THANKSGIVING IN THE YEAR OF A PANDEMIC

This is my third Thanksgiving in France. The first was two years ago when I came to sign the papers on the house. It was a happy time but I was alone and had no real friends close by yet, so it was just another day.

I made up for it last year inviting five people to dinner who hadn’t ever experienced an American Thanksgiving. For two days I cooked and baked all the traditional dishes and, while exhausting, it was a satisfying success.

I had the same plan in mind this year but two things got in the way. The first was the pandemic though we were going to work around it and make it happen. The second sabotaged the day completely (that is, as it was originally planned).

In August, I purchased new tiling for my main floor. A laminated floor had been put in place by the previous owners, but it wasn’t holding up well so I wanted to replace it with tiling which would be more durable and still easy to maintain. Installation was to begin October 27 and be completed by November 4. Like many construction projects, it didn’t quite work out that way.

The first problem was that on the first day the installer saw that he had the wrong type of cement. A new fiberglas composite needed to be ordered and we lost two days. He also saw that for the work involved, the project had been grossly underestimated in terms of allotted labor and time. But rather than go with the flow and just get it done, the company is so understaffed and badly managed that there was no staffing flexibility and he was called away TWICE for other projects.

The story is long and boring but suffice it to say, the project was only 2/3 completed when he was called away the second time to another project. Rather than waiting a week for him to return, I contacted Monsieur Belmas, the man who did my roof in July to see if he could be subcontracted to get the job done. He came over with his tile expert and they pointed out that it was being done wrong! What had been done would have to be ripped out and started all over again because there was no flexible layer and the tile would not hold up. Evidence of that were cracks in the cement layer already visible.

I wrote a letter that was redrafted by my attorney and sent to the tile company based in Toulouse giving them until November 20 to get the installation done or I would take legal action. Fortunately legal action doesn’t appear to be necessary as a visit from the acting manager last week led to a mutual understanding that they would cease and desist, I would have Monsieur Belmas et al re-do the job, and I would get a complete refund.

New tile has been ordered and may even arrive tomorrow. Monsieur Belmas tells me it will take 4-5 days to complete. So I’ve been essentially living out of my bedroom since October 26 as there is no furniture (not even the refrigerator) on the main floor. All that has been stored in my outdoor dining area which has an automatic garage-like door to keep it enclosed from the weather. It has been fun….

My friends Gayle & Bernard were invitees this year but under the circumstances, I had to notify everyone that my Thanksgiving dinner was necessarily cancelled. So Gayle graciously invited me to their home for a turkey dinner instead. I cooked a few dishes including Thomas Jefferson’s Sweet Potato Biscuits, yams and cranberry orange relish. They had been up to Paris two weeks before for business and picked up an authentic American pumpkin pie at Costco Paris. It was a nice dinner and especially good to get out and share my favorite holiday with friends.

Planning a traditional Thanksgiving menu can be a bit of a challenge as well as an expense given that turkey, for one, is not the commodity it is in the US. At 4.99 euros/kg (roughly US$2.70/pound) it isn’t cheap. Last year I pre-ordered a 14 lb. turkey from my local butcher. He said they didn’t come that big, so he provided two smaller turkeys at a cost of 120 euros (US$144.00)! I won’t do that again. I’ve fortunately found out that there are other vendors who can provide turkey at a more reasonable cost. The Costco price seems to be the best, but Costco is 7 hours away by car and the availability of turkeys is a very small window of time prior to the holiday.

Turkey, as you can see above, is called dinde. Originally sourced from the West Indies, it was given that name as d’Inde means from the Indies.

Cranberries, too, are imported and very expensive (US$5.85/pound). What is imported is not in great quantities so one needs to be diligent and grab them when you see them. We have a very nice rather upscale market called Grand Frais which has great meats, cheeses, and produce. I was in Carcasonne a few weeks ago and dropped in to see if they had cranberries. Fortunately they did and I grabbed most of their stock freezing them for future use. Not only do I make a cranberry orange relish, I also have a wonderful recipe for a cranberry cake that makes for a great holiday dessert.

Thanksgiving 2020 was different for most of us. The pandemic has kept many home. I am discovering some didn’t even bother with the traditional meal. No apologies necessary as I know we’re doing the best we can to just get through this horrendous year.

Gayle & Bernard were great hosts and we had a lovely table filled with some great food. It was an enjoyable time and I am grateful for their friendship and punting to make it work.