Celebrate Bastille Day in Style at the French Embassy

Travel to the heart of the French Alps at Comité Tricolore’s annual Bastille Day event on July 16. The featured theme is the region of La Savoie where there will be regional food and beverage by local chefs, live performances and a silent auction. The event will be a sit-down dinner held at the French Embassy, and it hopes to help guests “un-wine and taste new peaks.” We spoke with Eve Chauchard, Comité Tricolore’s president, about the organization and the annual event.

District Fray: What is Comité Tricolore?
Eve Chauchard: We are a federation of associations, [all of which are] French-American. We have 22 members, and the mission is to federate and coordinate all these associations. The second part is we are a charity, so we organize events and raise money to help French people in need in the D.C. area. And with Covid, we have extended this to helping anyone in need that we have a connection with and not just French people.

What is the history of the Bastille Day event?
We do it every year, and it’s always on a Friday or Saturday around July 14. We have had different themes like Tour de France [and] different regions of France. And this time, the theme is La Savoie, which is a region in the French Alps. [This] region has specific gastronomy and cultures, and our menu will reflect the local dishes. We’ll have the decorations reflect the activities you can do in the Alps, which are skiing, climbing, hiking — again, all the sorts of things you do in the mountains.

How was the theme selected?
Somebody proposes it but it just happens that our vice president in charge of the events, Jean-Philippe Krukowics, is from that region. So, that’s how we selected this year.

What kind of decorations can people expect to see?
We are hoping to have some posters of the area [as] a nice backdrop. We have an artist who is going to paint a mountain scene. We are trying to work on making displays with the mountaineering equipment used in the region.

What is a food item from the region people can expect?
We are probably going to have my favorite cheese, which is called Beaufort. [It’s a] very good cheese from the Alps, a cow cheese.

What are you most personally excited about for the event?
I am excited about some of the nice dishes, and about seeing my friends again and being together.

Anything else to add about the event?
There will also be a champagne welcome. Champagne is not from that area, but in France, you just can’t have a party without champagne.

Bastille Day 2021: La Savoie is July 16 from 7-9 p.m. Ticket prices start at $150. For more information on the event, visit comite-tricolore.org. 

French Embassy: 4101 Reservoir Rd. NW, DC; comite-tricolore.org // @comitetricolore 

Enjoy this piece? Consider becoming a member for access to our premium digital content. Support local journalism and start your membership today.