptian farmers.

It was not until the Roman period, however, that foie gras is mentioned as a distinct food, which the Romans named iecur ficatum; iecur means liver and ficatum derives from ficus, meaning fig in Latin. Pliny the Elder (I er siècle AD) credits his contemporary, Roman gastronome Marcus Gavius Apicius, with feeding dried figs to geese in order to enlarge their livers.

Hence, the term iecur ficatum, fig-stuffed liver. Ficatum was closely associated with animal liver and it became the root word for "liver" in each of these languages: "foie" en français, "hígado" en espagnol, "fígado" en portugese, "fegato" en italien et "ficat" en romain, Romanian, all meaning "liver."

After the decline of the Roman empire, foie gras was not considered to be a delicacy. During the Middle Ages, it was mostly consumed by peasants. During the Renaissance foie gras enjoyed its own renaissance as a food for feasts.

When Christopher Columbus brought corn back from the New World the intensive feeding techniques used to make foie gras were radically transformed. The southwest of France, the climate of which is ideal for corn cultivation, then became the top foie gras producing area.

During the reigns of Louis XV and Louis XVI, foie gras became a royal dish and started appearing in cookbooks. Even la révolution française did not diminish the stature of foie gras as a highly appreciated delicacy that could be found in the first luxury restaurants. In le XIX ème siècle, foie gras even inspired renowned authors such as Alexandre Dumas and George Sand!

La Poste issued a series of stamps on la cuisine française including naturellement, foie gras.

So that you can do your part to end the abuse of tofu by eating foie gras, Louis la Vache offers you this recette pour Poulet alsacien avec la sauce de foie gras.

À table!

Plus de recettes

Foie Gras: A Passion

Ducasse Flavors of France

French Laundry Cookbook

L'expression "héros français de guerre" n'est pas un oxymoron! - Partie une

2007-03-18T08:23:00.000+01:00

The Expression "French War Hero" Is Not An Oxymoron - Part One
Alphonse-Pierre Juin: un véritable français héro de guerre
Alphonse-Pierre Juin: A True French War Hero

Three World War II-vintage photos of Général de l'armée Alphonse-Pierrie Juin
- • • -The French have an unfortunate (and in fact, untrue) reputation for surrendering at the slightest military setback, providing much fodder for jokesters, late-night TV hosts, pundits and even Google! For example, here's Google:

Click here.
Type in "French Military Victories."
Click on "I'm feeling lucky."

American pundit Jonah Goldberg is noted for making famous the Simpsons-inspired description of the French as being "cheese-eating surrender monkeys." As with most stereotypes, there is a kernel of truth in this one of the French, and it has a history more than a century-long.

This history began with France's crushing defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870-1871. Napoléon III grossly underestimated his Prussian adversaries and the Prussians rolled through France with ease, right into Paris. Napoléon III himself was captured by the Prussians and had to sign a humiliating peace with Bismarck.

The image of French surrender was hastened in la premiere Guerre Mondiale when French troops were on the cusp of mutiny against les générals, safely ensconced in their châteaux, never venturing to the front lines to see the horrors to which they were subjecting the poilus in the squalid, rat-infested, water-logged, disease-ridden trenches.

With the German Blitzkrieg through France in 1940, the rapidity with which France fell to the Nazis combined with the sycophancy of Pétain's Vichy Government to Hitler solidified the myth of French surrender.

The idea that the French wave the white flag with only the slightest of adversities demeans the heroic efforts (efforts epitomized by les Maquis) of la résistance française dans la deuxième guerre mondiale. And, the popular image obscures the story of Général Alphonse-Pierre Juin, a true French war hero.

Juin was born on le 16 décembre 1888 at Annaba in Algeria to French parents. He enlisted in l'armée Française, graduating from l'école Spéciale Militaire de Saint-Cyr in 1912. In 1914 he was in Morocco, in command of native troops there. Upon the outbreak of World War I, he was sent to the Western Front in France where he was gravely wounded in 1915. As a result of this wound, he lost the use of his right arm.

Juin and his Saint-Cyr classmate, Charles de Gaulle

In 1938, Juin was nominated to command a brigade. By the outbreak of World War II, he was in command of a division, the 15th Motorized Division. The division was encircled at Lille during the Battle of France and Juin was captured. Until 1941 he was kept as a prisoner of war in German hands. However during that year he was released at the behest of the Vichy Government and was assigned by them to command French forces in North Africa. After the invasion of Algeria and Morocco by British and American forces in novembre 1942, Juin changed sides. This was reflected during the Italian campaign when he commanded le Corps Expéditionnaires Français, French Expeditionary Corps, in the U.S. Fifth Army. The Corps' expertise in mountain warfare was well used and was one of the crucial factors in the reduction of Monte Cassino and the breaking of the Gustav (Winter) Line in Italy in mai 1944. The Allied goal ostensively was to relieve Rome. With Montgomery and his British Eighth Army crawling up the eastern side of Italy, the U.S. Fifth Army was directed to reach for Rome from the west. The U.S. Fifth Army in Italy was commanded by Eisenhower's protégé, the petty, egotistical, vainglorious, overly ambitious and combat-unworthy General Mark Clark.

The Allied assault on Italy was riven by disagreements between British and U.S. commanders, British general Montgomery's inflated sense of self, gross underestimations both of Italian weaknesses and German strengths, poor planning, poor logistical support and the lack of clear strategic objectives. Further, the Allied Italian campaign suffered by making four separate, non-mutually supporting assaults onto the Italian "boot," thereby violating the principal of the concentration of force. Finally the Allies were (at best) woefully naïve about or (at worst) criminally negligent of anticipating how to fulfill the basic living requirements of the starving Italian civilian population. Other than those flaws, the Allies had the makings of a successful campaign in Italy.

Hitler, anxious to shore up his southern flank against Allied incursions into southern France, southern and eastern Europe and the rebellious Balkans after the Allied success in North Africa and the fall of Mussolini, put General Albrecht Kesselring in charge of defending Italy against the Allied assault.

Not smiling here: German General Albrecht Kesselring

Kesselring, known as "Smiling Albert" because of his unflagging optimism, was, in fact, one of Hitler's toughest generals and one of the best on either side in the European and Mediterranean theaters. Kesselring and his subordinate commanders Heinrich von Vietinghoff, Hans Hube and Frido von Senger, taking advantage of the mountainous and otherwise difficult Italian terrain, bolstered the fortification in-depth program of the Gustav Line begun by Rommel. The ancient Benedictine monastery on the heights of Monte Cassino was the central point of the line. Kesselring assured the Pope that the Germans would not destroy Monte Cassino. To their everlasting credit, by great foresight on the part of Lieutenant Julius Schlegel (a Catholic), a Vienna-born German officer, and Captain Maximilian Becker (a Protestant), both from the Panzer-Division Hermann Göring, irreplaceable manuscripts and art treasures housed at Monte Cassino were all transferred to the Vatican.

While the Germans vowed they would not destroy Monte Cassino, Clark felt that he was forced to do so in order to crack the Gustav Line. Kesselring understood that, at best, he was fighting a delaying action and that the Germans at some point would have to retreat. At Monte Cassino, Kesselring proved what the Allies would experience once again in the fight at the Falaise Gap and the what the Russians experienced on the eastern front: that the German Army, deadly enough on the assault, was never so deadly as when in retreat.

"Smiling Albert" with Hitler. General Heinrich von Vietinghoff is in the background.

