What’s the French for Encore?

One of the events in Boston every summer is the Bastille Day party at the French Library. We’d always heard that it was great fun. They close off part of Marlborough street and have French food, drink, and music. Unfortunately, we’d never managed to get there. This year, since both kids are out of town, we did make it. It was great fun.

The food was great. We had gougères from Brasserie Jo. Next we had bœuf bourguignon, salmon, and pâté from Petit Robert. There was also some yummy looking food from Senegal and some crêpes, but the lines were awfully long for those, so we finished the night with a nice baba au rhum from Chez Henri.

The first band this year was Rupa and the April Fishes. They’re from San Francisco, and play a really fun, eclectic mix of sounds from all over the place. I’ve wanted to see them for a while now, and they were really fun.

Next up was Yoro N’Diaye, from Senegal. His band really got things hopping. A big part of that was the mbalax dancer who was down in front showing off all of his crazy moves.

After they finished, we overheard someone saying to his wife:

I was standing there thinking: What’s the French for encore?

It was a perfect night for a block party, and everyone had a great time. On the way home, we walked through the Public Garden, and there were more musicians playing there.

Here’s an encore by Yoro.