Champagne

It wouldn’t be right not to go to the country that brought us champagne…

 

Coupe Champagne Glasses

Pronounced ‘ko͞op,’ this stylish cocktail glass was designed in the mid 17th century in England by a Benedictine monk. Champagne coupes quickly became fashionable in France in the 1700s and were the cocktail vessel of choice for many years.

 

Alexandre Dumas

Alexandre Dumas is a celebrated black French author best known for his historical adventure novels, including ‘The Three Musketeers’ and ‘The Count of Monte Cristo.’

 

Alexandre Dumas was born Dumas Davy de la Pailleterie on July 24, 1802, in Villers-Cotterêts, France, to Marie Louise Labouret and General Thomas-Alexandre Davy de la Pailleterie. The Dumas family name was adopted from Alexandre's grandmother, an enslaved Haitian woman named Marie-Césette Dumas. His grandfather was the Marquis Alexandre Antoine Davy de La Pailleterie. Thomas-Alexandre took the name Dumas when he enlisted in Napoleon's army, where he acquired the dubious nickname "Black Devil."

 

Macarons

In 1792, two Carmelite nuns in Nancy, who became known as the “Macaron Sisters”, baked and sold the sweets to survive during the French Revolution. In 1952, Nancy honoured the pair by renaming the spot where they produced the macarons after them. Over time, different regions in France adopted the recipe as a local specialty.