The advantages of terrain allied with what Churchill described as "shocking" weather to reduce the Alllied advance to a laborious slog in the autumn of 1943. Unlike North Africa and even Sicliy, where there were lulls between battles, combat in Italy was continuous, casualty-heavy, and physically and psychologically exhausting. Months of training that had emphasized initiative, maneuver, and surprise attacks gave way before the reality that combat against Germans who occupied the high ground must be a deliberate, step-by-step exercise that began with meticulous planning, careful reconnaissance, anticipation of German counter-moves, coordination with flank units, and provision for logistical needs. Allied troops crawled along narrow roads and battled through a series of German strong points. Destroyed bridges, tenaciously defended villages and defiles, and abandoned towns seeded with diabolical booby traps and lethal Teller mines, to which antihandling devices were affixed, became "a day at the office" for Allied forces. The advance was reduced to a huge traffic jam behind sappers who, usually under fire, de-mined the roads and rebuilt or reinforced the damaged bridges to carry tanks, gasoline and ammunition trucks forward to the next roadblock. The mountain range that bissects the Italian "boot" lengthwise invited each Allied army to advance up the narrow coastal plains to the east and west and made cooperation between the Allied Fifth and Eighth Armies problematic. Even were the Eighth Army, operating along the Adriatic, to crack open the German defences, the combination of mountains and mud, force multipliers for the German defence, kept it from exploiting westward to capture Rome. Casualties mounted as the U.S. Fifth and British Eighth Armies battered through a series of defensive belts created by Kesselring.

Shorn of numerical advantage, the terrain and weather accordingly tilted in favor of the Germans. The Allies came to rely increasingly on air power and artillery to punch forward. Unfortunately for the Allies, the tormented terrain combined with dismal weather, which made it impossible to see, much less calculate angles and ranges, reduced the accuracy of Allied artillery fire and bombing to an intimidating but nevertheless approximate science. Artillery did help the Fifth Army advance in décembre to Kesselring's main defence, the Gustav line. But there the Fifth Army advance halted, before the town of Cassino, nestled on the north bank of the aptly-named Rapido River at the foot of Monte Cassino.

The Allies faced a seamless and near-impregnable string of fortifications that ran from the mouth of the Garigliano River on the Thyrrhenian Sea, along the jagged ridges and peaks of the Aurunci Mountains, which followed the Garigliano, to the confluence of the Gari (an extension of the Rapido) and Liri Rivers about a mile and a half south of Cassino town. Route 6 wound southwest through the town of Cassino, round the foot of Monte Cassino, crowned by the majestic medieval mother abbey of the Benedictine order, before it turned northwesterly toward Rome. To exploit this most practical route toward the Italian capital, the Allies would have to cross the Rapido and charge up the funnel of the Liri Valley. To do so would expose their flanks to the Aurucni Mountains to the south and, to the north, to Monte Cassino, a shoulder of rock that stretched southeast from the 5,000 foot pinnacle of Monte Cairo. Recognizing that Monte Cassino and the Liri Valley offered the most obvious passage to Rome, Kesselring took care to concentrate his strongest defences there. To the northeast, the Gustav Line curved through a series of spurs and ridges dominated by Monte San Croce and Monte Belvedere before it joined the Sangro River as it dropped out of the mountains to the Adriatic. This tortured landscape became home to 60,000 German defenders ensconced deeply behind ridges and on reverse slopes. They remained difficult to spot, much less reach with artillery. Ridge lines that appeared from a distance to offer smooth routes of advance were, in fact, shattered into irregular knolls and outcroppings transformed by the defenders into bunkers reinforced with concrete railway tracks and ties, protected by kilometres of barbed wire and mines. For this reason, Allied attacks launched in the wake of truly awe-inspiring artillery barrages (called "stonks" by the Allied troops on the scene) were met by fire of German mobile artillery batteries alternating among narrow valleys on the rear slopes, guided to their targets by forward observers sited on mountain crests. In the end, Allied forces had no option but to send infantry up slopes fit only for goats to shove the Germans out of their positions mano a mano.

An Allied artillery "stonk" being delivered to the Germans on Monte Cassino

The Allied force ranged before the Gustav line in janvier 1944, while formidable, did not outmatch the Germans in any significant way except in intelligence capabilities and firepower. The weaknesses of the German position in Italy were two: they could be outflanked by sea, while the massive extension of the front caused by the sheer size of the mountains meant that the Germans could not be strong everywhere. But neither of these weaknesses was immediately exploitable by the Allies. A combination of sending military assets back to Britain after "Husky" (the Sicilian campaign) in preparation for "Overlord" (the Normandie invasion) and a dearth of suitable landing places along the Italian coast meant that landings like that at Anzio were too weak to pry Kesselring out of his positions. In fact, it was the attackers who rapidly became the besieged, as Kesselring was able to rush reinforcements to the beachhead by land faster than the Allies could build up by sea. Only gradually did the Allies understand that infiltration by light infantry supported by a classic mule-based logistical system through the highest, most remote, and consequently least heavily-defended sectors of the German lines, rather than the modern infantry-armored thrusts up narrow river valleys supported by massive air and artillery support, offered the way forward in Italy. But this required the expansion of or creation of units specializing in mountain warfare, not easy to do in armies that hitherto relied for success on the now doctrinaire infantry-armor-artillery-air collaboration. It was into this unpromising mess that French Général Alphonse-Pierre Juin and his Corps Expéditionnaires Français (CEF) stepped in to show the Allies the way out.

General Mark Clark, as was typical of him, with almost no input from his staff or the field commanders expected to carry it out, produced a "plan" to crack the Gustav line. About the only thing Clark got right was that Monte Cassino was too strong a citadel to assault head-on. Few of Clark's subordinates believed in the plan. Général Juin, immediately put his finger on the weaknesses of Clark's plan. The World War I veteran recognized that an offensive force needed clear numerical superiority to succeed. Clark's plan required ten more divisions than he had to execute with any hope of success. Moreover, Clark had made no effort to coordinate his advance with that of Montgomery's Eighth Army. Clark's "plan" came down to a series of inchoate and poorly supported local operations backed by inadequate reserves. (In the event, Kesselring's forces were continually amazed that Clark's massive artillery assaults were followed up by extraordinarily weak infantry thrusts which soon petered out. The weakness of the infantry thrusts underscored what Juin had pointed out - that ten more divisions were needed for the type of assault Clark was forcing his men to make.)

Operationally, Juin, an expert in North African mountain warfare, recognized that Allied forces where overly armored and too roadbound. In preparation for their attack, Juin's CEF left their U.S.-supplied Dodges, GMCs, tow trucks, and trailers groaning with radios and heavy weapons like antitank guns, mortars and machine guns at the foot of the mountains. The mule, not the jeep, was the Monarch of Mobility in Italy. The tactical situation tilted heavily in favor of the enemy, who was virtually invisible to the attackers, had good observation and was backed by heavy mortars and artillery. Attacks, especially successful attacks, could not be sustained unless they could be supplied. For this reason, every available mule had to be used to carry munitions. Victory in Italy would be an affair of mountain troops able to infiltrate and overwhelm lightly-held enemy positions, supported by a flexible, responsive, four-legged logistical system to shuttle supplies to the most remote ridges and mounain peaks.

