Vive la France!

To celebrate Bastille Day, my good friend Ben and I decided to celebrate all things French on Saturday.

Ben is a self-proclaimed francophile. And if you count watching "Nouvelle Star" (the French version of "American Idol") on YouTube and having completed three months of French class (as of today), I guess you can count me in as one of those people as well.

Anyhow, our soirée started with dinner at Maximilien, which is coincidentally the French restaurant where Tim proposed after a private cooking class with Chef Willy. Chef Willy, now the manager, is also a friend of Ben's, a noteworthy fact, since it got us one of the best tables on the deck as well as complimentary champagne!

We ordered from the Bastille Day menu special. I had the endive/frisee salad, but Ben preferred to order the gaspacho (not very French, I know). The endives in my salad could have been a bit crispier, but overall I enjoyed the light dish, which went well with the warm summer evening. For our plat principal we both had the lamb with roasted veggies. Not exactly sure what part of the lamb it was, but it was a bit overdone. The rich sauce and the veggies were very good though. And to wrap it up, we both had the tarte aux pommes, which was delicious. I ate mine and half of Ben's. We also got the wine course, which consisted of a wine pairing with each of the courses. For somebody who can't even finish a glass, the 3 glasses + champagne were a bit much, and I was a bit drunk by the time dessert was served. Oh well, vive la France!

All of the diners were serenaded by a quartet playing nice old-school French music.

We talked to the chef/manager some more and then I met Axel, the restaurant owner. It was a very exciting moment indeed. It's too bad Diesel couldn't come (he's been is Australia since last Monday). He would have loved it.

After dessert we had to rush to the movie theater to watch Paris, Je T'Aime, a collection of vignettes about love and life in the City of Lights. Each segment was directed by a different director. Some bigshots such as the Coen Brothers and other high-profile international directors such as Walter Salles leave their mark. I highly recommend this charming movie, even if you're not a francophile. That was the perfect end to the perfect evening. Next year there'll be even more wine and more fun in celebration of Bastille Day! This all made me even more excited about our trip to Paris at the end of August.