4th of July with the French

For the 4th of July, Wally and I decided it would be fun to have a proper American BBQ.

MarionR agreed to host, and we all met on Wednesday night at her place. Marion’s apartment is amazingly large for Paris, with a private garden in the back that’s easily over half the size of our apartment.

We all brought food for our American meal, including hamburgers, ribs, macaroni salad, and chocolate chip cookies. MarionM brought California wine, and I took some of the snacks my parents had brought me from the States.

Marion’s BBQ is electric, so that was a first for me. I think everyone was a bit scared of the meat, so I wound up manning the BBQ and properly over-cooking everything American-style.

I was surprised by how happy I was with something as simple as eating hamburgers with friends. Instead of the typical French meal with proper forks and knives, they were all using their hands, a little awkwardly, but still embracing the American spirit.

It was just a little weird, though, to have to explain how to assemble a burger, or how a Hershey kiss is made, to people my own age. But I suppose they feel the same way when they have to explain pâté to me.