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Thursday, December 1, 2011

...we had turkey day in Paris

Instead of having turkey on Thursday, a co-worker of Patrick's opened her home and invited about 25 people to have Thanksgiving there last Saturday.  As the host, they provided the turkey (which had to be special ordered from a store here in Paris called....wait for it.....Thanksgiving (http://www.thanksgivingparis.com/)!  And since ovens here in Paris are small, they ordered two birds and enlisted their American neighbors downstairs to cook the other turkey.

There was a sign up list sent out with the e-vite with traditional dishes to sign up for.  There were also choices like bread and drinks.  Obviously, the bread and drinks categories filled up quickly.  Since the folks invited were mainly from everywhere else BUT America, a lot of the dishes sounded too weird/complicated and didn't get signed up for.  But the hosts and the select few Americans "stepped up" and rounded out the menu.  As example, one person asked Patrick the the host, Lorraine, at work how to cook mashed potatoes.......
A look down the table

Ready for guests

Sam doing her usual Thanksgiving water glass duties

We arrived a bit early since I had so much stuff I was bringing.  Both kids were a huge help in getting everything ready. They put out the water, butter, carried things to the table, etc.  After dinner they cleared plates and made beer and drink runs for people.  Patrick and I were very proud of them and received many compliments on how great they were.  The best thing, they did it all without being told!  We must be doing something right!

They both enjoyed going to Lorraine's and we had been there before for another get together, so they were very comfortable with Lorraine and her partner Cindy.  They also love their dog, Olive.  This has to be the most "chill" dog I have ever met.  She doesn't even bark!  BIG change from our two!






It is a French custom to bring flowers to the host/hostess when invited over.  Unlike in America, it is actually in bad form to bring a bottle of wine since you don't know the menu of the host.  So when you have a dinner party as large as this Thanksgiving, you end up with a lot of flowers.
Just some to the flowers for the hosts

The meal went fantastic.  And just like a traditional American Thanksgiving, there was a huge amount of food.  Any fear that we didn't have enough was quickly put to rest!  Everyone "tucked in" and had a great time.  I had an interesting conversation with two people at the table where I had to explain that "yes, the sweet potato casserole was considered a vegetable and not a dessert"!  Everyone was impressed and loved trying everything.


So now, it is ON for Christmas.  

Dogs to the kennel on the 16th 


Kinda worried about leaving them for 20 days AND leaving the country!  But we like the kennel and have already had a trial run with a stay there....




Last day of school on the 16th










Flying on the 18th














So you know what that means.............time to shop, shop, shop~