Wednesday, April 25, 2012

Vive la France75


In 1792, France was being invaded by armies from Prussia and Austria. On April 25th of that year the mayor of Strasbourg requested of his guest Rouget de Lisle (a captain of the engineers and amateur musician) to compose a song "that will rally our soldiers from all over to defend their homeland that is under threat."  That evening, Rouget de Lisle wrote what we now know as La Marseillaise.

I became familiar with this French anthem from this scene of a truly great American movie.





Featured in the movie is a wonderful drink that blends in with the theme of the song and movie.
(The French 75 mm field gun was a quick-firing field artillery piece first adopted in 1898)





The Historical Inebriant:  The French75
http://www.esquire.com/drinks/french-75-drink-recipe


Ingredients:
  • 2 ounces London dry gin
  • 1 teaspoon superfine sugar
  • 1/2 ounce lemon juice
  • 5 ounces Brut champagne
Shake well with cracked ice in a chilled cocktail shaker, then strain into a Collins glass half-full of cracked ice and top off with champagne.



I was misinformed:


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