Today is Bastille Day, France's national holiday, Fête nationale, Le quatorze Juillet—whatever you want to call it. It's the day when international Francophones and Francophiles around the world celebrate the birth of modern France.Among France's many gifts to the world—cinema, chemistry, and ruthless colonial aspirations—one of the most lasting is its cuisine and its booze. Since today's a day dedicated to imbibing and binge-eating enough foie gras and truffles to put you near cardiac arrest, we gathered a few Instagrams of dishes that are French in provenance (or at least in inspiration). We hope you are reading this post while lying down with pants unbuttoned, after a great meal of inappropriate proportions.
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Happy Birthday, Frenchies.A monogrammed boule from one of Paris's most famous bakeries, Poilâne. Gluten intolerant eaters, this sucks for you.Look at the legs on that: grilled octopus with potatoes and aïoli from Yard's wunderkind Shaun Kelly in Paris.A duck dish from Bones, one of Paris's most badass restaurants, helmed by Australian chef James Henry.A ball-less dish of springtime greens from Balls, the Parisian take on the single-serving restaurant.The dessert restaurant Dessance offers this dessert for dinner dish: a puree of purple potatoes with Granny Smith apples, arugula, and marjoram foam.Massive wheels of cheese from Laurent Dubois, because this is the fuel of France. Even this caption smells of farts, basements, and aging lactose.
A Technicolor plate from Roseval in Paris that just made your desk lunch look even more depressing than usual.The namesake pastries from L'atelier de L'éclair. Whatever you do, don't upload images of these deliciously creme-filled confections to this Instagram account.
A glass of white wine—the other fuel of France—from La Buvette.And we couldn't forget Montreal, even if they're not really on the Bastille Day tip, technically speaking. Joe Beef's spaghetti homard-lobster is still fit for Napoleon and Gerard Depardieu.