Housewarming

In French, a housewarming party is called a "pendaison de crémaillère," or literally "hanging of a pothook," a pothook being the iron mechanism that held up the cauldron at varying heights over the fire in French homes before the advent of the oven. (There's a whole discussion of the etymology of the word crémaillère here.) From what I gather, the pothook was the last thing you'd hang in a new home, since it was crucial for cooking. Last thing hung = we're moved in = party time!

We threw our pendaison de crémaillère Sunday afternoon, and while it was a small affair, it definitely signalled the end of moving to France and the beginning of French living. For one thing, we put on quite a spread: two kinds of bread, two kinds of cheese, melon, grapes, sliced apples, LU Petit Ecolier cookies, a bottle of wine, two kinds of chips (I'm not the first to notice that the French love their potato chips!).

I can't tell you how much fun it was to visit le fromager, then le caviste (wine store), then la boulangère, and finally le primeur (fruits and veggies), getting advice from each on what to serve and how to serve it. I felt so French!

So in terms of cuisine, we're getting into the swing of things. But our houseparty also marked our first step towards reconnecting with French friends, four of whom attended. Now, we're plugged into the "scene" and already have invites to various get-togethers over the next month.

Khayam and Louis plan future get-togethers

Now that we're all settled, I guess it's time to get started on . . . research?