Berets have long been recognized as an iconic symbol of French national culture and identity. Men and women alike often wear their berets.
French literature has an international following, featuring works by Victor Hugo and Francois Rabelais.
An outdoor market day in a French village is an enjoyable tradition that takes many forms. Stalls offer delicious fresh food and products.
Bastille Day
On July 14th 1789, Parisians furious with their government for poor harvests stormed the Bastille fortress that held prisoners – including French writer Voltaire and philosopher Marquis de Sade). This act represented a triumph of common people over what represented his coercive power; when asked by one courtier if this rebellion or revolution were underway by King Louis XVI himself. A courtier answered with no sire, this revolution.
La Fete nationale or le quatorze juillet (“the fourteenth of July”) commemorates this event with a military parade along the Champs-Elysees and speeches from Macron and other heads of state; additional festivities such as fireworks are also part of this commemorative event that serves to remind everyone about France’s turbulent Revolutionary history.
Crepes
Crepes or pancakes as they’re sometimes called are an integral part of French culture and particularly Brittany’s identity. From sweet dessert crepes with pudding or custard fillings to folded around fillings for breakfast omelets, crepes have long been revered and enjoyed throughout their history.
Housewives in Brittany reportedly accidentally spilled some porridge onto a hot flat pan, discovering the delights of light, crispy pancakes. Buckwheat flour was traditionally used, though since the 20th century they’ve also been made using white flour (referred to with some derision as crepes de froment).
Crepes symbolize cyclical time and renewal of life; thus their popularity at La Chandeleur or Candlemas. Additionally, many believe that flipping one with a coin will bring prosperity to your year ahead.
Street Eating
Street eating gives people a new way to connect with food, promotes local area cuisine and meets consumer desires (i.e. direct access, watching dish preparation in progress and without formal table manners) in an intimate experience of dining out on the streets of their cities.
Eating while walking along a street remains an increasingly popular trend; it provides people with an enjoyable way to try multiple foods without spending a large sum of money, building positive associations between themselves and a destination. A typical beverage served with street foods could include soft drinks, water, fruit juice or beer with seasonal markets often offering festive drinks such as Gluhwein (mulled wine). Many cities host regular outdoor market days.
Galanterie
Galanterie was an integral aspect of French culture during the 17th century, serving as its central ideal: mutuality between men and women that led to refined sociality and discursive finesse. Early modern texts and authors expanded its precepts by depicting queer identities and desires within galanterie’s milieu.
Moliere’s Alceste should not be seen as a character who rejects salon culture and its values of sociability and galanterie, for this would misrepresent both his intentions and comedy. Furthermore, dismissing galanterie as just “mythology francaise” as Mona Ozouf claims is to disregard its significance as a culture-defining ideology; thus this article offers a new account of how galanterie functioned during the Grand Siecle period.
Bread
Bread is such an integral part of French culture that UNESCO has designated it an Intangible Cultural Heritage item. From butter-slathered loaves dipped in soup or eaten alongside cheese – long slim bread forms an integral part of most French meals!
Bakeries (called boulangeries) can be found everywhere, and one legend credits an Austrian artillery officer with creating its current form when he arrived in Paris during the 1830s.
Baguettes are thin loaves of yeasty dough ranging in thickness from thin and long to ultrathin and contain four ingredients: flour, water, salt and yeast. If you want an authentic baguette try une baguette normale; otherwise for something shorter and thinner consider fluting or ficelle options.