Un bon soir Francais
April the 18th saw the clubhouse draped in the red, white and blue “tricolores” of the French flag for our themed evening. Although by no means mandatory, French dress was encouraged and many of the 80 members and guests came in amazing costumes. These included (and this list is far from comprehensive) characters from “Allo allo”, a gendarme, a Foreign Legion officer, café waiters, onion sellers, can can dancers (and other ladies of rather dubious character) and Revolutionaries. There was even an Eifel Tower! Bizarrely Jacques Cousteau and his mate arrived dripping water, after swimming the channel.
After the usually socialising, carried out mainly in English mixed with some very poor French, we sat down to an excellent meal of onion soup, chicken with a tasty tarragon and cream sauce, Normandy apple tart and cream, followed by a selection of French cheeses and coffee. I go to the occasional dinner in the City where the typical price is now £90 per head, but the quality of the food is nowhere near as good as that served in our club, neither are the portions. I hope this comment does not encourage the General Committee to quadruple TWYC prices, but I must stress the excellent value of our functions. This is due to our hardworking volunteers, and their efforts are much appreciated. For the French evening Dawn and Doll were the primary cooks, ably assisted by Christine and Heather.
After the results of the bonus ball completion, we had the draw for the raffle, which had a good range of valuable prizes, many with French associations. Rob Malone was the singer, and as usual he had our members dancing enthusiastically. Several of the ladies did their can can costumes justice on the dance floor and there was a lively Conga around the clubhouse, although I am not sure that this was authentically French. A song from Past Commodore Donovan completed a most enjoyable evening. All in all, “tres bon”.
Keith
Steorra