Memorable Luncheons, The Church and A Delicious Pavlova

While living in Saint-Nom-La-Bretèche, I went in to Paris on Tuesdays to have lunch with my mother-in-law.  The drive in and out of the city in the middle of the day was not a problem, but finding a parking place was a nightmare.  I gather it's even worse today. So sometimes I took the train.

Tricky Parisian parking

My father-in-law had passed away a few years earlier and Mère lived alone in a large apartment.  We enjoyed a delicious lunch and pleasant conversation. We discussed politics, friends, the family and THE CHURCH.  Mère was a conservative Catholic who disagreed with many of the changes brought about by Vatican II.  Once I accompanied her to a clandestine mass in latin.  Vatican II had proclaimed that the service should be said in the local vernacular.  We went down a narrow street, through an unmarked doorway and down into a basement. Luckily we were not arrested by the Pope’s Gendarmerie, sent to Rome and imprisoned in the Vatican for our transgressions.

This reminds me of the first lunch I had with my soon-to-be mother-in-law.  In the summer of 1967, I was staying in Montmorency at the home of my French family, the Orsonis.   This was a family I had lived with for a year when I was 15.  Montmorency is a suburb north of Paris and is the home of the Jean-Jacques Rousseau Museum.  I was writing a paper on Rousseau for my Masters…probably something highly erudite! 

Here I am with my French "parents"-The Orsonis

Rousseau Museum

That summer I became engaged to Vincent. We went to the Parc de Bagatelle and Vincent presented me with an engagement ring. It was a beautiful, romantic spot.

The bagatelle rose garden.

Newly engaged, sniffing a rose.

This was followed by a mass to celebrate the event at La Madeleine, an impressive Parisian church. It was designed as a temple to celebrate Napoleon’s victories and after his death it became a church. After the mass there was a luncheon at the family apartment.  I particularly remember a fresh berry Pavlova for dessert.

L'Eglise de La Madeleine

A Pavlova - a meringue base with whipped cream and berries.

But Vincent’s family was suspicious of an American, non-catholic girl... notoriously free and easy. My mother-in-law invited me for a tête-à-tête, a lunch with just the two of us.  It was somewhat a trial by fire.  The one meat that makes me gag is liver.  Of course, I was served a large piece of liver since Americans LOVE meat.  But I managed to eat it with a smile. I feel the two of us became friends that day; a friendship that grew into love and respect.

Debbie, Laurence (sister-in-law), Mère, Père - in the country after engagement.