As the siege of the Gustav Line stretched toward the summer of 1944, even the ego-driven Clark recognized that he had a potential battle winner in the Corps Expéditionnaires Français. But in janvier 1943, the French occupied the basement of the Allied pecking order, their presence in the battle line considered an act of charity by the Anglo-Americans. A two division vanguard of the CEF disembarked at Naples in the waning weeks of 1943. Lean, bronzed Algerians and Berbers recruited in the Atlas Mountains of Morocco, their American-supplied uniforms camouflaged under striped North African burnooses, moved toward the front along muddy roads, through swarms of begging children and women reduced to prostitution by the collapse of the Italian Fascist government and the Allies's failure to include the civilian population in their logistical calculations.

At first sight, the two divisions under Juin's command, one of Moroccans, the other of Algerians, hardly inspired confidence among Allied generals raised in the then-new style of armored warfare and mesmerized by German blitzkrieg methods. The French disembarked with the baggage of contempt that had been bestowed upon them by the Allies in North Africa. Undergunned, armed with World War I vintage bolt action Springfield and Enfield rifles, their divisional structure a quaint amalgamation of traditional regiments with North African tabors (brigades) and goums (battalions) of Moslem irregulars, the CEF appeared in Allied eyes a study in anachronism.

Juin and his North African rag-tag army were at first a source of amusement to condescending Allied officers and troops.

The seeming docility of the North Africans barely masked an ardent love of hard steel, and a capacity for ferocity, even cruelty, born of a fundamental contempt for human life which was a by-product of their Moslem upbringing.

The "Goons", (G.I. shorthand for goumiers) struck GIs as remarkably careless soldiers, perpetually wandering into minefields and roasting goats in full view of German lines, which invariably brought down a hail of artillery fire. Clothed in a taterdemalion of French, British and American hand-me downs, invariably topped by a burnoose, these pigtailed troops struck GIs as "savages," "mercenary degenerates" as much to be feared by their own side, and by the Italian population, as the enemy. The contrast between these Moslem fighters who made up about half of the CEF, and the aloof, mustachioed French officers who led them could hardly have been more striking. Many of these officers, who seemed to have stepped directly out of Belle Époque Paris, carried canes and walking sticks in place of weapons on the theory that their task was to lead the combat, not participate in it.

As the Anglo-Americans had no frame of reference that would allow them to judge the capabilities of the CEF, so they were equally unsure how to evaluate its leader, Alphonse-Pierre Juin. That Juin's greatest success should come in command of a French expeditionary force composed primarily of French and Moslem North Africans followed naturally from his own pied noir origins and his extensive service with Moslem troops.

Son of a French gendarme living in Algeria and a Corsican mother, Juin had graduated top of his class from Saint-Cyr. His signature was a left-handed salute, permitted after his right arm was badly wounded in the Great War. Juin lacked the theatrical elegance of his rival Jean de Lattre de Tassigny or the austere brilliance of his Saint-Cyr classmate Charles de Gaulle. His bearing was collected, reserved, understated. With his beret pulled down to his ears, the inevitable cigarette dangling beneath a full mustache, a contorted smile that displayed amouth full of crooked teeth, and a thick pied-noir accent, Juin might have easily been mistaken for a Mediterranean peasant who had wandered onto the battlefield, were it not for his insignia of rank. But those inclined to underestimate him soon discovered a man who succeeded through personal bravery, an intuition for the right answer, and more than a touch of cunning. After his release from a German POW camp at the behest of the Vichy gouvernement and placed in command of the rump of French forces left in North Africa, Juin broke out of the pack of discredited Vichy générals in 1942 when he shouted down those who wanted to resist the Anglo-Americans and almost single-handedly imposed a cease-fire on a factious and confused French high command. This caused Juin to be seen as one of the few French générals upon whom the Allies could rely for judgements uncluttered by the usual baggage of internecine French discord. Juin helped build the foundation of later French success by acting as a calming influence on l'armée française after the Allied landings in North Africa. In 1944, Charles de Gaulle named Juin Chief of Staff in part because he was the only général accepatable to both the Gaulist and Vichy factions of the riven armée française.

Allied appreciation of Juin's political astuteness was quickly matched by his obvious skill on the battlefield. In février 1943 he restored order to a crumbling front in Tunisia, and helped to calm the nerves of green American commanders rattled by the drubbing they had received at Kasserine. Tunisia enabled Juin to showcase the quality of French cadres and staffs, and the obvious strengths of their Moslem soldiers, who, despite being poorly armed, displayed a tough resilience utterly lacking in the barely-bloodied British First Army and American Second Corp troops. His reconciliation with de Gaulle, who required the support of a général of Juin's stature, assured his position in the newly aggregated French forces. Juin's strengths resided in his understanding of the capabilities and limitations of the mainly illiterate North African troops who formed the backbone of his command, and his reliance on a carefully prepared plan that combined simplicity with a robustness that could withstand setbacks. Juin's experience of mountain combat as a veteran of the Rif War of 1924-1925 would prove invaluable, and ultimately decisive in shattering the Gustav line. Aficionados of de Lattre, the French général with whom Juin is most often compared, found him workmanlike rather than brilliant, methodical rather than inspired. But spontaneity and opportunism were seldom rewarded in Italy, where rugged terrain, the steel band of German defences that had to be cracked head-on, and the diminuitive size and fragile composition of his force imposed tight operational constraints.

The reduction of Monte Cassino

195,000 artillery shells and 1,200 tons of bombs rendered Monte Cassino to rubble on le 15 mars 1944. The Allies did to the ancient monastery what even the normally cold-blooded Germans would not. The destruction of the monastery was one of the most controversial acts of the Allies in the European theater. Pope Pius XII was silent after the bombing; however, his Secretary of State, Cardinal Maglione, bluntly stated to the senior U.S. diplomat to the Vatican, Harold Tittmann, that the bombing was “a colossal blunder . . . a piece of gross stupidity.” Though the monastery was destroyed on le 15 mars, the stubborn Germans did not yield the monastery until le 18 mai and the last German snipers were driven finally from the town below the monastery on le 19 mai.

The abominable weather, the lack of coordinated efforts on the part of the Allies, German tenaciousness and the advantages the Germans had of defending the high ground (especially with them holding the tortured terrain) all combined to drag the Allied assault on the Gustav Line out for months - far longer than the Allied command anticipated. In mai 1944, Juin's troops and their four-legged logistical system cracked the Gustav line south of Monte Cassino. The rupture of the Gustav line by Juin's forces caused Kesselring to withdraw his forces from around Monte Cassino.

Juin's forces launched what came to be called the Battle of the Garigliano on the night of le 11 mai. It did not start well for Juin. Prearranged Allied artillery targeting failed to silence German guns. The three attacking French divisions, the North Africans among them armed only with World War I vintage bolt action rifles and long knives became entangled in minefields, were subjected to heavy bombardment and counterattacks, and were driven back to their start line after suffering severe casualties. On the morning of le 12 mai, Juin picked his way forward through a slaughter of dead mules and mutilated men and called a temporary halt to his offensive to reassess the situation. Despite the carnage and lack of success, he had several incentives to renew his offensive. First, he was convinced that tenacious German resistance was a certain indication that they were overstretched. Second, his offensive had advanced on the southern part of the sector, where the Third Algerian Infantry combined with the newly-arrived Eighty-eighth Infantry Division of Second Corps to attck up slopes seeded with mines and booby traps and swept by mortar and machine gun fire to take the strong point of Castelforte. Third, the honor of France and his own amour propre would not admit defeat. Juin took the calculated risk of renewing the attack with his single reserve division.

