Meeting the Parents.

I was invited by my host mother to a lunch being held by her parents a few days ago.  It was at their home about 5 minutes from where I am staying here in Montpellier and much of the family was present.  Besides my french mother and myself, it was the grandparents, my host mothers sister and two kids(one boy and one girl), Cyril(host mothers son) and his girlfriend Aurlie.  So this was definitely a decent sized family gathering with me smack dab in the middle of it and everyones attention focused on the new American host student...just what I needed!  The grandpa started me out with a few shots and then poured me a large glass of a type of alcohol that I had never tasted before, but it was pretty good.  This was all I needed, to get drunk over lunch, as I had been out very late the night before with "my girls".  The meal started out with a few snacks like chips and party mix which the Grandmother kept telling em to eat, and of course I obliged.  Then we sat down at the table and they brought out bread, butter and sliced ham.  This was followed by a sliced carrot salad and a large quiche that was very good...so I kept on eating.  Then came the escargot...ohh maan!  I didn't want to be the typical American and turn it down so I agreed to eat them.  They weren't inedible but they did not have a very good taste and looked exactly like bird droppings for lack of a better word...although the sauce that they came in was pretty appetizing.  Then came the wild boar next...this tasted like any other red meat and was very similar to roast beef or pork.  Then when I thought the meal had to be over more bread and about 6 different cheeses were brought out!  This meal kept getting bigger and bigger!  I couldn't believe it, all this food could have fed a small village!!  But they kept offering me food and not wanting to be rude or give the wrong impression I kept on eating...After the bread and cheese came three different deserts.  An enormous fruit tarte thing, a king cake, and some other type of cake.  I tried all three and went back for seconds on the tarte and king cake.  Then to top the what seemed like 15 course meal off, coffee and tea was served along with small chocolates...now these I usually never eat but the grandma and grandpa love them and kept putting them on my plate and having me try each of their favorite ones.  I kept closing the box to try and silently signify that I was done but they kept opening it back up to have me try more!!  I left their house stuffed beyond limit and ready to go to sleep and feeling lazy but instead I headed straight for the gym for 3 hours to work off the incredible amount of food that I had just consumed.  All in all the meal was very fun and full of good food and tons of it.  I got a look into the inner workings of a very french family and how they interact with each other which is very similar to any other family, except I would venture to say that they eat a lot more than most!  Oh, and the grandmother now has me calling her "Mammi".  FYI, I was invited back over to their house tomorrow afternoon for a second round...wish me luck!