Chez Bill and Dinner with French People – Sat Oct 13th

We’d made plans to spend the day again with Bill and his family.  But, wanting a slow start, we got there at 3 pm.  They’re considering moving, so we went with them to see one of the houses they’re thinking of buying, which was nice.  It was interesting to listen in as the owner (not the realtor) explained the house.  I think we understood 25%, which is quite a bit lower than some of our other experiences.  We’ll chalk it up to the regional accent.

As an aside, I love foie gras and the fact that it is so accessible here in the south.  When we were staying with Bill & Isabelle in 2010, they had a party for Robin.  Estelle catered and made foie gras.  I think I was probably a bit greedy -- I ate what would have probably cost $50 in foie gras that afternoon a few years ago...

Bill & Isabelle’s friend Estelle was making dinner for several of their friends that night and she graciously invited us to join in.  Coincidentally, she lives near Place St. George where we went for the chocolate festival the day before.  Estelle was maid of honor and I was best man at Bill and Isabelle’s wedding, so we’ve met her before on several occasions.

Dinner was great!  We feel extraordinarily lucky that we have such long term friends in France as Bill (nearly 34 years) and Isabelle (7 years).  They open up their lives in France to us and, as a result, we feel fortunate to have experiences that would otherwise be inaccessible to foreign visitors.  Like dinner for 10 in a French woman’s apartment.  Where she was experimenting with various appetizers for her catering business.  Everyone spoke enough English to get along with us.  And we spoke enough French to understand most of the rest.

One of their friends tells us that he organizes a challenge every year, a foie gras competition.  I wonder when it is and, more importantly, if the strength of my friendship with Bill & Isabelle could get us invited to their friend's event.  Maxine observes that American's hold chili cookoffs and French have foie gras cookoffs...

A language nuance we learned that night.  According to one of the guests, people in northern France reply to a thank you with “de rien”, which means “it was nothing”.  But, people in the south, like them, reply “avec plaisir”, which means “with pleasure”.  Interesting nuance of a view towards life.

Another late night – home again around midnight, but feeling appreciative the whole way home.