With grilling and picnic weather now in, a meal al fresco can be made or broken by your choice of bread. A bad baguette is almost as bad as that squish-flat-between-forefinger-and-thumb Kleenex bread. But there are some good ones around.

Patisserie Poupon's baguettes are hard to beat. And The Bonaparte Bakery, in Savage, MD, makes what some say is the most authentic French bread in the area. It's carried by the Bethesda Co-op, and Wagshal's, Massachusetts Ave NW in Spring Valley. Some time ago, a completely unscientific poll I did among local native Frenchmen put the French bread from La Madeleine French Bakery & Cafe (with its stores at 7607 Old Georgetown Rd, Bethesda; 11858 Rockville Pike, Rockville; 5861 Baileys Crossroads Center, Falls Church; 1915 Chain Bridge Road, McLean;1833 Fountain Dr, Reston; 500 King St, Alexandria; 3000 M St NW, next to the Latham Hotel) high on the crunchy-crust-and-soft-crumb hit parade.

But these days, Bernard Houlier is probably the French baking king in town. Find him and his baguettes, as well as breakfast pastries, country loaves, fruit tartes are more at Saint Michel Bakery, 5540 Wilkins Court, Rockville, and at the Montgomery Farm Women's Cooperative on Wisconsin Ave, Bethesda, on Wednesday, Fridays and Saturdays.

Wholesalers Uptown Bakers supply a wide number of top Washington restaurants with their excellent bread. It is available retail in a limited number of supermarkets, including Brookville, 3427 Connecticut Ave NW, 202 244 9114.

Whole Foods' baguettes were terrific in the beginning. But these days, there's not much to commend them, except perhaps for the artisan (whatever that means in this case) whole grain version which is hardly French but has a pleasant chew to it. Firehook's and Marvelous Market's baguettes have little personality, either, while Dean & DeLuca's is stale almost before you get it home.

The French bake - and buy - baguettes twice a day. But if you have a baguette that's become stale, spritz it with water and put it in a 375F oven for 5 minutes to crisp up and refresh. Eat it at once.

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