Mr Ambassador, you're spoiling us

The reason I had to rush back from Mount Vernon was that the same evening we were going to the Bastille Day event at the French Embassy. Now, never having been to a social event at an Embassy before, I had no idea what to expect and so was basing my perceptions largely on the Ferrero Rocher adverts from a few years back.


Admittedly, the evening wasn't quite the same sort of affair, it wasn't black tie for a start, and there weren't any Ferroro Rocher, but there was plenty of just about everything else. The event itself was designed to raise money for the American-French Cultural Foundation, but inside it felt a little bit like a May Ball. There were five or six stalls from famous French restaurants all serving up portions of their signature dishes, and other pâtisserie stalls with desserts, biscuits and chocolates, and others with drinks. There was even a series of live cookery demonstrations, a raffle and an auction. Sadly, despite my intentions otherwise, I managed to repeat my performance at John Spencer's Brunch Party back in the first-year of University by eating far too much - I had to take indigestion tablets when I got back so that I could get to sleep. But what I did eat was very good indeed; from cassoulet to beef bourguignon, from snail quiche to pate, from prune and armagnac Breton cake to French meringues and from fine cheeses to bread, it was all there, and included in the entrance fee. So I can hardly be held accountable; especially as not drinking means I have to get my monies worth elsewhere!

But food aside, the evening was just really good fun. The event was a lot like Selwyn's May Ball in that it was really laid back with people just sitting around, talking or listening to the live music. Later in the evening some of the tables were cleared for us all to dance the rest of the night away, which we did.