Chapter 10: Okay if I Drool?

It was an early November morning. The skies were overcast with brisk winds and temperatures in the low teens, Celsius (or mid-50’s, Fahrenheit). We were in Roland’s office, discussing several experiments that we were attempting to run concurrently, when I brought up my idea for Thanksgiving.

“Roland, I know that you guys don’t celebrate Thanksgiving here in France,” I started, “but I was wondering if I could take a day, maybe later this month, and whip up an American style Thanksgiving dinner for everyone?”

“Are you going to try and cook with your powers?”

“I hadn’t thought about it. I was more focused on the foods that my family normally has for the holiday. I guess we could experiment with using my powers to cook with though.”

“What brought this on?” he asked.

“Well, I’ve been reading about how great the Sologne Black Turkey tastes and decided I wanted to try one,” I told him.

“Could it be that, with the holidays approaching, you are also getting a little homesick?” he asked softly.

After working together almost every day for the last seven months, I didn’t even bother trying to evade Roland’s more sensitive questions. Nor did I let them bother me.

“Possibly. This will be the first time that I have spent the holidays away from my family,” I replied.

“Then I say: ‘Go for it!’ I’m sure we will all enjoy the fruits your efforts,” he said. “However, you will need to plan quickly because we are leaving France two weeks from tomorrow and will not be back until after the new year!”

Roland’s pronouncement excited me, but he refused to tell me anymore, even when I threatened to tell Mischa and Phillipe.

“Be my guest! I shan’t tell them anymore either (he pronounced it ‘eye-ther’).” I must say that Roland and Carina had fun with their surprise announcement, getting the entire household excited.

I decided on holding my feast the next Sunday and with the regular cook’s help, I was able to plan and procure all the necessary ingredients for my big feast. On the day of the feast, she met me in the kitchen and said in French, with Mischa interpreting, “It is your show, I just want to watch.”

Of course, she did much more than watch, and honestly, I couldn’t have done it without her. She showed me several shortcuts and helped organize things so that the food all came out at the same time. She showed me how to dress up the vegetables and the dessert in a French style and she even taught me a few new French words that probably were not taught in school.

The Rappeneau family seemed to truly enjoy the American style Thanksgiving dinner, especially the candied yams and the pecan pie. After dinner, Roland stood and announced, “It is time to tell you where we are going for the holidays. Our family, including Daniel, has been invited to join Alfred and Archara Fourreau and their three children on their yacht for a trans-Atlantic crossing. We’ll set sail from Monte Carlo, through the Straights of Gibraltar, and cross the Atlantic with stops at Funchal and the Bahamas, before arriving in Fort Lauderdale in the United States. Then...”

He had to stop because everyone was talking so loud, he could not continue.

“Then...” he finally got everyone’s attention, “we will rent a vehicle and drive to Orlando, Florida and visit the theme parks there, before flying back to Paris in late January.”

Mischa jumped to her feet as she cried, “I have to go call Anna and find out what to bring!”

“Is Henri coming?” Phillipe asked.

“When are we leaving?” Carina asked at the same time.

“Yes, Henri is coming, and we will be leaving the pier at Monte Carlo early Thursday morning. That means we will need to take the train over on Wednesday afternoon.”

“That does not leave me with much time to make arrangements at the clinic,” Carina fretted.

“Do you remember Frau Hamblin, who serves on the Foundation’s Board of Directors? Well her daughter is a gynecologist at a small hospital in Munich and she is looking for a new position that deals more with battered women. She’ll be here in the morning to meet with you and the rest of the staff.”