By midafternoon on le 13 mai, the Moroccans had succeeded in opening a two-and-a-half mile gap in the German front. German POWs were so intimidated by the bunker-busting techniques of the Moslems that they declared the experience worse than Stalingrad. The French took the peaks and ridges and dug in for the inevitable counterattack. It did not come. The Germans were spent and Juin resolved to forge ahead. Unlike the British and Americans, whose advances came in hiccups, Juin did not stop to regroup. He gave the Germans no respite. This came as a particular surprise to the Germans, who had not taken the French seriously as opponents, and who, as a consequence, were at a loss as to how to defeat them.

The German right wing began to give way to Clark's U.S. Fifth Army. The French Corps had captured Monte Maio and were now in a position to give material flank assistance to the British Eighth Army against whom Kesselring had thrown every available reserve in order to buy time to switch to his second prepared defensive position, the Adolf Hitler Line, some eight miles to the rear. On Monte Maio, the highest peak in the eastern Auruncis, Juin unfurled a huge tricolor, visible for miles.

After his exhausted troops cracked the Gustav line, Juin raised a huge Free French tricolor, visible for miles, on top of Monte Maio

On le 14 mai Moroccan Goumiers, travelling through the mountains parallel to the Liri valley, ground which was undefended because it was not thought possible to traverse such terrain, outflanked the German defence. By le 17 mai, le CEF had outdistanced it mules, and hence its ammunition. The Twelfth Air Force's Tactical Air Command dropped water, ammunition and food to the lead French units. Though his men were exhausted, Juin realized that they had to pursue the remaining German forces, infiltrating their positions, turning their flanks, focusing resources on weak points, ambushing unsuspecting units, giving them no time to recover their composure. On le 18 mai the French submerged the seasoned Ninth Panzer Grenadiers, capturing forty guns in the process. This feat of arms shook the confidence of a German command disorganized by Allied air strikes and demoralized by the French success. Kesselring's normally optimistic dispostion began to fray as his front disintegrated. The French breakthrough in the Gustav line set the stage for the Free Polish Army to enter Monte Cassino.

The Free Polish Army's 12th Podolian Uhlans Regiment, part of the Polish 2nd Corps (3rd and 5th Divisions) commanded by Lieutenant General Władysław Anders, on the early morning of le 18 mai raised an improvised regimental pennant over the abandoned ruins of the monastery. The only remnants of the wehrmacht defenders were a group of emaciated German wounded who were too sick to move. Monte Cassino had fallen without a fight as the German paratroops, with supply lines threatened by the advance up the Liri valley, had evacuated the night before. It took another day to clear the town of Monte Cassino of fanatic German snipers. The Allied troops found at Monte Cassino a chaotic tumble of rubble, rats, feces, pagues of mosquitos and decaying corpses. The Germans awarded an Iron Cross to any soldier who could endure two weeks there.

For the French armed forces, la deuxième guerre mondiale was, from beginning to end, a protracted humiliation. The French collapse of 1940 chiseled Allied and German contempt for the French in stone. At the close of the war, German generals refused to surrender to Général Jean de Lattre de Tassigny's French First Army, insisting that they would deal only with American commanders. Allied attitudes were hardly less dissmissive. The French Army remained the Cinderella of the Allied cause, one whose fairy Godmothers even seemed intent on keeping from the ball. Les français had been kept from the great wartime conferences, including Yalta, which adjucated the fate of postwar Europe sans French input. The exception was Casablanca in janvier 1943, where Roosevelt and Churchill supervised a frosty handshake between de Gaulle and his Allied-sponsored rival, Général Henri Giraud. No place was reserved for France at the surrender table on le 8 mai 1945, nor was a French version of the surrender documents prepared.

These glacial attitudes toward the French are lamentable. Juin had first showed his mettle in North Africa by rallying the squabbling French Army to the side of the Allies. At Medjez el Bab and Medjerda in Tunisia, Juin's troops fought with exemplary courage against the Germans. Free French forces, despite being undernourished and poorly equipped with antiquated arms, fighting with the British Eighth Army in the Western Desert of North Africa distinguished themselves at Bir Hacheim in juin 1942 and at Ksar Rhilane in mars 1943. U.S. Army general Mark Clark, even as vain as he was, accorded Juin the place of honor in the victory march into Rome precisely because le Corps Expéditionnaires Français was almost single-handedly responsible for the rupture of the Gustav line south of Monte Cassino. De Lattre's French First Army demonstrated great aggressiveness in the assault on Elba that preceeded "Anvil" (the Allied invasion of southern France) and in clearing Marseilles and Toulon of large German garrisons, operations vital to the success of the campaign in France. The campaign in Alsace against extremely stiff German resistance in the Colmar Pocket was efficiently, even brilliantly directed by de Lattre, even though his army was in the throes of reorganization and often lacked vital equipment.

Despite the negative judgments on the quality of French troops in la deuxième guerre mondiale, their successes were considerable, and France undoubtedly produced three of the war's best commanders - Philippe Leclerc de Hautclocque, Jean de Lattre de Tassigny - and Alphonse-Pierre Juin. This was especially remarkable given the small size of French forces and the fact that they reeentered the conflict in significant numbers only in 1943 with an army that was little more than an antiquated colonial constabulary. These men had to learn quickly about modern war, often while fighting under significant political constraints.

Even with the obvious French successes, the general Allied view of the French was at best ambivalent, at worst dismissive. How does one account for this? The first reason was that the French brought with them the stigma of the 1940 debacle. France's defeat in the short space of six weeks could be most easily explained, even in the minds of the French themselves, in moral terms - as the product of an army rotten with defeatism led by men incapble of understanding modern, mechanized warfare. (De Gaulle had been an outcast crying in the wilderness about the need to mechanize.) For this reason, the first task of French soldiers was to dispel the barrier of scepticism and persuade the Allied generals to take them seriously as soldiers. The future général, André Lanquetot, who was a second lieutenant in the Eighth Moroccan Rifles in 1943, noted that American troops with whom he served in Italy greeted the French as "the vanquished of '40." However after the French, led by Alphonse Juin, had proved themselves in combat, "we were admitted as comrades in arms."

French coin and timbre-poste honoring Juin

Général Alphonse Juin was the last living Maréchal de l'armée française until his death in Paris on le 27 janvier 1967. He was buried at l'hôtel des Invalides, also home to the tomb of Napoléon.

L'hôtel des Invalides

More reading:

Battle For Monte Cassino

Anzio: Italy and the Battle for Rome -- 1944

The Path to Victory: The Mediterranean Theater in World War II

Bloody Road to Tunis: Destruction of the AXIS Forces in North Africa, November 1942-May 1943

Domenic's War: A Story of the Battle of Monte Cassino

Le Mois du Macaron!

2007-03-17T17:56:00.000+01:00

The month of the macaron!

Louis la Vache discovered at the blog Chocoholic that mars est le mois du macaron! Louis adore les macarons! See Louis's histoire des macarons. Louis reminds his readers aux États-Unis that macarons are not the same as Coconut MacaroOns!. Go to Louis's other blog, Les Recettes de Louis la Vache for the links to Chocoholic and also to David Lebovitz's blog about Chocolate. Louis has added several other new links to recette blogs. For example, "A Foodie Froggy in Paris" has une recette for a savory (not sweet) cheesecake made with gingerbread, salmon and beet root! Louis dit: "Regardez-les!

