As I have mentioned in previous posts, I get all kinds of unusual requests related to my singing telegram service. A few months ago, someone called and asked me to perform a singing telegram for his girlfriend. When I asked him to give me details about her that I could personalize the song lyrics, he replied: "She really likes Bon Qui Qui, and I’d like you to put as many references to Bon Qui Qui as you can into the song." Now, I must confess that I had no idea who Bon Qui Qui (intentionally mispronounced as "Bawn Kwee Kwee") was. Unlike 16 million other viewers, I had not yet seen the MADtv comedy skits on YouTube performed by stand-up comedian, actress, and former NFL Cheerleader, Anjelah Johnson. If you haven’t seen her in action, you should immediately stop reading this and watch one of her King Burger skits. They are funny!

I incorporated "Rude!", "Sa-cur-ity!", "Don’t get crazy!" and a few other Bon Qui Qui catch phrases into my singing telegram, and opened the song by explaining that if she couldn’t have Bon Qui Qui at her party, at least she could have the Bon Bon Queen! 

Since then, I have crossed paths quite frequently with Bon Qui Qui. At a Grapes & Crepes Party, one of our guests enjoyed a few too many glasses of the "grapes" (you know who you are!) and launched into a complete impersonation of Bon Qui Qui. She had all of us laughing so hard it hurt and many of our guests thought she played the character even better than Anjelah Johnson. Just recently, I learned that people who search for the phrase "Bon Qui Qui" online are sometimes landing on our website. If you are one of those people, I have just one thing to say: "Welcome to South ‘n France where we can do it your way, but don’t get crazy!"

As we prepare for American Mother’s Day, the French are just starting to think about how to honor their mothers at the end of the month. (In France Mother’s Day is celebrated on the last Sunday of May.) 

Mother’s Day was instituted in France after World War I, to help rebuild the French population. In fact, mothers of eight or more children received gold medals from the French government for their contribution to society. Don’t tell Octomom Nadya Suleman; I think she’d be jealous! France isn’t giving out medals anymore, but after years of zero population growth, they sure are doing a lot to encourage women to have children. In recent years, France has added new and improved family-friendly laws to what many already considered to be generous policies (in place since 1970). As a result, France now boasts the second-highest fertility rate (1.94) in Europe. Check out these stats cited by Tracy B. McGinnis in her online article, One More Reason French Mothers Have to Be Thankful:

In France:

* French mothers receive 100% of their salary for six weeks prior to the birth of their baby and 10 weeks after.
* Maternity leave ranges from 20 weeks for the first child to up to 40 weeks for the third child.
* Paternity leave (introduced in 2002) grants fathers 11 days full pay.
* Parental leave (introduced in 1997) is available to parents who have been with a company for at least one year, and gives mother and/or father the right to take three years’ unpaid leave. At the end of that time the employer must take them back under the same terms as before.
* Tax breaks based on the number of children for French families.
* Monthly childcare subsidies.
* Inexpensive summer camps.
* Long paid vacations. (Anywhere from 4-8 weeks.)
* Free child care centers for children ages 3-Kindergarten. 

French Justice Minister Rachida Dati (pictured here) must agree that this system is "très juste" (in English: very fair), especially when we compare it to the benefits of new mothers "aux Etats-Unis". (Rachida Dati gave birth to a baby girl and will be celebrating her first Mother’s Day this year.) Happy Mother’s Day to Ms. Dati and moms all over the world – we salute you! You may not be able to enjoy the same legal benefits as the French, but we hope that each and every one of you gets a chance to kick up your feet and benefit from eating some gourmet chocolate bon bons!

When I tell the story of how Pascal and I met in Paris, I often make reference to the Moulin Rouge, the legendary Parisian cabaret located at the tip of Paris’ red-light district, Pigalle (just a short walk from Montmartre where Pascal and I used to live). In the early days, this famous cabaret was a hotspot for "happening" painters, poets and bourgeois locals; today it is frequented mostly by tourists and corporate executives. But the venue, the dancers, and the show continue to maintain the Moulin Rouge tradition of opulent glitter and glamour. It is an extravaganza of music, dancing, feathers, rhinestones, sequins and champagne.

