Dinner With Friends

My first full week in Paris culminated with lots of wine, good conversation, and dinner near Avenues Foche and Grand Armée where I attended an intimate dinner soiree at the home of my friends Ron and Michel.

I doubt Ron could have imagined a few years ago the wildly international turn his life would take juggling (or should I say, jet setting?) between Paris and Marrakech. I first met Ron in the fall of 1999 as an intern at the Museum of Tolerance and he later became my manager as well as friend (how could he not be? He is from Western PA, afterall). So I’m thrilled to be in France while Ron and Michel are here in the city, although I have promised to visit them when they are in Morrocco at their renovated house, or Riad, as it is called in Arabic.

I've always known Ron to be a great cook and last night's meal was no exception. The food was seasoned perfectly with lots of spicy stories from Morocco. One of my favorites was Ron's misunderstanding with a Moroccan woman's mother who assumed that his acceptance of her daughter's dinner invitation meant an intent to propose marriage! I guess they do things differently down in Muslim Africa.

Thanks to Ron and Michel for a charming evening and for walking me back to my place late at night. On Avenue Foche, we walked past the homes of dignitaries on what I learned to be the street of choice for high-class "ladies". What a uniquely Parisian mixture.

More soon!

Check out images of their home in Morocco and other great projects on Ron's website:
http://solitashouse.spaces.live.com/