Les Fromages de France: Camembert; le fromage normand archétypal

2007-03-14T21:12:00.000+01:00

The Cheeses of France: Camembert; the archetypal cheese of Normandie

Louis la Vache continues his series on les fromages de France, the subject today being Camembert, le fromage normand archétypal. (Louis is certain that you will be surprised that he is posting something about dairy production in Normandie - NOT!)

The (perhaps apocryphal) story of the origin of Camembert has it that in 1791, Marie Harel, a farmer's wife, developed a recipe for Camembert from a recette she learned for Brie from l'abbé (abbot) Bonvoust, a monk she sheltered who was fleeing a tribunal of la révolution française. L'abbé was from the area of Brie and shared his recipe with her. Thus Camembert, the national symbol of French cheese, was born. Camembert, story of its origins apocryphal or not, shares many characteristics with Brie, the principal difference being that Brie is typically sold in wheels of about 2 kilos (4.5 pounds) in weight vs. the much smaller 250 kilogram (8.8 ounce) wheels typical of Camembert. Camembert takes its name from the village of Camembert in le département d'Orne en basse-Normandie. (Government in France is much more centralized than in the U.S. The country is not organized into states as in the U.S., but into départements, roughly analogous to U.S. or British counties.)

Camembert, Normandie, population: 199

There are many types of Camembert. The one that has earned an AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) is made from lait cru, unpasturized cow's milk. Like its relative Brie, Camembert is a soft ripening cheese with a powdery white rind, a croûte fleuri. It must be aged at least 21 days and can only be made in five départements de Normandie. Other Camemberts are made with pasturized milk to allow them to be exported. Some are also washed with Calvados or cidre after they have been aged.

This Camembert is an AOC (Appellation d'Origine Contrôlée) cheese made with lait cru, raw milk.

The origin of Camembert as we know it today is likely to rest with the beginnings of the industrialization of the cheese-making process at the end of le XIX ème siècle. In about 1880 (some sources say 1890), an engineer, a Monsieur Ridel, invented a wooden box made from thin strips of poplar, which was used to carry the cheese and helped to send it for longer distances, in particular to America where it became very popular. These boxes are still used today. Until Ridel invented his method of packaging Camembert, it was only enjoyed locally and in Paris.

With the invention of these little shipping boxes made from thin strips of poplar, Camembert found its way from Normandie et Paris around the world.

The cheese was famously issued to French troops during la premiere guerre mondial, becoming firmly fixed in French popular culture as a result. It has many other roles in French culture, literature and history. It is internationally known, and many local varieties are made around the world. The cheese is said to have inspired Salvador Dalí to create his famous painting, "The Persistence of Memory." Its "melting" watches were inspired by the sight of a melting wheel of over-ripe Camembert.

Inspired by Camembert: Salvador Dali

The cheese is often served at the end of the meal. It has a strong dairy smell with a milky, fruity taste. It can also be coated and fried, melted in its box and used as a dip or melted on sandwiches. Camembert is most commonly served at room temperature with bread and a bubbly cidre normand or a glass of Côtes du Rhone or Bordeaux.

Camembert labels

La Poste has issued a series of stamps on les fromages français.

Et maintenant, une recette en utilisant le camembert!
À table!
Recette: Quiche au Camembert

Voyez également:
Pont l'Évêque
Pour vôtre régal de nouvelle année: Brie Farcie
La Vrai Quiche Lorraine par Boulanger Gérard Mulot
Quiche gourmande aux poivrons

More reading:

Cheese: A Connoisseur's Guide to the World's Best

The Cheese Plate

Camembert: A National Myth (Image not available)

Louis la Vache rencontre "Eye Prefer Paris" - dans San Francisco!

2007-03-13T04:09:00.000+01:00

Louis la Vache meets "Eye Prefer Paris" - in San Francisco!
Richard dit, "Eye may be in San Francisco, but Eye Prefer Paris!"

On le 24 février, Louis la Vache noticed that Richard, author of Eye Prefer Paris and owner of the newly orgainzied Eye Prefer Paris Tours was in San Francisco! Louis happened also to be in the area and sent Richard an e-mail asking if he was still in San Francisco, and, if so, if Richard had some free time if Louis might meet Richard.

He was. He did. They did.

Louis enjoyed meeting a fellow Paris blogger and learned that Louis had once lived only two doors from the place where Richard now lives in Paris! Louis and Richard shared anecdotes about some of the same characters they had met in the neighborhood. This encounter gets a double entry in the "Small World Department!"

Of particular interest to Louis was Richard's description of what he is doing with his new project, "Eye Prefer Paris Tours." Louis was most impressed with how Richard is conducting these tours. He tailors them to the wishes of those who sign up for them - no canned tours here! Louis is happy to make a shameless plug for Richard and encourage visitors to Paris to contact him and let Richard be your personal tour guide to the Paris you probably wouldn't otherwise see!

Un peu de goût de l'Italie - à Paris: Pain aux olives

2007-03-08T15:40:00.000+01:00

A little taste of Italy - in Paris: Olive Bread
Simple to make et délicieux - pain aux olives.
Photos courtesy of Run Around Paris, and taken at
Restaurant La Piccola Brescia,
31 rue Pelleport
75020 Paris
Tel: 01 43 61 07 91

Run Around Paris has been running a delightful series called "Petite Interrogation - Getting to know Paris one Parisian at a time." On le 28 février, the "Petite Interrogation" was with Jeremy, the chef de cuisine at an Italian restaurant in Paris, La Piccola Brescia. In this interview, Jeremy shared his recette pour pain aux olives. Run Around Paris has been kind enough to allow Louis la Vache to post Jeremy's recette. If you look at the post at Run Around Paris, you'll see that Jeremy converted most of the recette to U.S. measurements when he translated it into English, but Louis has converted the rest for his readers aux États-Unis. Louis also modified the recette slightly based upon his experience as un boulanger.

À table!

La recette pour Pain aux Olives est ICI, (HERE, en anglais).

Oh la vache ! Est-elle la petite amie de Louis la Vache?

2007-03-08T04:06:00.000+01:00

Holy Cow! Is she the girlfriend of Louis la Vache?

"Oui, c'est elle! C'est la déesse!"
Yes! It's her! It's the goddess!
- from "Au fond du temple saint," tenor duet in "Les pêcheures de perles,"
"The Pearl Fishers, " opéra par Georges Bizet

Eric at Paris Daily Photo may have discovered something Louis la Vache hasn't told us about! Go HERE and draw your own conclusions!

Les Fromages de France: Pont l'Évêque

2007-02-28T05:16:00.000+01:00

The Cheeses of France: Pont l'Évêque ("Bishop's Bridge")

Pont l'Évêque, one of the oldest cheeses in Normandie, has been celebrated in poetry and in travel writing since le XII ème siècle. It was mentioned by moyen âge writer Guillaume de Loris in his book Roman de la Rose. Originally called l'Angelot (cherub) du Pont l'Évêque by the monks who made it, it's current name dates to le XVII ème siècle. Pont l'Évêque is one of the most famous cheeses in France.

Pont l'Èvêque is typically sold in little wooden boxes. However, Louis la Vache doubts that the monks making it in le XII ème siècle applied the UPC to the label, the scanners for reading the UPCs not quite having been perfected at the time....

