I’m avoiding the temptation to make cheap jokes about the French this year, especially after spending much of last winter immersed in the French Revolution.
Instead, here’s a link to what purports to be Julia Child’s Beef Bourguignon recipe. I have not tried this, but I would like to: the last time I cooked Beef Bourguignon, I used a recipe from Cooks Illustrated, which is behind a paywall.
Here’s what the site of the Bastille looks like today.
I got to thinking: hey, what’s the French Legation doing today that I’m going to have to miss, being stuck here at work? The answer is: actually, the French Legation is having their Bastille Day observance on Saturday.
Edited to add: By way of Lawrence, Jerry Pournelle on Bastille Day. I think there’s an argument to be made that the significance of the fall of the Bastille has less to do with the actual prisoners and the release of same, and more to do with the fact that the fall of the Bastille put guns and ammunition into the hands of people revolting against a tyrannical government. Indeed, I made that argument to a certain extent last winter, and boy do I wish I could reproduce that discussion here. (Sadly, it is behind the university’s Blackboard system.)
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