Brigitte Bardot, French actress and possible one-time real-life French maid (Urban Daddy)

It’s very easy to make fun of the French because . . . well, because they are so very French.  You don’t get saddled with a nickname like “cheese-eating surrender monkeys” without having deserved it in some way, shape, or form.  Still, they helped us win our nation’s independence, they shipped a nice big copper statue of a woman holding a torch that people appreciate, and of course, they got really good at cultivating, fermenting, and bottling grapes like Pinot Noir and Cabernet Sauvignon — so clearly they aren’t all bad.  On top of that, they gave the world some kick-ass composers like Debussy, Ravel, Berlioz, Messiaen, and many more.

So in honor of Le Quatorze Juillet, allow me to offer up three little bits of free French-related fun, having equal parts classic, sublime, and naughty (ok, maybe not all of them have equal parts naughty, but at least one of them does):

1. “La Marseillaise”, care of Casablanca:  
2. Free download (click HERE) of the Symphony in C by French composer, Georges Bizet:  To help celebrate Bernard Haitink’s 80th birthday, the Royal Concertgebouw Orchestra released this recording available for free download online (free registration required).  The series also included Schumann’s Symphony No. 1 and Beethoven’s Symphony No. 3 — but those two guys were from the wrong side of the French border, so let’s not talk about them right now.
3. And finally (drum-roll please) . . . French Maids of Bastille Day :  As our friends at Urban Daddy put it, “celebrating with a tribute to what is probably France’s most heroic contribution to international culture . . . some of the world’s most beautiful women with the French maid costumes they were born to wear.”  Vive la France, indeed!

(All pictures and their associated captions below are taken directly from Urban Daddy.  To view the complete slide show in its original format, click HERE)

Adriana Lima, Brazilian Supermodel (Urban Daddy)

Bar Refaeli, Israeli supermodel and expert duster (Urban Daddy)

Elizabeth Hurley, British actress and strawberry connoisseur

Sofia Vergara, Colombian actress and professional bed maker (Urban Daddy)

Jennifer Aniston, “Friends with Money” actress and Friend (Urban Daddy)

Marya Timonina, Russian model and cake froster (Urban Daddy)

Catherine Bach, American actress (“Dukes of Hazzard”) and jean shorts legend (Urban Daddy)

Olivia Munn, American comedienne and expert Pledge user (Urban Daddy)

Claudia Schiffer, German supermodel and champagne taster (Urban Daddy)