Last night, Philipp and I had a lovely evening with Aurore and several friends, to celebrate Aurore's birthday. She put together a fabulous dinner in her beautiful garden. We had a great time, but were very sleepy when we got home and crawled into bed at 2:30 this morning.
There were about sixteen people, including Antoine (Philipp's brother), several of his models, two of Aurore's cousins, and people's significant others. The only downer was that I think Philipp and I were the only ones who don't smoke ... but at least we were outside.
Philipp was happy to spend time with old friends, and I was surprised that several people wanted to speak English with me. One of Aurore's cousins lived in London for 10 years, another guy used to drive a bus there, others simply wanted the chance to say the few words they know. Everyone was very friendly, gave us their congratulations for our wedding, and had a fun evening.
As with any "soirée" in France, there was delicious food (salads, a vegetable crumble, and sausages and steaks on the grill ... I had extra vegetables) and a couple types of wine. But we started with one of my favorite cocktails ... "La Soupe Angevine", or "Soup of Angers". Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try:
LA SOUPE ANGEVINE
There were about sixteen people, including Antoine (Philipp's brother), several of his models, two of Aurore's cousins, and people's significant others. The only downer was that I think Philipp and I were the only ones who don't smoke ... but at least we were outside.
Philipp was happy to spend time with old friends, and I was surprised that several people wanted to speak English with me. One of Aurore's cousins lived in London for 10 years, another guy used to drive a bus there, others simply wanted the chance to say the few words they know. Everyone was very friendly, gave us their congratulations for our wedding, and had a fun evening.
As with any "soirée" in France, there was delicious food (salads, a vegetable crumble, and sausages and steaks on the grill ... I had extra vegetables) and a couple types of wine. But we started with one of my favorite cocktails ... "La Soupe Angevine", or "Soup of Angers". Here's the recipe, if you want to give it a try:
LA SOUPE ANGEVINE
2 teaspoons lemon juice
2 teaspoons sugar syrup
2 teaspoons sugar syrup
2 teaspoons Cointreau* or another triple sec (but Cointreau is the best)
one bottle sparkling wine** ("champagne")
one bottle sparkling wine** ("champagne")
Mix all the ingredients and serve very cold. Mmmm ... délicieux!
* Cointreau is a triple sec (orange liqueur) made here in Angers and nowhere else in the world. In fact, the distillery is just down the road from Philipp's parents' house. It costs more in the States than here in France, but it's worth it.
**In the US, we tend to call all sparkling wines Champagne, but in fact you can only use that name if it comes from the region of Champagne. Here in Anjou, there are delicious sparkling wines called Crémant or Mousseux. Any sparkling wine will do.
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