the dinner party

The dinner at the home of our neighbor’s was quite wonderful. French dinners are quite an affair. Everything seems so uniquely choreographed with the same script. We have champagne and conversation. This particular evening seemed to go so much more smoothly than previous dinners where our French was so bad that we just felt like additional pieces of furniture in the room. There were two reasons, maybe... one, our French is better and the second... only one guest in the 6 spoke no English. The conversations, however, were mostly in French. I think my understanding was at about 70%. Not too bad.

The dinner party consisted of us and 2 other couples and our hostess. One couple was a woman from the states and her French husband. No problem there... seems she preferred to talk to me in English. The other couple was French and the man spoke English quite well... he was a professor of classic languages!

After champagne, we began dinner. I’ve noticed that French hostesses always have a very well-thought-out seating arrangement for dinner. It makes for an interesting evening. Everything is so very formal and the table usually looks like it came straight out of a decorating magazine. And of course, candles are a must!

Another interesting thing I have observed is that there is no pre-fussing over the preparation of the meal. Last summer when we had our first French meal at the country home of Marie and Pierre, I asked if she had cooked the meal. She laughed and said, “well no...I didn’t want to spend my time doing that... I want to enjoy my guests!” And then each time we have eaten at the home of our other French friends, the food was very simple. Lots of it, but simple. So I guess I wasn’t surprised when our meal on Saturday night was not cooked by our hostess. She prepared dishes that seemed to be “some assembly required” but not “home cooked.” And it was a great meal that I struggled to finish.

After dinner, we went back to the living room for more conversation, coffee and chocolate. Everyone was dressed as though they were going to a fancy cocktail party. The guys had on coats with the very-French black mock-turtleneck sweater that they always wear and the French women were exquisite. The American woman was... well... dressed more American than French.

It was quite an evening!