It was between World War I and World War II, that the cheese began to gain in popularity, being cited as among the le meilleur in France. Farmers in the Pays d'Auge region, around the town of Pont l'Évêque, formed a syndicate to protect and guarantee the quality of their product. It received an AOC designation (Appellation d’Origine Contrôlée) in 1972.

Voici est le pont du Èvêque

La chapelle d'abbaye Pont l'Èvêque

The town of Pont l'Évêque is west of Caen and near the "D-Day" Beaches.

Cliquez pour agrandir

Le fromage can be made with raw milk or pasturized milk by fermier (farmer), artisanale or industrial methods. The curds are cut, kneaded, drained then salted on the fifth day. It is aged for at least two months. During the aging period, depending on the producer, the rind may be washed and turned several times or it may be left to dry. If you choose a Pont l'Évêque that has a dried rind, it is better to remove the rind before eating. It takes three litres of milk to produce the most popular size, a square of about 3.5" (7.6 cm) and weighing 3 ounces (85 grams). Pont l'Évêque is typically 45% matière gras (fat). The taste is characterized by a deep, milky taste with undertones of butter and hazelnuts. It is served at the end of a meal with some fresh bread, along with a cidre Normand.

Norma la Vache Normande. Elle est une cousine de Louis. Perhaps she (ahem) made a contribution to the production of les fromages pictured above.

- • • -

For more about les fromages de France, see also:
Pour vôtre régal de nouvelle année: Brie Farcie

Recettes pour le Dimanche: Croque Normande

Plus de recettes:

French Cheese

The Paris Cookbook

....and for something a little different:

Sex, Cheese and French Fries: Woman are Perfect, Men are from France

This article may also be found at Les Recettes de Louis la Vache

Compositeur Léo Delibes est né le 21 février 1836

2007-02-27T18:10:00.000+01:00

Composer Léo Delibes was born 21 February 1836
This man has the answer to the question "Where did that British Airways theme song come from?"

Romantic-era composer Léo Delibes was born in Saint-Germain-du-Val on le 21 février 1836. Delibes was the son of a mailman and a musical mother, but also the grandson of an opéra singer. He was raised mainly by his mother and uncle following his father's early death. In 1871, at the age of 35, the composer married Léontine Estelle Denain. Delibes died 20 years later on le 16 janvier 1891, and was buried in le Cimetière de Montmartre, Paris.

In 1847, Delibes began studying composition at le Conservatoire de Paris as a student of Adolphe Adam. A year later, he also began taking voice lessons, though he would end up a much better organ player than singer. He held positions as a rehearsal accompanist and chorus master at le Théâtre-Lyrique, second chorus master at l'Opéra de Paris in 1864, and as organist at l'église Saint-Pierre-de-Chaillot between 1865 and 1871.

The first of many operettas by Delibes was Deux sous le charbon, written in 1856 for les Folies-Nouvelles. Delibes achieved true fame in 1870 with the success of his ballet Coppélia; its title referred to a doll, depicted in the work, which comes to life. Other ballets include Sylvia (1876), and La Source (1866), his first, which he wrote with Léon Minkus. Delibes is remembered among musicologists for raising the quality standard for ballet music.

Delibes also composed various opéras, the last of which, the lushly beautiful Lakmé (1883), contains, among many dazzling numbers, the famous coloratura showpiece known as le Légende du Paria or Bell Song ("Où va la jeune Indoue?") and The Flower Duet, a barcarolle that British Airways commercials made familiar to non-opéra-goers. At the time, his opéras impressed Tchaikovsky enough for the composer to rate Delibes more highly than Brahms - which seems faint praise when one considers that the Russian composer considered Brahms "a giftless bastard."

In 1867 Delibes composed le Divertissement Le Jardin Animé for a revival of the Joseph Mazilier/Adolphe Adam ballet Le Corsaire; wrote a Mass, a cantata on the theme of Algiers; and composed operettas and occasional music for the theater, such as dances and antique airs for Victor Hugo's Le roi s'amuse, the play that Verdi turned into Rigoletto. Some musicologists believe that the ballet in Gounod's "Faust" was actually composed by Delibes.

Despite Tchaikovsky's damning "praise" of him, Delibes work is known to have been a great influence on Tchaikovsky and other composers including Camille Saint-Saëns and Claude Debussy.

Listening to Delibes:

You can get "The Flower Duet," (the British Air theme) here:
0028946763223:Product Link on Barnes & Noble.com.

Peintre Honoré Daumier

2007-02-26T16:19:00.000+01:00

Painter Honoré Daumier

French artist Honoré Daumier, born either on le 26 février ou le 20 février in 1808, was renowned for his cartoons and drawings satirizing French society, and his paintings helped introduce Impressionist techniques into modern art.

Daumier's skill as a satirist caused him to be imprisoned and placed in a mental institution. King Louis-Philippe did not appreciate Daumier's satirical drawings of him, comparing his facial features to a pear. Go HERE for the details of those events and a review of Daumier's life.

A Daumier satirical portrait of a Magistrate
"He's a satirist, a scoffer; / But the power with which he paints / Evil and his retinue / Attests the beauty of his heart."

Charles Baudelaire, from Vers pour le portrait d'Honoré Daumier in Les Épaves (1866)

More reading:

Daumier: One Hundred Twenty Great Lithographs

Daumier

Chester Nimitz, Amiral de la Marine aux États-Unis, est mort le 20 février 1966

2007-02-20T04:22:00.000+01:00

Chester Nimitz, Admiral of the United States Navy,
died 20 February 1966
Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. A man of impeccable integrity, he was never touched by any kind of scandal during his long career in the U.S. Navy.

Louis la Vache is an avid reader of the history of la deuxième Guerre Mondiale, so he occasionally will post an article about that cataclysm. The anniversary of the death of Admiral Chester Nimitz is one such occasion, Admiral Nimitz being one of Louis la Vache's heroes. On the anniversary of Admiral Nimitz's death last year, Louis la Vache posted this brief history of the Admiral's life.

See also: The Doolittle Raid

Admiral Nimitz could have been buried at Arlington Cemetery, but he was always modest and unassuming. He shunned burial at Arlington and specified that he be buried among those who fought with him and that he have the same type of grave and tombstone as would a common sailor. Joining him is his wife, Catherine and three other admirals who fought with Nimitz in the Pacific and their wives: Charles Lockwood (submarines), Richmond Kelly Turner and Raymond Spurance. They are buried at San Bruno, California on the peninsula south of San Francisco.

Words from Admiral Nimitz that certain members of the current House and Senate should remember vis-à-vis our efforts against terrorism.

On Memorial Day 2005, Louis la Vache took the pictures (below) of the four Admirals and their wives. In the final picture is Alex, from Guam, whose father served as an orderly for Admiral Nimitz. Louis la Vache noticed that Alex, whom he had never met until just then, seemed lost. Louis asked the man if he could help him find someone's grave. Alex told his story and Louis showed him where Admiral Nimitz is buried.

Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz. A Texan by birth, Admiral Nimitz died in the San Francisco Bay Area where he settled after retiring from the Navy.

Admiral Raymond Spruance alternated sea duty with Admiral Turner (below) and staff duty with their boss, Admiral Nimitz. Admiral Spruance commanded U.S. forces in the Battle of Midway, the battle where the tide of the war in the Pacific turned in the favor of the U.S.

Admrial Richmond Kelly "Terrible" Turner. He planned and executed the conquest of enemy positions in the south, central and western Pacific, contributing greatly to ultimate victory in the World's greatest naval war.

