You're sure to capture all the goodness of a beautiful summer day. The best part is that it doesn't take much to enjoy a Provençal Picnic. Read on for easy inspiration.
WELCOME TO MONDAY MORNING BLOOMS!
We're so happy you are here. Not only are the three of us sharing beautiful flowers in the garden, we are thrilled to introduce our special floral guest, our friend Jain from ' a quiet life ' . Our common theme is "outdoors" and you are in for a real treat when you visit Jain. Because her "outdoor" is beyond.
Some of the best picnics we've had on our { antique buying trip} travels have been simple, spur-of-the-moment ones with a French baguette, some cheese, fruit and a bottle of wine. Buying things in small stores you've never been to before is always a culinary adventure.
It was the French (bien sûr) who started these wonderful outdoor feasts after the revolution.
On paper, a picnic is basically taking a sit-down meal from the comfort of your dining room table to the inconvenience of having to gather everything you need, setting it up outdoors and then sitting down on the ground to eat. But in reality, the picnic is so much more magical than that, isn't it? {What’s not to love about sitting outdoors with friends and family with a hamper of delicious food?}
At home, you can have your picnic in your own garden, at a park, at the beach, or anywhere you'd love to go. Picnics are perfect for lunch, but also dinner. {There is something magical about spreading out a cloth or blanket on the ground or a small table just when the sun goes down to enjoy the gloaming.}
Food can be super simple. I generally pick up cheeses, cured sausage, cornichons, bread and treats from Trader Joe's and vegetables from our local farmer's stand.
Other than the bread, the cheese and the wine, we love to make our Salad Niçoise - it's the perfect picnic food!
While I am generally a cabernet sauvignon or merlot drinker, a good rose is an excellent choice to serve with this kind of casual French picnic. My French favorite is Whispering Angel, made in Provence.
How To Upgrade A Provençal Picnic
If you want to upgrade your picnic here are a few suggestions:
Master a Cheese Board
The French are masters at simple every day luxuries. I suggest you take an easy and personalized cheese board to your picnic. An antique French wood board layered with two or three cheeses and apricots, a few nuts, and a little serving of French jam is just right for your Provençal Picnic. Because Mr. FGH and I came back from our little trip feeling a bit under the weather, I set up this very very simple cheeseboard for our picnic on the back garden lawn with baguettes. cheese, organic strawberries and grapes, because basically I'm still making him eat home made chicken soup for every meal! But there are so many delightful things to add to your board, you know what you love.
Upgrade your picnic basket
Using an antique French picnic basket or a vintage English wicker hamper really elevates your picnic . I am always thrilled to find these in any kind of condition, the antique French basket on the right holding the linens and baguettes has two top swing handles.
Bring Flowers
Flowers always bring beauty to any setting, for casual as well as more formal occasions. {Ah! You are thinking...finally it's about FLOWERS!}
It is so easy to bring the beauty of flowers to a picnic. In your own garden, of course, you can pick a few and arrange in a vase, a wine bottle, or as I did in an antique enameled coffee pot. I picked the pink alstroemerias from the garden, and added statice in white and purple, and tiny little dianthus chinensis that look like tiny miniature carnations. And because two are always better than one, I arranged the left over flowers in a vintage French glass milk bottle.
Play Pétanque
Beloved and played yearly at Mr. FrenchGardenHouse's birthday bash, you will see people of all ages playing this French classic game as soon as the sun comes out in France. It's like bocce ball, and while it would be great to say we play with these antique French wooden balls, they're really just for decor. We play with French sets that are colorful, so our little people, their parents and we can see who actually is the closest to the target ball! Because there are prizes, and this yearly game is competitive!
{ps.our antique wooden Pétanque balls make a fabulous statement to frenchify your interior!}
Up Your Drinks Game
If champagne is more your thing, up your drinks game for your picnic by making the famed French 75. Using our deluxe cocktail cubes, it couldn't be easier!
A picnic is one of life’s simple pleasures. It's a relaxing way of savoring the great outdoors, and appreciating the beautiful good things in life!
Ps. I'm showing off some of our favorite "bloomers" in the garden right now. June is such a perfect month in the garden here at FrenchGardenHouse...and while I can't take credit for these beauties {I just buy them, and Mr. FGH does the rest} I do love to share them with all of you.
There is nothing I love more than this fresh bright green color of the boxwood hedges at this time of year.
The last of the Eden roses, aren't they ethereal?
My father in law in Europe loved fuchsias. I know that Mr. FGH does as well, so each year I try to buy him a new one. The pink and white one is called Annabelle, this bright one is called Dark Eyes, and does have the most amazing ruffled skirts in deep purple.
I hope you have enjoyed your visit today! If I could, I'd invite you all over for a Provencal Picnic here in our back garden. I’m not sure how I would manage to get you all over here, but that we would have a grand time I'm sure of!
Please be sure to visit all my friends for their outdoor flower therapy this Monday. Mr. FGH and I are back on the road, for a small buying trip for antiques - of course! Hope your Monday is bright and shiny dear friends!
and me
WHATS THE BEST PICNIC YOU'VE EVER BEEN TO??
A BIENTOT
Shop for the best in French Antiques, furniture with the patina of age, vintage accessories to delight you and your family & friends, and French Country utilitarian pieces. Treasures that make your home fresh, beautiful, inspirational and above all uniquely yours. Visit our shop FrenchGardenHouse.com
28 comments
Thank you Alice! I hope you have a few wonderful picnics this summer. You can have tiny ones for two! Hope you are having a beautiful week, friend. xo
This post is a keeper plus I’m Forwarding it to a friend. It’s beautiful and delicious. Oh to be at your picnic. When I’m Finally able to have a picnic I’ll revisit your post to help me pull mine off. Love love love this.
Thank you so much, Sarah! I am always so happy to see you here, dear friend. I love that your husband played bocce, it really is a fun sport I think! Our family enjoys it in the garden in summer time.
I hope you have a very happy summer too!! xo
Lidy, you know I’m a long time fan of the French countryside and the leisure lifestyle. Oh, how I adore your style. Your garden is so inviting with the abundance of blooms, and your picnic setting is sheer delight. My husband used to play bocce, and I have fun memories of watching pétanque in France. I do have an antique pétanque ball. It’s fun to mix in with things in a dough bowl or on a shelf. I always enjoy your wonderful posts, Lidy. I apologize for arriving late. Happy Summer.
Thank you so much Rita! I would love for you to spend time in my garden, too, because that would mean we would see each other! I am very happy to know that you once again have a garden to love of your own, friend. xo
Oh my, yes, I thoroughly enjoyed my visit today! Although it’s mid-week, I saved catching up my favorite bloggers’ posts until I had time to really enjoy reading and going over all the lovely details. Lidy, your picnic is so picture perfect, and your garden as backdrop is stunning in early June. The walnut pentanque balls are so charming! I would so enjoy spending time in your French outdoor space, sipping wine and munching on your cheese board. The flowers (I almost forgot!) are fittingly inviting in the enamel pitcher. The fuschia plants are wonderful! Thanks for MMB.
Oh, that river side picnic does sound magical, Mary! I hope you choose a new fuschsia, a new flirty plant always makes us happy!
Thank you so much! Picnics and flowers always make for a bright beginning, don’t they? Wishing you a beautiful week! xo Lidy
Mary, barring being in France, a picnic in the garden {or on your landing by the lake!} would be divine. Wishing you a beautiful week ahead, with a little less heat! Xo Lidy
Bonnie, thank you – there is something special about a picnic, isn’t there, whether it’s in France or in our own back yard! Would love to have you join me. xo Lidy