Toward the end of the nineteenth century my great-grandfather and his brother fled from the village of Betchdorf in Alsace to the United States to avoid conscription in the German Army. France had lost the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and Alsace was lost to the German Empire. My great-grandfather (known to me only as the old man in the eight millimeter home movies of my first birthday and Christmas) told everyone in his German accent "I am French!"
For me that is reason enough to celebrate Bastille Day, Le 14 Juillet, the French national holiday.
At 8:00 am on Sunday the Greenwich Chapter of the Alliance Francais celebrates Liberté, Égalité, Fraternité with a flag raising at the Greenwich Town Hall where the crowd will sing "Les Marseillaise" and "the Star Spangled Banner", lead by the dulcet tones of Bea Crumbine, and listen to an address from the French Consul General and local politicians about Franco-American friendship. After the ceremony everyone usually re-convenes at a local French restaurant, this year Meli Melo on Greenwich Avenue, for a continental breakfast.
Last year celebrated restaurateur Jean Louis Gerin threw a block party on Lewis Street as Bastille Day fell on a Saturday highlighted by an electrical fire and the arrival of the Greenwich Fire Department. Alas Jean Louis and his charming "Deux Chevaux" automobile have decamped to the Vermont Culinary Institute.
Perhaps a visit to the new cafe "Le Penguin", recently opened in the old "Jean Louis" location, would be the perfect way to cap your celebration of "Le 14 Juillet."
