American Thanksgiving In Paris

My first Thanksgiving in Paris was four years ago during my initial stint testing out this amazing city. I had all my new friends from the TEFL course I was taking participate, and I took advantage of the spectacularly spacious apartment the man I was dating at the time lived in. Because of our varying schedules, we ended up holding the festivities two days prior to Thanksgiving. We tried to order a turkey from a local butcher but somehow the message was never conveyed to the right person, so we ended up with chickens. A Scottish friend tried to make sweet potatoes with marshmallows, but somehow the French yams just sucked in the fluffy layer of sugar on top and they ended up more like sweet mashed goo. My fella was also going to move out a week or two later, so there was no furniture, leaving us picnicking on his living room floor. All in all, it was a completely and spectacularly haphazard holiday, one filled with love and festivity exactly as I would wish.

In contrast but equally as pleasant was this past Thanksgiving in Paris. My dear Hot Blonde Cousin had decided to travel over from London for the weekend, and we were happy to be invited to a lovely soirée in honor of the day. My American friends who have a gorgeous apartment on the Seine finally decided to host the event for their final year in France, and let me just say, they may not hold galas very often, but when they do, they go all out. After a day of work followed by a jaunt to Gare du Nord to pick up my cousin, we stopped en route to purchase some wine and cheese and finally made it to the party. We were greeted at the door by mouthwatering smells of cooking turkey and almost immediately handed a glass of champagne. Our gracious host and hostess made sure to keep our glasses filled all evening while we hobnobbed around, meeting new friends throughout the night. Not only that, but the lovely couple had actually tracked down chafing dishes and showered us with mountains of food, ranging from turkey to lamb, potatoes to cranberry sauce, pies, wine, and liqueurs.

It was the quintessential notion of what an American Thanksgiving usually represents. We spent the evening gorging on munchies, drinking excessively, and sharing stories. It was also an overindulgent beginning to what would be a weekend full of wine and food and then some more wine and some more food. Let the holidays begin!!!