Bastille Day in Stanthorpe?

Stanthorpe is probably the last place you’d expect any kind of celebration of Bastille Day, the Fête nationale of France, as the town is smack in the middle of the the Queensland Granite Belt which has a long history of German immigration. Claudia’s Restaurant at Thunderbolt Farm remains a bastion of delicate and sophistacted culture amid the rocky outcrops, sausages and sauerkraut. Intrigued, Kathi and I joined our friends Cherelle and Jason for the experience.

We were encouraged to turn up “in the spirit of the celebration” and Kathi made us Eiffel Tower festooned t-shirts in order to blend in with the locals. This won us a team prize of a bottle of bubbly in the costume competition. The individual prizes went to those who looked most like characters from ‘Allo ‘Allo. When the others in the room found out that Kathi made the t-shirts, I think she felt that both her and the t-shirts got more attention than either deserved whereas I was trying to pimp out her sewing skills to anyone willing to pay.

The evening consisted of a lot of very good food and wine. All the standards made an appearance such as Onion Soup, Mussels in Garlic, Duck a l”Orange, Creme Caramel, etc. Later we had a couple of sing-a-longs of such standards as the Marseillaise, Frère Jacques and Alouette. Let me just say right now that singing at all, let alone singing in the round, is not a personal strength. Also, anyone who claims that enthusiam can make up for a lack of talent is lying. I think the entire room proved that.