Like most things in Paris, the Moulin Rouge has a rich history. Here are just a few fun facts about the greatest cabaret on earth:
- The first Can Can dancers at the Moulin Rouge were not professionals, rather working class girls-by-day (linen maids, laundresses and seamstresses), rowdy, boisterous party girls-by-night. Most of the dancers became famous due to their peculiar and suggestive "stage" names such as la Goulue (the glutton), Nini Pattes-en-l’Air (a leg-over, muse of artist Toulouse-Lautrec), Grille d’Egout (drain cover) and la Mome Fromage (kid cheese). 

- The first show was called Frou Frou. It was such a great success that the owner, a superstitious man, chose to title each revue with the names that begin with "F." To date, the shows have been: Frou Frou, Frisson, Fascination, Fantastic, Festival, Follement, Frénesie, ‘Femmes, Femmes, Femmes’, Formidable and Féerie.
 
- Speaking of "F"-words, the Moulin Rouge goes through a lot of feathers. They have their own preferred feather maker.

- The dancers’ shoes must be able to withstand the girls dropping to the floor, doing the splits, and performing acrobatic tricks - all to the fast-paced, frenetic rhythm of the French Cancan. A traditional Parisian shoemaker, M. Clairvoy’s makes special shoes just for the Moulin Rouge.   

- Celebrities like Edith Piaf, Yves Montand, Ginger Rogers, The Village People, Liza Minnelli, Michael Baryshnikov, The Gipsy Kings, Elton John, Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald and Juliette Binoche have all performed at the Moulin Rouge.
 
- Jackie Clerico, the same superstitious owner who insisted on "F" titles for the revues, staged the first topless dancers in 1962 and installed a giant aquarium that elevates from below stage for a nautical ballet. The aquarium (and the topless dancers) are still part of the revue today.

- The Moulin Rouge is the biggest champagne buyer in the world - around 350,000 bottles a year - more or less 1000 bottles per day!

- There are more than 100 artists on stage and almost as many waiters and bus boys to keep up with the champagne-drinking crowd.

- These days, the show costs anywhere from 92 to 180 euros (with dinner), but this extravagant, show-stopping cabaret is well worth it! Just like riding the gondolas in Venice, it’s one of those touristy attractions you really shouldn’t miss.

you place creative orders; and you bring us cool stuff! But for Pascal, who dreams of being a serious "cave man", this reason may be his favorite reason yet:

#346: You Know How to Make a Frenchman’s Day
And that’s no easy feat! It all started when a charming, new-to-the area couple discovered South ‘n France in December 2008. They dropped in to buy bon bons for the holidays and started talking to Pascal about French wines. The monsieur is a serious wine collector with a very impressive cellar, and Pascal thoroughly enjoyed the dialogue. A few months later, this couple joined us for Dinner and a Movie when we featured our favorite French comedy, The Dinner Game (Le Dîner de Cons).

In the movie, the lead character, a wealthy publishing executive, suddenly has to open a bottle of wine for a tax inspector who is coming over to his luxury apartment. He fears that the tax collector will want to audit him when he sees his impressive wine collection, so he opens a 1978 bottle of Château Lafite (one of the most famous and expensive wines in the world) and pours vinegar into the bottle in order to mask its quality.

This couple joined us again recently at the launch for our new Wine & Dine Party. When they walked in the door, much to our shock (and Pascal’s incredible delight), they presented us with a most extraordinary gift – you guessed it! - a bottle of 1978 Château Lafite from the monsieur’s collection. This generous, thoughtful, and humorous gift made Pascal’s day, his week, his month, and quite possibly his year. As soon as we were finished working for the evening, he sat down to admire his new bottle, a new crown jewel in his own collection. You can be sure that we won’t be adding vinegar to that Château Lafite, no matter who’s coming to dinner! In fact, I suspect that it will be many years before Pascal even lets us get close to that bottle with a cork screw. Thank you, Dan and Pat, for making Pascal a very happy "cave man". You can bet he’ll be proudly displaying that bottle of Château Lafite for all to see at our next showing of The Dinner Game!