Doesn’t it feel like summer is whizzing past on super speed? August is just around the corner and I feel like the season is just getting going. Regardless of time, one of the highlights of my summer is always the FIAF Bastille Day celebration on East 60th Street! I’ve been fortunate enough to be able to attend the festivities every summer I’ve lived in New York.
Unlike other street fairs (of which there are many in this city) FIAF’s Bastille Day celebration is strictly French. My regular company (my friends Kyle and Patrique from my study abroad in Paris) were absent from the festival this year, but my mom finally made it down from Albany to join in the fun!
This year I was able to see the festivities from a new perspective. I can easily see and enjoy that all the food, treats, books and other goodies being sold at the booths lining the streets have a French influence in a genuine capacity. A few of my friends walked the event and didn’t necessarily see how French it was. When I see Le Souk restaurant I know that Moroccan food is French food because it is a francophone country, that the long lines for crepes are justified, in a way, because no – you can’t get a walk-up crepe in New York like you can in Paris. The essence of the entire event screams France to me and it is what I love the most about it. Even though I don’t leave the streets of New York, or even the Upper East Side to get to it, I am transported by scents, the sight of tons of macarons and canelés, and by the in-and-out sounds of French conversations in my ears. To have all of this at once is rare and special to me.
My mom and I had a great time together. It was a hot, hot summer day but we were very glad to find some relief inside of FIAF’s beautiful Skyroom. We had a great time trying macarons, chatting it up with the guys at Le Palais des Thes to find the perfect iced tea for my mom, and even running into fellow blogger Alejandra Ramos of Always Order Dessert (and her new pup, Hudson!). We both picked up this year’s new FIAF button: <<C’est la Fête!>> and entered the raffle, but sadly we were not winners! Overall it was another great year!
Even though the boys couldn’t make it to Sunday’s celebration, we all toasted la France Saturday night with dinner at Le Grainne Café in Chelsea! If you’ve not been, I recommend it.
Merci to FIAF for a fantastique celebration!
Vive la France!
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