A Provençal Fourth

Last weekend we had our annual Fourth of July barbeque.  While we like to invite any American friends who aren't otherwise occupied, we enjoy sharing our national holiday with the French (and other nationalities in our lives at the time), who seem to really have fun with our traditions.

I thought I'd show you how our day went, and you can compare it with your own!

Guaranteed red, white, & blue

This year's event turned out to be a smaller group than we usually have, as we ran into all kinds of end-of-the year conflicts.  As it was also quite hot, we kept our ambiance-creating decorations to a minimum, especially as all our guests have already seen all our ambiance in the past.

Marking the route to the barbecue

 

Now that we have a more interesting garden edge on our driveway, it enticed us to create a nice party welcome as everybody trudged up the hill in the heat.

Aren't my little lavenders really starting to fill in nicely?

Such a nice group of friends ...

Because we were a small group, we decided to use our patio area outside the kitchen again, rather than down on the terrace where we've been the past several years, which is also hotter.

... with whom to pass the afternoon

This is the first time we've dared to entertain in this area since the Great Wall Disaster destroyed the whole area.  Two of our guests were part of the team that helped us clean it all up last year, but we've moved on to more positive projects since then, so it's all still quite ugly.

Traditional Fourth of July barbecue fare

Adding the burgers

As we are attempting to produce an authentic fete, the core menu is the same every year, although our guests might bring something less traditional.

One thing that's become an added tradition is a demonstration of how to make a hamburger.  The first time was a desperate attempt to keep the French from eating the meat with a fork and knife and use the bun as a piece of bread, but that was many years (and barbecues) ago.  Now it's become a game requested by certain guests who know full well how to make and eat one.  So I oblige, in French.  Vaudeville at its best!

On making a hamburger ...

Don't forget to add the tomato slice!

... in the proper way

How to eat this?

Mmm, mmm, mmm

Open wide, real wide

Make new friends, keep the old, one is silver, the other gold

These two friends evoke a rather poignant souvenir.  We've now been down south almost as long as we were up north, so we have been doing our barbecue in both regions for quite a few years.

Here we have Nancy, who happens to be another transplanted American, who has been part of our south celebration for most years.  But we also have our beloved Jean-Claude, our Paris neighbor, who was always part of our north celebration.  However, he's almost always down south in the summer, so we've been able to include him also down here most years, which total quite a few barbecues.

The perfect spot for perfect ambiance and perfect friendship

I thought this showed our group and our ambiance this year quite nicely.

It was strange being so under decorated and having such a small group.  But with the heat and the limited space due to the Wishing Well (but isn't it looking spiffy?), our guests claimed that this was one of our nicest years.

Keeping it simple and cool

In the spirit of keeping things simple, especially as we were in the middle of a very busy schedule, I cheated and just served bought ice cream (rather than making all the ice for our homemade version), but complete with toppings and whipped cream! 

Who wants vanilla, who wants strawberry?

To keep it American, though, I also served Oreo cookies, something that never used to be available here.

A friend added some good old cold watermelon, also perfect in the heat!

Small and intimate, the best way to party (so they say)

As the afternoon cooled down, we all had a good time just sitting around enjoying everybody's company. 

While my group activities often include quite an eclectic age group, this time we were all the same generation and a nice mix of North American and French. 

Country dancing cowgirls

At this point, we had a first-time guest arrive, a French woman from our country dance class.  We've known her for several years; hopefully this was just the first of many future get-togethers outside of class.

Hey, I almost missed the fun!

Then, of course, Romea had to make her grand entrance, almost missing the party while she took her afternoon siesta.

I thought I wanted some coffee.

I'm totally French!

Personalizing the entrance decor

I made the mistake of walking my guests down the driveway when they were leaving, as they apparently weren't really quite ready to stop partying. 

I don't normally walk down, as it's a steep walk back up.  But I was just so thrilled with all my new gardens in the parking area, it's now almost a pleasant place to hang out.  Plus, I needed to take down my entry decorations.  Apparently, my guests thought we would look nice as decorations.  (But then, who wants stuffy friends, which too many of our generation are becoming.)

Mom & Pop:  The hot-blooded and the stone cold

As a parting shot, we were required to sit and mimic our Mom & Pop statue, which happens to be the favorite of our statues among almost all our guests. 

I'm so pleased I relocated them from the obscurity they'd been in before, but I never expected I'd need to pose as them!

And thus ended another year's celebration in France of our American Independence Day.  I think it ended up being quite successful and enjoyable!