Classic French Bread

Though I prefer the meatier texture of a nice honey wheat loaf, there's something profoundly satisfying (and, let's admit -- impressive) about bringing homemade baguettes to a gathering. Here's the classic four-ingredient recipe from Famous French Desserts, but with a few notes from me. Apparently, you can adapt it to a whole wheat baguette if you use 2-3 cups whole wheat flour in lieu of white. I haven't tried that yet. On the whole, this is a lovely, simple (albeit really time-consuming) recipe.

4 cups Flour
1 tbsp. Dry Active Yeast
1-2 tsp. Salt
2 cups Warm Water
Oil for bowl

1. Combine the flour and the salt.
2. In another bowl, combine yeast, warm water, and half of the flour/salt mixture. Using your hands, mix until it forms a dough. (This will be very sticky.) Then, cover with a dish cloth and let sit at room temperature for 3 hours. It should triple in size.
3. Gently incorporate the rest of the flour/salt, using your hands.
4. Place on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 10 minutes. It should be supple and elastic when you stop kneading. (By supple, we still mean sticky.)
5. Lightly oil a bowl. Place dough in bowl. Cover with a dish towel. Let sit for 1 hour. It should double in size.
6. Preheat oven to 450°F. Knead again. Then cut dough into 3 parts and form each part into a long baguette. Place on a baking sheet. Let sit for at least 20 minutes. (Don't forget that last step. If you do, the baguettes will be unnaturally skinny.)
7. Place a bowl of water in the oven. Bake baguettes for about 25 minutes (maybe less). Remove the bowl of water after 15 minutes of baking.