New Year's eve
After a glass of sweetish white wine and some foie gras and toast on the world's most broken down sofa, I was seated at the table between Anne and Delphine. Delphine is a cutish brown-eyed blonde. Her face is a little too flat and she has tired eyes. We had just met. The most remarkable thing about Delphine was her perfume, or at least that's what I think it was. It crossed my mind that she might smoke cloves but I pretty much ruled that out. None the less, she smelled smoky-dusty with a hint of cloves. Nicer than second-hand clove smoke and strong but pleasant. I'm thinking she was wearing a men's fragrance. It reminded me of Polo which I sometimes wear but there was an undeniable hint of cloves. I found it to be quite agreeable even though the scent followed her like an aura. She only needed to be in the same room for me to notice it. Later on, I brought it up to the MSU and she confessed that she hadn't even noticed. I don't see, on the other hand, how I could have possibly missed it.
Anne prepared lobster and crab with mayonnaise. Actually, I think Benoit may have bought it at nearly the last minute. It was good, but probably wasted on me. I'm not really into "fruits de mer" to begin with but crabs and lobsters are an unsolvable puzzle. I basically massacred mine except for the claws and the lobster tail.
Benoit, Anne's husband is a wine merchant. There are advantages to having a friend who's a wine merchant. He served a very unusual wine which he admitted we had the right "to detest". It tasted over-ripe, rotten, like a wine that had gone all wrong. Yet, it was delicious and a good compliment to the main course. We had coq au vin with wild mushrooms and I had a fleeting thought that had I never come to Europe, I might not have even ever heard of a lot of the foods and wines that I'm accustomed to consuming. I tried to imagine how many Americans could have this wine and food and have enough background experience to realize how unusual it all was. Everything was good.
For a French woman, Anne might be the worst house keeper I've ever met. She cooks well, but she's not a great hostess because she's simply too disorganized. She's about the most into crafts of any French woman I've ever met. Her house is full of candles and painted things and things that are made from other things, some of which have been thrown away... maybe several times. For a French woman, she has a lot of emotional baggage but she's nice and she's one of our better friends here. She's just... fragile and already slightly damaged goods.
And midnight came before we knew it and we all kissed and the kids lit fireworks. It was raining a little. We had Champagne.
Then we chatted, mostly about music, until about four A.M. Delphine likes Little House on the Prairie. Anne likes a lot of the same musicians I like even though she can't understand their lyrics.
My Daughter likes the Sims 2 and won't stop bugging me to get it for her.
Anne prepared lobster and crab with mayonnaise. Actually, I think Benoit may have bought it at nearly the last minute. It was good, but probably wasted on me. I'm not really into "fruits de mer" to begin with but crabs and lobsters are an unsolvable puzzle. I basically massacred mine except for the claws and the lobster tail.
Benoit, Anne's husband is a wine merchant. There are advantages to having a friend who's a wine merchant. He served a very unusual wine which he admitted we had the right "to detest". It tasted over-ripe, rotten, like a wine that had gone all wrong. Yet, it was delicious and a good compliment to the main course. We had coq au vin with wild mushrooms and I had a fleeting thought that had I never come to Europe, I might not have even ever heard of a lot of the foods and wines that I'm accustomed to consuming. I tried to imagine how many Americans could have this wine and food and have enough background experience to realize how unusual it all was. Everything was good.
For a French woman, Anne might be the worst house keeper I've ever met. She cooks well, but she's not a great hostess because she's simply too disorganized. She's about the most into crafts of any French woman I've ever met. Her house is full of candles and painted things and things that are made from other things, some of which have been thrown away... maybe several times. For a French woman, she has a lot of emotional baggage but she's nice and she's one of our better friends here. She's just... fragile and already slightly damaged goods.
And midnight came before we knew it and we all kissed and the kids lit fireworks. It was raining a little. We had Champagne.
Then we chatted, mostly about music, until about four A.M. Delphine likes Little House on the Prairie. Anne likes a lot of the same musicians I like even though she can't understand their lyrics.
My Daughter likes the Sims 2 and won't stop bugging me to get it for her.