(in English below)
Mon oncle André est célibataire. Il fut négociant en vin toute sa vie. En soit, rien de bien spécial me direz vous. Sauf que ce statut fait de son anniversaire un rendez-vous incontournable pour tous ses neveux, petits neveux, arrières et arrières arrière petits neveux. Les vins servis sortent de sa cave secrète. Quant au menu, toujours le même: Foie gras mi-cuit maison (le premier que j’ai jamais fait: un délice!), homards et langoustines, lamproie à la bordelaise… Bien sûr, c’est toujours Stéphane qui s’y colle. Mais ça me fait plaisir et il a été comme un père pour nous tous. Dimanche dernier, nous fêtions ses 85 ans. C’est lui le chauffeur de la petite voiture à pédales. Sur ses genoux mon père, aujourd’hui un viel ours de 82 ans :0)
PS: Vous savez que je déteste les nappes de couleur, mais je n’étais pas chez moi… Ça donne une horrible teinte aux photos je sais…
Uncle André is single. He was a wine merchant his whole life. Nothing special in itself; except that this status makes his birthday a rendez-vous his 20 nieces and nephews would never miss. EVER! The wines served come out of his secret cellar. As for the menu, always the same: Foie gras mi-cuit (the first one I ever made: a delight!), trays and trays of lobsters and langoustines, lamprey “à la bordelaise”… Of course, I always get stuck in the kitchen. But it makes him so happy when I cook and he is like a father to us all. There is nothing I wouldn’t do for him. Last Sunday, we celebrated his 85th. He is the driver of the toy car by the way. On his knees, my father, now 82 :0) I love these old pictures…
PS: You know I hate colored table cloths, but I was not at home and didn’t want to vex the old guy… It gives a horrible shade to the photos but…
MY FRENCH HEAVEN 
Caro Stephane,
Love your blog soooo much!
J’aime les TRÈS belles photos, les posts et la joie de vivre qu’ils evoquent
Bravo! (On dit en Italie mais aussi les Francaises , n est Pas?)
Ton blog a de la classe !
Merci pour partager avec nous tous ca
A’ bien tot,
Miky
Thanks Miky! I am glad you like my little blog. I hope you come back often. I wanted to go back to yours, but the link didn’t work… Is there another address I should know about?
Your pics are as beautiful as ever, nice coloured tablecloth or not!
🙂 I need to raid all the family homes and burn all the linen I don’t like…
How lucky your uncle and all your family are to have you to make an extraordinary meal on special birthdays and occasions. Your photos make it look so elegant and enjoyable.
Thanks! We are lucky to have a good tight family cell!
I always love looking through your photos Stephane – absolutely beautiful! 🙂
Thank you so much!!
Happy birthday to your Uncle!
Thanks Cathy!
We finally differ on something. I love print tablecloths! 🙂 Love, love, love the cake! How wonderful. The last pic is wonderful! As are all the rest!
As we say in French: “l’exception confirme la règle” or “the exception confirms the rule”. I do like print table cloths in the summer when we eat outside 😉
And they outlawed Foie Gras in California…:-(
A good reason to move to France 😉
Oh my, the picture of your father an uncle is sooooooo precious! Thank you for sharing!
Thanks Terre! You should see my dad now. You’d laugh! 🙂
Happy birthday to Uncle Andre! Wonderful photos!
Thanks darling J!
Happy Birthday to your Uncle Andre! The best way to spend a birthday or any day really, eating and drinking with good company.
You said it! Thanks!
Loving family, good food, extraordinary wines, a fabulous celebration beautifully documented, despite being stuck in the kitchen!
It’s allright! I like it better in the kitchen anyway, far from the noise and boring conversations… 😉
I agree that coloured tablecloths can clash with the table settings and even the food, creating a nauseating psychedelic kaleidoscope that can even trigger an epileptic episode 🙂 . Two exceptions however; Special festive tablecloths such as a red trimmed one at Christmas, and culturally appropriate ones, e.g., a red checkered tablecloth for an Italian dinner of pizza or pasta and red wine. Everything is a gestalt: background and foreground create the total experience and are inseparable.
Anything looks good when pizza’s involved 😉
The world’s greatest single food! And one of the few you could live on forever on a desert island and still be healthy and sane.
Are you talking about lobster? If so, I absolutely agree. Too bad it’s so damn expensive…
LOL….not sure you could live on lobster forever as your sole food on a desert island…but the first few weeks sure would be great! BTW, I tried it for 40 days once a few years ago (for Lent), since it’s one of the few animal foods permitted a volonté in the Greek Orthodox lenten fasting rules. Lobster or shrimp almost every day! It’s amazing how fast you can get sick of a beloved food! Maybe I’ll have to try it with pizza for 40 days and see if the same thing happens 🙂
I could take pizza for 40 days!
Nothing like a good family birthday.
🙂
WARMTH! again and again….! your reportage make we all think your family is a magic world…!!!!!
Thank you! That’s the way I feel about my family 🙂
…and i can clearly SEE that!
superbe série de photo comme d’habitude, a l’atmosphère si belle est particulière. Bon anniversaire a Tonton !
PS : bien content que tu sois de retour sur wordpress.com et dans mon reader
PS2 : c’est vraiment dommage que tu ais ajoute ce filigrane au milieu des photo, ça les coupe littéralement visuellement en deux…
Merci et bon point! A la base c’est pour les protéger, mais il faut peut être que je trouve une autre solution…
dur de protéger ses photos sur internet, tout en ne les gâchant pas…
mes photos ne sont pas aussi belles que les tiennes, donc je n’ai pas encore ce soucis… 😉
J’aime beaucoup TES photos!!!
Love your comment about the coloured table coths, I am exactly the same! Ha ha.
😉
I wish he was my uncle.
Sorry, already taken 😉