This year’s Christmas lunch took place at the Hotel Lancelot. It was an exuberant celebration.
We were met by alpha females Rosa Fusco (President) and Mary Cordis (Committee Member). Wearing official Christmas headgear, they strutted up and down, ready to suppress any pockets of unruly behaviour.
When we were all seated, the waiter warned us that the candle, as a potential fire hazard, had to be extinguished immediately if it burned down too low. Otherwise, the floral decoration might go up in flames.
The lunch was a combination of two traditional British dishes and three creative Italian dishes, including an unusual and quite exquisite pomegranate sorbet, a tender roast turkey and an excellent Christmas pudding heavily laced with brandy.
After the first two courses, when crackers had been pulled, paper crowns donned and the mandatory jokes read out, a slight commotion was heard from the kitchen area, followed by an alarming crackle. Suddenly, a recording of the gospel song Amen blasted out from a speaker, and a second fire hazard appeared, this time in the shape of a huge roast turkey bristling with blazing sparklers and borne on a trolley.
As the waiter pushing the trolley sashayed up and down between the rows of tables, wiggling his hips and shaking his shoulders, we all started to clap loudly in time and then let rip with the vocals (to the astonishment of the charming young Franco-American guest at our table who had never seen such an uninhibited display by British people). There is no requirement to know the lyrics of this song celebrating the baby Jesus. Just sing “Amen!” over and over again, with all the lung power you can muster – though you can, if you like, throw in the occasional “Sing it out, children!”
On that note, God rest ye merry, everyone. May 2022 bring us all hope for a better future.
Posted by Julie Dixon, Association Member