How do you spell the sort of chicken that you eat?

Thanksgiving in Paris....no mashed potatoes, rolls and gravy but, thanks to the students, everything was perfect.  They'd seen some tears a couple of days before which prompted questions about what I'd be doing for the holiday.  I told them that I'd be there teaching them English just like every other day.  "But aren't you supposed to be with your family and friends?  Couldn't you get some time off to go home?"  I told them that I'd be fine.

When I arrived Thanksgiving day for the 11:30 class I was greeted by a bunch of smiling students with a big "Surprise!"  There were cookies, little beautifully decorated cakes, cupcakes (handmade by a triathlete that trains 5 hours a day after class that took the time to make little cupcakes filled with nutella),  and a bouquet of roses.  They all signed a little 'merci' card, and by their names they added comments:

"Thanks for the love, Antoine"
"Pretty Boy, Jeremy."
"Sexy Ilan."

They didn't learn those expressions from me, but I loved them all!  If Mr. Cool Twenty-Something (actually he is probably only 18 or 19) only knew that he signed off as "Pretty Boy."  It cracked me up.

In the evening one of the students had invited me to join her and her parents and godparents (who were all my age) for dinner.  We went to a beautiful restaurant that I never would have found myself in if I hadn't been invited by this lovely girl.  Her parents and godparents only see each other once or twice a year, so it was really nice of them to include me.  Helene and I amused ourselves at our end of the table texting a boy from class.

The restaurant is famous for fish, not that sort of chicken that you eat for Thanksgiving.  (Try keeping a straight face for that question!) So what did I find to eat on the fancy menu?  Caviar d'aubergines.  For some strange reason I believed that it was only aubergines (eggplant).  I thought the word caviar might have meant how it was prepared or something.  And maybe I got that crazy idea because when Lance was here he ordered "escalope something or other" and it wasn't scallops!  Had we known what escalope meant in English, we wouldn't have had the problem.  So, I assumed that caviar had another kitchen definition and it wasn't only fish eggs.

Voila!  A green pile of something came.  And guess what?  I ate it.  I ate it.  That's not a computer glitch.  I wrote it twice.  I was still believing that it was eggplant prepared like caviar.  It wasn't until later that I started thinking about it and wondering what I'd accomplished.  It was still on my mind over the weekend and just now, typing the blog, I googled it and I was right all along.  It wasn't caviar!  But, I still deserve some points.  When's the last time any of you saw me eat aubergines?