Thanksgiving, à la française

This is Baptiste, I saw him for a long coffee afternoon today, and had a good 'ole chat. Have to get him out of the habit of buying my drinks for me...
Today was very much a catch up on life, as we haven't seen each other properly since I went back to England for Toussaint. Had a very in-depth conversation about life, and how people should and shouldn't act. Both decided that sometimes we don't always act and react like we should. We also spoke about our families and hometowns...and turns out he's originally from Charleville-Mézières, the same tiny town where my friend Tom is for his year abroad!

Words that I learnt today (take from them what you will!):-
- Allowed - permettre (de), autoriser (à)
- Aloud - à haute voix
- Conscious / aware - conscient
- To tell - dire (Il m'a dit)
- To talk [parler] - To discuss [discuter] - To argue [disputer]
- Someone else - quelqu'un d'autre
- To tempt - tenter
- A gossip - une commère
- To gossip - bavarder
- F**ck/ed/ing - how in English it can be used in any context (See Monty Python)!
- To grow old - vieillir
- I am the apple of their eye - Ils tiennent à moi comme leurs prunelles de leurs yeux (not literal)
- You are cherished - Tu es chouchoute
- Step-mother/sister - belle- mere/s?ur - also your X-in-law
- Step-father/ brother - beau-père/frère
- Half-sister/brother - demi- s?ur/frère

Saw an awesome sunset on the way home before my Thanksgiving dinner at Kristie's house.

So, a very French Thanksgiving - in terms of how wine was matched by the dish, and how everything isn't served together. Also how long everything took...but somehow not in a bad way! We started eating at around 7pm and finished at 1.30am...but it wasn't a constant eating, and there was a good time between each course, which I will now describe here (especially for my Grandma!)
Champagne et Whisky
Hors d'oeuvres
***
Verrine de lentilles aux châtaignes
Salade d'endives et maïs
***
Soupe aux saveurs d'automne
***
Saumon fumé maison (this Kristie had smoked the salmon herself!)
Toasts au fromage frais
***
Trou du Chti (a very strong liquor from the North of France)
***
Dinde rôti avec pommes de terre au four
Gelée de canneberge
Purée de patates douces
Marrons glacées
Carrés de pain de maïs
Salade de mâche
***
Glace de pecans au beurre
Tarte de pecans à la canneberge
Tarte Tatin
***
Café et chocolats
Tisane

Now the evening itself was so nice...there was a perfect mix of children, teenagers and adults so no one felt left out. Surprisingly, two of the guys I was talking to actually spend a lot of their working life in England, so out of necessity speak enough English to get by...very helpful for me when my French started to fail! I was a bit disappointed that as the evening went on I couldn't seem to connect my brain with my mouth quick enough to hold intelligent conversation in French no longer...but I guess that just comes with the territory. For example, anywhere = n'importe où, my tired brain just couldn't even think of it in English!

Anyway, great evening, great people, amazing first Thanksgiving.