November is full of Fall activities. Even though it's not on the French calendar, my favorite day in November is still Thanksgiving. Thanksgiving is the fourth Thursday in November, the date moves with the calendar.
It is actually more fun in France because no one else knows about it. So, the grocery stores are not packed with last-minute shoppers and the newspaper is not filled with ads for discounts on food. In the US, Thanksgiving marks the start of the "holiday" season. Everyone starts to buy more, eat more and work less it seems.
Thanksgiving is a fun holiday in France, but I have to work a little harder to celebrate. I'm not sure if a whole turkey will fit in my oven. And, if it does, I don't have a big enough pan. So, typically, I buy a couple of turkey leg/thighs and roast them.
Cranberries don't exist here in the same form and quantity as in the US. So, last year, we used Odile's apple compote as a delicious substitute. I can make some this year and I probably will. There's no stuffing for the turkey, of course. To help things a bit, I usually substitute a little pate for some of the other delicious things that we used to eat. Champagne helps, too.
So, our Thanksgiving here is a nice meal. The only thing missing is family and friends. We typically don't invite anyone over, we would have to relive the whole Pilgrim/Indian story.
The other fun activity, centered around the bountiful fall harvest happens on the third Thursday in November-- the Beaujolais Nouveau. It marks the release of the young 2009 red wine. Even though it seems that no one really likes the taste of this wine very much, it's a tradition which is marked with dinners to honor the day.
We try to buy a bottle and to celebrate with a fun activity of some kind. Last year we went to our tennis club with friends for dinner. It was fun, but neither the wine nor the dinner were memorable, so we'll have to find something else to do.
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