My favorite thing about France is the way they live their life: everything is celebrated, from food to culture to language to fashion to art. It can all be summed up in the most famous phrase: C'est La Vie--such is life!

Who is Yumi? Can you please e-mail me? Thanks!

We have a winner! Thanks everyone for playing along, and thanks to Local Food Service.com for the tickets.

Beanie - you win two tickets to tonight's fabulous dinner. I have no doubt that you will enjoy every single bite.

Please e-mail me quickly: mvocaire@hotmail.com.

If I don't hear from you by 3:30, I'll have to pick another winner (want to make sure these tix don't go to waste!).

Without the French we wouldn't have the phrase joie de vivre - which is always a worthwhile pursuit!

Beignets!

Duck confit and foie gras!

Les macarons, bien sur!

crepes are delicious.

I've been dieing to try the Greenhouse and would love the oppurtunity.

When I think French/BASTILLE DAY, one thing comes to mind. High School English classes. I was in Honors English my freshman yr and had the pleasure of being taught every bit of symbology in "Tale of Two Cities" by one of my schools more excentric teachers.

Senior yr I had dropped Honors English for College Prep English. I found myself finishing high school with the same teacher I'd started it with and reading the "Tale" once again.

...I'm sure this isn't what you were looking for when you asked for our favorite thing about the French, but them memories are so vivid it's all that comes to mind.

Ciroc vodka....

So many things...but of course one of the best...the beauty of the language. We say, "potato", they say, "pomme de terre" meaning "apple of the earth"!!!! yes! so beautiful.

P.S. Love your blog! :)

The Little Prince (and french food of course!).

Escoffier...
& My wife Monique

Foie Gras

Jean-Luc Goddard

i lovelovelove the macarons and of course, an authentic croissant. mmm mmm

PARIS! Eating at L'Os à Moelle, Le Sensing, Le Comptoir du Relais, Bread & Roses, tasting menus, ordering blind off the menu and getting the most amazing (still unidentifiable) meal of your life. And Chanel. God Bless Chanel.

Stinky cheese.

The film Amelie. So good.

I like how the French were hip to the green movement long before us Americans. Seemingly the entire country has been saving thousands of gallons of water each year by limiting their showers to once a week.

how thoughtful of them

gruyere cheese!

chocolate croissants... yum!

Do I have to pick just one thing? hmmm, the attitude of "being french" would have to be the most complex and unparalleled.

For me it would have to be the aromas of the outside cafes, and the men.

Loire and Champagne....and cognac.

My family is originally from a small village on the border of France and Switzerland. I have not been to visit, yet, but if there's something to make me feel like I am there, count me in.
Oh, and I LOVE croissants.

My favorite thing about the french is their sense of style and passion for simple, sexy food. (+ they take long lunches and feel NO GUILT)

My Favorite thing about the French is their cycling culture and their presentation of the greatest sporting event in the world, Le Tour de France!

Le Petit Prince. I had a long talk with a local one day at a small town village fair...it was awesome, the French were so nice to us!

does french men count?

no?

ok i enjoy their crepes, wine and fashion.

oui oui

Simone De Beauvoir

Mmmmm - cheese.

I love cycling and I love France. Hmmmm.. I'm not quite sure how I could put those two together. . . perhaps I'll think of something Monday night.

I love French cheese. Sadly, the good stuff doesn't make it this side of the pond thanks to USDA regulations...

I had the pleasure to be in France on Bastille Day! What a wonderful time on the river.

Oooh, a touch one. I'm tempted to pick 'poutine', but I think that's really [french] Canadian.

My official answer: the croissants filled with chocolate that I splurged on, and meant I couldn't afford to actually go into the Eiffel Tower. And I'd do that again, too.

Hard to pick just one thing, and I haven't spent nearly enough time there.

My favorites: the landscape in the south -- white rock and lush vegetation, the chateaus you get to see from helicopter during the Tour, the simple food, the complex food, the lifestyle, the language.

My favorite thing about the French...everything! But, mostly bread, crepes and their beautiful country.

Le Crueset! I can not make Gumbo without my pan...

Châteauneuf du Pape

Rochambeau, Lafayette, and the French Navy. It might have just taken a lot longer, but then again, America might not be here without them.

And cassoulet.

What the heck is NOT to like!
They have all the good stuff....public health insurance, the mandatory 35 hour work week/24 days off a year...the carousels, cafes, yogurt, rustic stews, chocolate croissants, baguettes, CHEESE, New Wave cinema, Chanel...and that Napoleon was one sexy mutha!

Jean-Paul Sartre

That I got over my first stupid high school infatuation while I was on a bateaux-mouche in Paris at age 16 eating a hot baguette, looking at the bakeries opening up for the day with steam fogging the windows, realizing that there was a whole amazing world waiting to be tasted...promptly followed by a celebratory crepe avec nutella et framboises.

French Onion Soup.....and luscious custard for dessert!

The museums and the macorons!

La belle langue française

My favorite thing about the french is the F word. (Please excuse my French.)

I love that the parks in Paris have chairs you can actually take a nap in and if one of the people taking a nap is a homeless guy with a bottle of wine this is not the end of the world.

I love the house dishes in the little wine shops. One simple choice, perfectly made.

Street crepes for breakfast, chocolate and banana, and then the flea market. And the small farmers' market with live goats and turtles and the most perfect apricots as though perfect apricots were no big deal.

The frites, duh!