The Art of the Picnic
Plan ahead

If you choose to bring along a roast or a chicken, cook it the day before. Cut it up before leaving home to avoid having to wrestle with it outdoors. Be sure to wrap everything in aluminum foil or else transport food in plastic containers in a cooler or insulated bag.
For dessert, take advantage of the season to enjoy refreshing thirst-quenching fruit. However, don't bring too much: strawberries in particular may not survive the return trip.

When it comes to beverages, nothing's more thirst-quenching than water. To keep it cold, use an insulated jug or transport it frozen (fill the containers three-quarters full and put them in the freezer overnight.) In any case, once you reach your picnic site, protect the containers from the sun or place them in the water if you're near a river or the sea, or else bury them in the sand. Bring enough, depending on whether your picnic is at a site equipped with water faucets, or in the middle of a field.

Hint: If you don't have a cooler, use insulated bags designed for transporting frozen products. In order to keep them cold inside, slide in some little bottles of water that you've frozen overnight. Be careful, however, not to fill them completely or they could burst.