Virginian Charles Lockwood commanded the submarine fleet in the Pacific. He was one of the key officers in proving to the Navy's obstinate and hidebound Department of Ordnance that their torpedoes were doubly faulty - both the impact and magnetic exploders were improperly designed. The Department of Ordnance insisted the submariners couldn't shoot. Lockwood oversaw test firings that proved what his sub skippers had been telling him - the "fish" wouldn't fire when they hit their targets.

Four Admirals and their four wives. San Bruno, California.

Alex, from Guam, standing by Admiral Nimitz's grave. Alex's father served as an orderly for Admiral Nimitz when Nimitz was on Guam.

More reading:

Nimitz

How They Won the War in the Pacific: Nimitz and His Admirals

The book below, "Carnage and Culture," includes a discussion of the Battle of Midway. "Carnage and Culture" was written by farmer, classicist and member of the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, Victor Davis Hanson.

Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power

Le Calendrier Républicain Français

2007-02-19T22:58:00.000+01:00

The French Republican Calendar

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La révolution Française sought to overthrow everything related to the Monarchy and the Catholic Church, including the calendar. Thus le calendrier Républicain Français was used by le gouvernement révolutionnaire for about twelve years from late 1793. The calendar was designed by the politician and agronomist Charles Gilbert Romme, although it is usually attributed to Fabre d'Églantine, who invented the names of the months. It was adopted by the Jacobin-controlled National Convention on le 24 octobre 1793.

Years appear in writing as Roman numerals, counted from the beginning of the 'Republican Era', le 22 septembre 1792 (the day the French First Republic was proclaimed, one day after the Convention abolished the monarchy). As a result, Roman Numeral I indicates the first year of la république, that is, the year before the calendar actually came into use. The first day of each year included the autumnal equinox. There were twelve months, each divided into three ten-day weeks called décades. The five or six extra days needed to approximate the tropical year were placed after the months at the end of each year. Each day was divided into ten hours, each hour into 100 decimal minutes and each decimal minute had 100 decimal seconds. Thus an hour was more than twice as long as a conventional hour; a minute was slightly longer than a conventional minute; and a second was slightly shorter than a conventional second. Clocks were manufactured to display this decimal time, but it did not catch on and was officially abandoned in 1795, although some cities continued to use decimal time as late as 1801.

Horlogue-Républicaine, clock face using the system adopted during la révolution française.
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A period of four years ending on a leap day was to be called a Franciade.

Dimanche, Sunday, or the day after the Sabbath was reintroduced by the Concordat of 1801, effective le dimanche de Pâques, Easter Sunday, le 18 avril 1802.

Napoléon finally abolished the calendar effective on le 1 janvier 1806 (the day after le 10 Nivôse an XIV), a little over twelve years after its introduction. However, it was used again during the Revolution of 1848 and during the brief Paris Commune in 1871 (year LXXIX).

Calendier-républicain designed in 1794 by Debucourt
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Many conversion tables and programs exist, largely created by genealogists. Some enthusiasts in France still use the calendar, more out of historical re-enactment than practicality.

The calendar was abolished because having a ten-day work week gave workers less rest (one day off every ten instead of one day off every seven); because the equinox was a mobile date to start every new year (a fantastic source of confusion for almost everybody); and because it was incompatible with the secular rhythms of trade fairs and agricultural markets.
Perhaps the most famous date in this calendar was immortalised by Karl Marx in the title of his 1852 pamphlet, "The 18th Brumaire of Louis Napoléon." Le 18 Brumaire An VIII (9 novembre 1799) is considered the end of la révolution française.

Another famous revolutionary date is le 9 Thermidor An II (le 27 juillet 1794), the date the Convention turned against Robespierre, who, along with others associated with "the Mountain," was guillotined the following day.

Based on the above event, the term "Thermidorian" entered the Marxist vocabulary as refering to revolutionaries who destroy the revolution from the inside and turn against its true aims. For example, Trotsky and his followers used this term about Stalin.

Emile Zola's novel Germinal takes its name from the calendar, as does the dish, Lobster thermidor. The frigates la marine française of the Floréal class frigate all bear names of les mois-républicains.

The Republican calendar year began at the autumn equinox and had twelve months of 30 days each, which were given new names based on nature:

L'automne / Autumn:
Vendémiaire (from Latin vindemia, "vintage") Starting 22, 23 or 24 september
Brumaire (from French brume, "mist") Starting 22, 23 or 24 october
Frimaire (From French frimas, "frost") Starting 21, 22 or 23 novembre

L'hiver / Winter:
Nivôse (from Latin nivosus, "snowy") Starting 21, 22 or 23 décembre
Pluviôse (from Latin pluviosus, "rainy") Starting 20, 21 or 22 janvier
Ventôse (from Latin ventosus, "windy") Starting 19, 20 or 21 févriere

Le printemps / Spring:
Germinal (from Latin germen, "seed") Starting 20 or 21 mars
Floréal (from Latin flos, "flower") Starting 20 or 21 avril
Prairial (from French prairie, "meadow") Starting 20 or 21 mai

L'éte / Summer:
Messidor (from Latin messis, "harvest") Starting 19 or 20 juin
Thermidor (from Greek thermos, "hot") Starting 19 or 20 juillet
Fructidor (from Latin fructus, "fruits") Starting 18 or 19 août

Note that the English names are approximate, as most of the month names were new words coined from similar French, Latin or Greek words. The endings of the names are grouped by season.

In England, people against la révolution mocked the calendar by calling the months: Wheezy, Sneezy and Freezy; Slippy, Drippy and Nippy; Showery, Flowery and Bowery; Wheaty, Heaty and Sweety.

Les dix jours de la semaine / Ten days of the week

The month is divided into three decades or 'weeks' of ten days each, named simply:
primidi (first day)
duodi (second day)
tridi (third day)
quartidi (fourth day)
quintidi (fifth day)
sextidi (sixth day)
septidi (seventh day)
octidi (eighth day)
nonidi (ninth day)
décadi (tenth day)

Les jours de l'année / Days of the year

Instead of most days having a saint as in the Traditional Catholic Calendar, each day has an animal (days ending in 5), a tool (days ending in 0) or else a plant or mineral (all other days) associated with it.

Les jours supplémentaires / Extra days

Five extra days (six in leap years) were national holidays at the end of every year. These were originally known as les sans-culottides, after the sans-culottes, but after an III (1795) they were known as les jours complémentaires:
La Fête de la Vertu "Virtue Day" on 17 or 18 septembre
La Fête du Génie "Talent Day" on 18 or 19 septembre
La Fête du Travail "Labour Day" on 19 or 20 septembre
La Fête de l'Opinion "Opinion Day" on 20 or 21 septembre
La Fête des Récompenses "Rewards Day" on 21 or 22 septembre
La Fête de la Révolution "Revolution Day" on 22 or 23 septembre (Leap years)

For more information, see The Republican Calendar and Decimal Time

More reading:
French Revolutionary Calendar

Amiral de France Gaspard de Coligny est né le 16 février 1519

2007-02-16T10:58:00.000+01:00

Admiral of France Gaspard de Coligny was born
16 February 1519

Gaspard de Coligny, Seigneur de Châtillon, Amiral de France and Huguenot (Protestant) leader was born on le 16 février 1519 into a noble family of Bourgogne.

