Le 14 Juillet, Bastille Day, and Summer Fruit Salad

Ten days after the Americans wave the Red, White and Blue to celebrate the 4th of July the French wave the Red, White and Blue to celebrate the 14th....14 juillet as it's known in France,  Bastille Day to the Brit's and Americans.  The two holidays celebrate the same ideal in much the same way: Parades by the government, picnics by the people.  Even our little hamlet gets into the act, although, in our case it's more of a 2-family celebration with a few guests.  There are 2 older couples (80's, 90's), and the children who don't actually live next door all come back for the fetes. It's an all day affair:  the main feast at around 2:00, followed by clean-up for the women and boules for the men.  (Things are still very traditional here in rural France.)  Then we ladies go for a walk and the men go to the cave for some wine tasting - not to imply that the wine hasn't been flowing freely all day...  Throughout the day various teenagers and young, single, 20-something's stop by, in between their own parties, to have a bite and say hello.  In the U.S. one walks into a large gathering, shouts a general 'Hey!' and gives specific, but still brief, greetings to close friends or family.  Here the new arrival greets each and every person, known or not, with the obligatory Vendeen 4 kisses - two on each cheek, alternating.  The same when they leave.  It was fascinating to watch.  The kids come in, greet everyone, chat for 5 minutes, say goodbye, and the whole process takes 30 - 40 minutes! 
As the sun gets a bit lower in the sky and it starts to cool down a bit, the stronger stuff comes out to be sampled:  a particular liqueur picked up on a trip to Syria, some Eau de Vie the farmer made last year, an herbal digestif made by Maman,  Papa's best wine.  Just before sunset (and the fireworks), around 10:00, a light supper is served with the leftovers from lunch and a few treats saved especially for the late-evening snack. 
When food duties were assigned I tried to talk the ladies into letting me do something traditional for me but new for them - like American Potato Salad.  They didn't buy my persuasions.  They would make their own traditional foods, thank you very much, but (apparently) they thought they could trust me with a tart...so I could bring a cherry tart.  I've never made a tart of any kind (or a pie without a frozen pie crust to get me started) and I wasn't about to have my first attempt critiqued by the entire village.  We compromised on a fruit salad.  They then dropped off a bag of apple, bananas, and oranges.  "Oh ye of little faith" I thought, you are about to be pleasantly surprised by the American who can't bake:
Summer Fruit Salad for a picnic
5 nectarines
5 peaches
1 pint strawberries
1 pint blueberries
1 melon,  (cantaloupe, honeydew)
and, in this case (I hade to use some of them)
3 oranges
3 bananas
1/2 bottle Sauternes - not an expensive one, but a decent one

Pick through the berries, removing stems, etc.  Rinse and drain well.  Leave all berries whole.  Cut the melon in half, remove seeds and either scoop out with melon-baller (making balls), or slice flesh from rind and cube.  Peel oranges and slice fruit sections out of membranes.  Slice peaches and nectarines.  Put all of the fruit into a large bowl and pour sauternes over.  1/2 bottle should be enough - it needs to coat all fruit or the peaches and nectarines will darken, you use more if needed.  Chill for a couple of hours.  Slice bananas and gently stir in just before serving.  (I normally would not put in bananas, but the ladies brought them, so...)
I serve this with the desserts, but, I did refer to it as a salad, so it was served with the salads (we had a proper 4-course picnic).  It was a large, full bowl....and it was all eaten!  I was proud!