Sheepherders' Dinner

My husband and I attended the first annual "sheepherders'" soiree last night. It was very interesting as well as disappointing.

There wasn't anything "quaint" about the venue . . . there were a thousand people in a brand new convention center, just off a freeway. When we were standing outside for the aperitif, I made the comment to my husband that it looked as if we were in his native Los Angeles.

The head of the organization, was supposed to line me up with someone from whom I could purchase the sheep. He told me that the person wasn't able to make it to the dinner.

At our table of ten people, I was the only one who had sheep! I did sit next to a man from Normandy whose family has raised jumping horses for generations . . . the current three time world champion from Brazil, rides one of this guy's horses. Two of the men, were soldiers in the Algerian War. My husband pointed out that it would be VERY interesting to get their opinions on the current Iraq War . . . but since they weren't used to my French, I found it difficult to carry on a conversation with them.

I couldn't bring myself to eat the first course, which everyone else loved: lamb sweetbreads. I did eat the very tender roasted lamb . . . and when I fed Blanche and Soixante-Douze this morning I tried not to breathe on them . . . I didn't want to reveal my treachery.

Outside the convention hall, they were roasting 150 legs of lamb on a giant brochette . . . attempting to make the Guinness Book of World Records.

They showed a wonderful film on raising sheep. It didn't have a sound track and the heads of the organization were all giving speeches over it (the French love to give long introductions and speeches at all their get-togethers . . . and amazingly, the participants sit attentively through them). I found it amusing that just as the last speaker was wishing us "bon appetite" the sheep on the two giant screens gave birth to her second lamb, and started eating the afterbirth off of it.

The evening wasn't elegant . . . but the sheepherders were all showered, so that was a plus . . . there weren't a lot of smokers . . . the huge facility was adequately air-conditioned . . . and I did find someone who has some sheep to sell me.