A Thanksgiving rooster

After several weeks of discussion about what we should make, Katherine, Cathya and I set our Thanksgiving menu on Saturday afternoon.  Unfortunately, the French got the better of us in a few situations: it seems that cranberries don't exist in France, or at least at the HyperU and LeClerc in Touques, and (take a deep breath because the following is Thanksgiving sacrilege) no turkeys will be available until the end of this week.  Since we're celebrating Thanksgiving tomorrow (Wednesday) because we get it and not Thursdays off, that doesn't do us much good.  We weren't sure if we were looking in the wrong spot for the turkey at the grocery, or if it was in the back in hiding, so Cathya bravely asked the man at the butcher counter about it only to learn that the turkeys are all currently gobbling and will continue to do so until after their namesake holiday has passed.  

All this is to say that les 3 'ricaines improvised and bought the largest poultry item we could find--a coq (rooster).  He is currently residing in our fridge, awaiting Cathya and her boyfriend John's loving care.  Let's keep our fingers crossed that the rooster cooking experiment (as well as the rest of the preparation) at 28bis goes well tomorrow since we are expecting our bosses Ivan and Sebastien, Annie-Laure (who does garderie with us and takes care of the libraries at Breney and Fracasse), and our neighbors Patrick and Murielle who run the hotel next door.  They actually used to run a restaurant, for which Patrick was the chef, so the pressure's on!