On Monday evening Genevieve and I dined at her friend’s house. The head of the family, Monsieur De France is in the textile business and they live in a large and beautiful home. They currently are hosting two young men, one from Paris and one from California. They live in a gated area with a pass code. Of course Genevieve and I forgot the code, and she forgot her cell phone…so we found ourselves in a pickle. Not 10 minutes later another car pulled up and opened the gate for us. Unfortunately this wasn’t the only gate we needed to get through. When we arrived at their private entrance door no one was answering the bell. Genevieve was practically pressing the button continuously as I sat in the car. She even climbed on top of the hood of the car three times to peer over and yell COUCOU to see if anyone would answer…no one did. We backed the car up, went back to the entrance gate and in fact found the sheet of paper where Genevieve had written down the code to the first gate (so we could get out if we needed to). She tried to call with the intercom system, but again, no answer. ANOTHER car pulled up and Genevieve asked to borrow the driver’s cell phone. Meanwhile I was watching all this happen from inside her car. She finally got hold of the De France family and we headed back up the winding path to their house. When we arrived I met Edouard, who, at first, I thought was the American. His accent was perfect, his hair, face, and clothing were so French…I really couldn’t believe he acclimated this accurately…I soon found out he was from Paris and was indeed born and bread to be as French as they come! We went into the salon and that is where I met Andrew, from California- barefoot, mesh shorts, and an American accent.
We all sat down and had a glass of wine. There were pistachios, cut vegetables, and these delicious hot-dog balls that had mustard seeds in them…what a taste sensation (and a little off-putting at first when you initially bite down on the nurdles inside!). Dinner was soon ready and we made our way into the dining room. We had roast beef, seasoned potatoes, and salade. DELISH! The younger crowd sat at one end of the table (I was placed at the head, en face de Monsieur De France). Edouard was very kind and asked me a bunch of questions about being in Lyon, my job, when I got here, etc… I found out it is challenging to eat roast beef and politely answer rapid fire questions. This is where I learned my lesson: I had just cut a sizable piece of roast beef and began to chew it. Edouard asked me another question and after chewing for what seemed like the proper amount of time I swallowed so I could answer his question without being rude…bad idea. It turns out the piece of meat was too big for my poor throat and I indeed began to choke. Mind you, this was probably over a period of 5-10 seconds but definitely felt like more! I kept my cool trying not to make a scene, as these people were brand new acquaintances. The thoughts running through my head were – Oh my god I’m going to choke in Lyon, at least its good roast beef, does anyone know the himleck (sp?) here?, if I can cough that means I’m not choking right?- so I tried to breath and really couldn’t, then I coughed a little bit and the meat went down!! PHEW! Edouard was still patiently waiting for my response and I don’t even think that he realized what had just happened because I guess I kept my cool…or maybe he didn’t want to embarrass me by asking. Moral of the story, people can always wait for the answer to their questions and in the mean time take smaller bites…
We all sat down and had a glass of wine. There were pistachios, cut vegetables, and these delicious hot-dog balls that had mustard seeds in them…what a taste sensation (and a little off-putting at first when you initially bite down on the nurdles inside!). Dinner was soon ready and we made our way into the dining room. We had roast beef, seasoned potatoes, and salade. DELISH! The younger crowd sat at one end of the table (I was placed at the head, en face de Monsieur De France). Edouard was very kind and asked me a bunch of questions about being in Lyon, my job, when I got here, etc… I found out it is challenging to eat roast beef and politely answer rapid fire questions. This is where I learned my lesson: I had just cut a sizable piece of roast beef and began to chew it. Edouard asked me another question and after chewing for what seemed like the proper amount of time I swallowed so I could answer his question without being rude…bad idea. It turns out the piece of meat was too big for my poor throat and I indeed began to choke. Mind you, this was probably over a period of 5-10 seconds but definitely felt like more! I kept my cool trying not to make a scene, as these people were brand new acquaintances. The thoughts running through my head were – Oh my god I’m going to choke in Lyon, at least its good roast beef, does anyone know the himleck (sp?) here?, if I can cough that means I’m not choking right?- so I tried to breath and really couldn’t, then I coughed a little bit and the meat went down!! PHEW! Edouard was still patiently waiting for my response and I don’t even think that he realized what had just happened because I guess I kept my cool…or maybe he didn’t want to embarrass me by asking. Moral of the story, people can always wait for the answer to their questions and in the mean time take smaller bites…
Sara B,
ReplyDeleteI'm so happy you put this story in, well, actually, I'm just happy you lived to tell it! I think everyone who reads this will be able to picture exactly what was happening and that moment of panic where you really you have truly never been confronted with such a predicament and that the first thought it, what will they think of me if I die of a piece of roast beef upon first introductions?? Oooh, the things we think of in times of emergency.
You are doing such a fantastic job on this blog. It is so well-written, entertaining, and VIVID. I'm so proud of you and love reading about your adventures.
xoxo