Although titled amiral de France, his military fame came from his land battles rather than from his service in la marine. His family traced their line to le XI ème siècle. In the reign of Louis XI, members of the family were in the service of the King. His father, Gaspard I de Coligny, known as le maréchal de Châtillon, served in the Italian Wars from 1495 to 1515, and was named maréchal de France in 1516. By his wife, Louise de Montmorency, sister of the future constable, Gaspard I had three sons, all of whom played an important part in the first period of the Wars of Religion: Odet, Cardinal de Châtillon; Gaspard, l'amiral; and François, Seigneur d'Andelot.

Born at Châtillon-sur-Loing, Gaspard de Coligny came to court at age twenty-two. There he began a friendship with François de Guise, a friendship that later would turn to deadly animosity.

In the campaign of 1543 Coligny distinguished himself, and was wounded at the sieges of Montmédy and Bains. In 1544 he served in the Italian campaign under le comte de Enghien, and was knighted on the Field of Ceresole. Returning to France, he took part in different military operations; and having been made colonel-general of the infantry (avril 1547), exhibited great capacity and intelligence as a military reformer. That year he married Charlotte de Laval. He was made amiral on the death of Claude d'Annebaut (1552). In 1557 he was entrusted with the defence of Saint-Quentin. In the siege he displayed great courage, resolution, and strength of character. Nevertheless Saint-Quentin was taken, and de Coligny was imprisoned in the stronghold of L'Ecluse. He was freed after the payment of a ransom of 50,000 crowns.

By this time he had become a Huguenot, the French branch of Calvinism, through the influence of his brother, d'Andelot. John Calvin addressed a letter to de Coligny on le 4 septembre 1558. De Coligny busied himself secretly with protecting his co-religionists, a colony of whom he sent to Brazil, under the leadership of his friend and navy colleague, vice-amiral Nicolas Durand de Villegaignon, who successfully established the France Antarctique colony in Rio de Janeiro in 1555. They were afterwards expelled by the Portuguese in 1567. De Coligny also was the leading patron for the failed French colony of Fort Caroline in Spanish Florida led by Jean Ribault in 1562.

On the death of Henri I, de Coligny aligned himself, with Louis prince de Condé as leaders of the Huguenots, and demanded religious toleration and certain other reforms. In 1560, at the Assembly of Notables at Fontainebleau, the hostility between Coligny and François de Guise broke forth violently. When the civil wars began in 1562, de Coligny decided to take arms only after long hesitation, and he was always ready to negotiate. In none of these wars did he show superior genius, but he acted throughout with great prudence and extraordinary tenacity; he was le héros de la mauvaise fortune."

In 1569 the defeat and death of the Prince de Condé at Jarnac left de Coligny sole leader of the Protestant armies. Victorious at Arnay-le-Duc, he obtained peace with the Peace of Saint-Germain (1570). Marrying Jacqueline de Montbel, la comtesse d'Entremont, and returning to the court in 1571, he grew rapidly in favor with Charles IX. As a means of freeing the king from the tutelage of his mother, the deviously political Catherine de Médici, and the faction of the Guises, l'amiral proposed to Charles an attack on Spanish Flanders, with an army drawn from both Huguenots and Catholics and commanded by Charles in person. The king's regard for l'adiral, and the bold front of the Huguenots, alarmed the Queen Mother Catherine. The le Massacre du Saint-Barthélemy was the consequence.

On le 22 août 1572 de Coligny was shot in the street by Maurevel, an assassin in the pay of Catherine de Médici and the Guises; the bullets, however, only tore a finger from his right hand and shattered his left elbow. The king visited him, but the queen-mother prevented all private conversation between them. On le 24 août, the night of the massacre, de Coligny was attacked in his house. A servant of le duc de Guise, known as Besme, taking advantage of de Coligny's wounds from the previous attempt on his life, murdered de Coligny and defenestrated him into the courtyard at the feet of le duc de Guise. De Coligny's papers were seized and burned by the queen-mother; among them a history of the civil war, très beau et très bien fais, et digne d'estre imprimé."

By his first wife, Charlotte de Laval (1530-1568), de Coligny had several children: Louise, who married first Charles de Téligny and afterwards William the Silent, Prince of Orange; Francois, amiral de Guienne, who was one of the devoted servants of Henri IV. (Gaspard de Coligny (1584–1646), son of this Francis, was maréchal de France during the reign of Louis XIII), and Charles (1564-1632), Marquis d'Andelot, a lieutenant-général in Champagne.

By his second wife, Jacqueline de Montbel (d.1588), the Countess d'Entremont and Launay-Gelin, Gaspard had one daughter, Beatrice, who became la comtesse d'Entremont.

More reading:

Catherine de Medici and the Protestant Reformation

Catherine de Medici: Renaissance Queen of France

A biography of Catherine de Médici by Honoré de Balzac:

Catherine de' Medici

Recette: Gâteau "velours-rouge" pour le jour de Valentine

2007-02-13T08:39:00.000+01:00

Red Velvet cake for Valentine's Day
Red Velvet Cake, a favorite in the U.S. south, here decorated for Valentine's Day

Louis la Vache admits that this recette is decidedly NOT French - but it is perfect for Valentine's Day! The true origins of Red Velvet cake are obscure and complicated by Urban Legend stories. The cake has long been associated with the cooking of the U.S. south more than with any other region, although it is also known in Canada. A resurgence in the popularity of the cake is partly attributed to the 1989 film "Steel Magnolias" in which the groom's cake (another southern tradition) is a Red Velvet cake.

À table!

Red Velvet Cake

Oven 350º F / Four 350º C

INGRÉDIENTS:

1/2 cup shortening
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
2 tablespoons cocoa
1 1/2 oz red food coloring
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups flour
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon soda
1 tablespoon vinegar

MÉTHODE:

1. Grease 2 - 9" cake pans with vegetable shortening. (Or for this occasion, use heart-shaped pans)
2. Dust the pans with flour, tap excess flour from pans.
3. In the bowl of an electric mixer, cream 1/2 cup shortening.
4. Beat in sugar gradually.
5. Add eggs, one at a time; beat well after each addition.
6. Make paste of cocoa and food coloring; add to creamed mixture.
7. Add salt, flour and vanilla alternately with buttermilk, beating well after each addition.
8. Sprinkle soda over vinegar; pour vinegar over batter.
9. Mix thoroughly.
10. Pour batter into the prepared pans.
11. Bake for 30 minutes at 350° F/180º C.
12.Remove from oven, cool on cake rack before depanning.
13. When completely cool, frost with Cream Cheese frosting (recette suivante)

Note: You may also bake this recette in 3 - 8" pans.

Cream Cheese Frosting

INGRÉDIENTS:

1/4 cup butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound confectioners' sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

MÉTHODE:

1. In the bowl of an electric mixer, combine all ingredients.
2. Beat well until smooth.

Makes enough cream cheese frosting for a 2-layer cake.

A tempting slice of Red Velvet in the 3-layer version. As Louis la Vache's Oklahoma friend "DJ" would say, "It's a gum-slammer!"

Et voila! Bon appétit!

This recette is also posted at Les Recettes de Louis la Vache.

Plus de recettes:

Southern Cakes: Sweet and Irresistible Recipes for Everyday Celebrations

The Lady & Sons Just Desserts: More than 120 Sweet Temptations from Savannah's Favorite Restaurant

Paula Deen's Kitchen Classics: The Lady & Sons Savannah Country Cookbook and The Lady & Sons, Too!