Cantigny Park celebrates French connection with popular festival
It might feel like a faux pas not to walk around in two straight lines with a dozen visitors to Cantigny Park Sunday.
That's surely the natural response when you spot a yellow hat with a black ribbon and suspect you're bound to run into Miss Clavel. Au contraire! She won't be anywhere in sight, so it's OK to curl up on the lawn during a live reading of "Madeline," the beloved 1939 children's book, at noon during Cantigny's French Connection Day.
It's also easy to feel transported to an old house in Paris with the 23-foot-tall replica of the Eiffel Tower installed for the festival celebrating French culture.
"My favorite part is the Eiffel Tower. It was donated to us many years ago and has become the focal point for pictures and gathering," said Magan Ascher, Cantigny's director of visitor services.
And oh là là! What could be more French than strolling through Cantigny's stunning gardens with a pastry in hand? One highlight of the event could take the crepe, if you will: An open-air French Market run by Bensidoun, the same operator of the long-running downtown Wheaton market.
If you're on a diet, well, you're only French for a day during French Connection Day, so do as the French do: Indulge in all kinds of delicacies at Cantigny's Le Jardin restaurant.
Food trucks, albeit a more American invention, also will pull up to Cantigny with offerings from the counters of Big Mama's Kitchen, Grumpy Gaucho, Golden Eagle and Cupcakes for Courage.
The prelude to French Connection Day is another food-centric and possibly more starry-eyed event: Cantigny's French Picnic Under the Stars Saturday night. And that Eiffel Tower? The illuminated reproduction will sparkle almost as much as the real one in the City of Love.
At sunset, Naperville Astronomical Association and Chicago Astronomical Society experts will help visitors view stars and planets through telescopes. The forecast for Saturday evening is très magnifique for stargazing: Clear skies and temperatures in the 70s.
As of Thursday, Cantigny had sold more than 100 preorders of French-themed picnic baskets, compared with 60 in 2017, the inaugural year of the event. You can also bring your own picnic supplies.
But the French, of course, aren't known only for their love of food and wine (a beer and wine garden at Cantigny Sunday runs from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m.) They also play a yard game called pétanque (pronounced pay-Tonk), and Cantigny will offer that, too. Mimes and other street performers will provide the French entertainment.
So what's the "connection" part in French Connection Day?
Cantigny does indeed share a significant one with France through the park's benefactor, Col. Robert R. McCormick, the legendary Chicago Tribune publisher.
During World War I, a 37-year-old McCormick led an artillery unit in the U.S. Army's First Division in the Battle of Cantigny. McCormick led an artillery unit in the attack, an experience that shaped him so much that he returned home and renamed his sprawling Wheaton estate after the French village (pronounced "can-TEE-nee") that American forces liberated from German occupation.
In his will, McCormick gifted the 500 acres of Cantigny grounds "as a public park and museum for the recreation, instruction and welfare of the people of the State of Illinois."
Now in its 11th year, French Connection Day honors that shared history and ongoing relationship with Cantigny's namesake. Park leaders traveled to the French town for Memorial Day weekend to celebrate the completion of a joint project to restore and relocate a World War I-era battle monument.
As for French Connection Day attire, you could wear a beret. Or, a yellow hat with a black ribbon will do just fine.
If you go
When: 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Sunday
Where: Parade Field at Cantigny Park, 1S151 Winfield Road, Wheaton
Cost: Free with $10 parking; The French Picnic Under the Stars from 6 to 11 p.m. Saturday night is $15 per car and $12 for members
Info: <a href="https://cantigny.org/event/french-connection-day/">Cantigny.org</a>