French Cuisine

"The French... have surrounded food with so much commentary, learning and connoisseurship as to clothe it in the vestments of civilization itself... Cooking is viewed as a major art form: innovations are celebrated and talked about as though they were phrases in the development of a style of painting or poetry... A meal at a truly great restaurant is a sort of theatre you can eat."
Richard Bernstein, The Fragile Glory

French cooking is about extremes. From haute cuisine to provincial cuisine. From subtle flavors to bold flavors. From complicated recipes to the most simplistic. And French food is pretty food. Even when the meal is simple, it is elegantly presented.





One of the greatest French treasures is undoubtedly their rich cuisine. French people try to find as many occasions as possible to spend time at the table, with their family and friends to enjoy the taste and flavor of good food and drinks.

La cuisine est une passion chez les Français et les organisent le rythme de la vie. Pendant la semaine, ils sont assez simples. En France, le dîner, pris vers huit heures du soir, est l'occasion de se retrouver en famille. Les repas de fêtes familiales ou amicales sont plus élaborés. Le repas de famille est un moment de convivalité.

Claude Monet's garden at Giverny

The Water Garden
In 1893, ten years after his arrival at Giverny, Monet bought the piece of land neighboring his property on the other side of the railway. It was crossed by a small brook, the Ru. Monet had the first small pond dug. Later on, the pond would be enlarged to its present day size. The water garden is full of asymmetries and curves. It is inspired by the Japanese gardens that Monet knew from the prints he collected.
In this water garden you will find the famous Japanese bridge covered with wisterias, other smaller bridges, weeping willows, a bamboo wood and above all the famous nympheas which bloom all summer long.
Claude Monet n'a jamais été au Japon, mais il a collectionné les estampes japonaises avec passion. Il aimait toutes les plantes exotiques qui y figurent et il en a introduit beaucoup dans son jardin de Giverny, notamment les bambous. Les Européens qui visitent les jardins de Monet à Giverny sont souvent surpris par la taille de ces bambous. Ils doivent atteindre huit mètres environ.
Monet was exceptionally fond of painting controlled nature: his own gardens in Giverny, with its bamboo, pond, and bridge.
He wrote daily instructions to his gardening staff, precise designs and layouts for plantings, and invoices for his floral purchases and his collection of botany books. As Monet's wealth grew, his garden evolved. He remained its architect, even after he hired seven gardeners.

Paris-Plage

For one month every summer, the Georges Pompidou Expressway along Paris’s Right Bank transforms into a pedestrian refuge replete with a sandy beach. A dazzling array of attractions vie for your attention, from activities like dance lessons, climbing walls, games, and swimming (in floating pools, not the Seine, thankfully), to amenities like beach chairs, cafes, misting fountains, and shady palm trees. Its enormous popularity can be traced to strong management and innovative programming, which keep the place humming well into the night with shows and performances. Though financed in part by corporate sponsors, the acknowledgements are appropriately modest. There are no outrageous logos on display, and the experience never feels overwhelmed by commercialism. Paris Plage is a truly public space of tremendous benefit to everyone.

Aux mois de juillet et d'août, c'est Paris-Plage. Oui! Pour ceux qui ne peuvent pas aller à la plage vient chez eux! Les bords de la Seine se transforment miraculeusement en plage: palmiers, sable, cabines de bain, pistes de danse. La place devant l'Hôtel de Ville se transforme en courts de beach volley le jour et en lieu de festival du cinéma à la belle étoile la nuit. Tout est gratuit!

Salon du Chocolat

Delicious chocolates! Chocolate makers from all over France! But it's not just about chocolate. What it's really about is enterprising people following their dream to make something they are passionate about. They all have wonderful stories to tell and delicious things for you to taste.
Such as Nougat de Montélimar. A l'origine gâteau romain de miel et de noix, le nougat sous sa forme actuelle apparut au XVIIème siècle à Montélimar. Ainsi le vrai nougat, fierté et renommé internationale des Montiliens, composé d'amandes grillées, de pistaches et de miel, régale petits ou grands et s'offre en cadeau comme on le fit jadis aux rois de France.


Yum! J'aime le chocolat!