Quatorze Juillet with the Cooleys

July 14, 2018 -- Quatorze Juillet, which Americans refer to as Bastille Day, begins quietly, at home.  Like many Parisians, we laze about the apartment and watch the military parade on TV.  In fact, this is our biggest TV day of the year, because we also watch the Tour de France in the afternoon, and in the evening we will watch the big concert and fireworks show -- all on French national television.  Then the rest of the year, we pretty much watch no television whatsoever (not counting Netflix on my tablet).

A modern twist on a traditional Moroccan dish called a Pastilla, at O Fil Rouge on the rue St. Charles.

Since I'm home all day today, I'm doing a couple loads of laundry.  French washing machines take a long time to wash a load.   Dryers take a long time, too.  This one has a reservoir that fills with water which must be emptied after each load.  The dryer doesn't vent.

That sounds dull, but the concert and fireworks show are not dull at all.  Tom and I don't do crowds anymore, and besides, we've discovered, the only way to see the entirety of the huge fireworks show is on TV -- with all the helicopter views all around.  Dan will go out and mix with the masses, however.

Last night we dined out at O Fil Rouge on the rue St. Charles.  With a 20 percent discount (on food, not drinks) thanks to lafourchette.com (thefork.com), we splurged on a Chateaubriand steak for Dan.  I had a Moroccan dish called a pastilla, stuffed with tender, savory braised lamb.  It was accompanied by heavenly puréed sweet potatoes.   Tom had a large veal chop.  The guys also got puréed potatoes with a generous sprinkling of chives.

For dessert, we shared one order of O Fil Rouge's famous pain perdu in a pool of rich caramel sauce.

Service was warm and friendly.  We were remembered as the Floridians that we are (well, at least Tom and I are).  The restaurant was full people and is showing signs of success.  Each year something about the decor is changed, making the place a bit more sumptuous and chic, looking a little less like someone clever decorated on a tight budget.

Chateaubriand topped with foie gras, with puréed potatoes and chives.

Three nights ago we also had a nice dinner, this one at l'Alchimie.  This is the first time Dan has treated us to dinner!  Dan and I each had a perfectly cooked fish filet that was rolled in a tube which was filled with a minced mushroom stuffing.  The concoction sat atop a small bed of tasty polenta.

Tom had a pluma de negra, which is a special, tender cut of pork.  We shared a couple servings of moelleaux au chocolat.  Lovely dinner!

In each of these restaurants, we were the only non-French people.  And that's the way we like it.