Monet for Dessert, or ‘Ile Flottante’

In keeping with last week’s posting about dessert, it seemed fitting to continue with a variation on the sweet theme…though this time with a decidedly artistic tangent!

Recently, I was dining with friends at one of Paris’ oldest bistrots, La Fontaine de Mars, in the Rue St. Dominique and ended a classically French meal—steak frites—with an equally classic dessert…île flottante, or floating island. If you have never had it, île flottante is a fluffy mound of toasted meringue in a pool of crème anglaise (custard sauce). I like it after a heavier French dinner as it is wonderfully flavorful yet light.

When the evening’s dessert arrived, I was struck by its distinctive shape—it reminded me at once of French haystacks…the ones from Normandy that Monet painted time after time in various lights of day.

I thought about how Monet lovingly depicted the cone top with straight sides in the morning, afternoon and early evening. Having seen an exhibition years ago in France on Monet’s “series paintings” (haystacks, Rouen cathedral, poplars, water lilies), I was transported to peaceful fields adorned with that soft and tender light that bespeaks northern France… 

In preparing for a recent lecture on Normandy for the Dallas Museum of Art, I came across a photo of a French haystack under construction. The photo is part of the publicity for a fascinating collaboration this summer celebrating Impressionism. It’s called Normandie Impressionionniste 2010 and will take place all over Normandy, the home of this artistic movement. More than 160 towns, villages and organizations will host events and exhibitions including painting, contemporary art, music, cinema, theatre, dance, photography, video, literature, lectures, light and sound, and more. If you already have Normandy  in your summer travel plans, you are in for a rich treat…If not, it’s a reason to rush out and buy a ticket to France.