Adventures in France: Founders' Day

Day Forty-Six

March 16, 1802--birthdate of West Point. Yesterday, I celebrated founders' day with seven other cadets in Paris at the West Point Society Of Paris Founders' Day Dinner at the École Militaire. It's the French war college dated back in history (built at the end of the 18th century) where Napoleon Bonaparte attended! What a PHENOMENAL opportunity and blessing it was. We were with about 40 other people (old grads, old faculty, and spouses). The oldest grads were from 1963; they'll be at WP this year to celebrate their 50 year-reunion...wow! Another cadet and I actually helped lead the Alma Mater with one of them, a retired brigadier general who was in the Glee Club! What are the chances--three "glubbers" in Paris! Another surprise was that I met a fellow frog there! Spring Break for everyone back home is just now wrapping up and he was in town with another cadet. Again, what are the chances!!

It was the fanciest dinner I've ever been to. I should've taken a picture of the table-set up. I had three pairs of each utensil, all arranged around my plate. I had three glasses (white wine, red wine, and water) and learned the larger one was for water. It kicked off at 7 with an apéritif (small finger foods and a drink) where we socialized and that probably lasted at least an hour and a half! It was really cool to meet with all the different people in attendace, plus it was great to catch up with the other cadets! Many of the old grads are retired now and working in Paris with various civilian jobs. Several of them having French wives, so we spoke both English and French during our social hour. Everyone was incredibly sweet and the entire evening was a great experience. There were remarks made by both the oldest grad and the youngest grad in attendance, plus the guest speaker Général Beau (the dean of École Militaire). There were four courses: a vinegared fish dish as the l'entrée, an amazing chicken dish as le plat, fromage (cheese), and le dessert ( french toast with vanilla ice cream and caramel). What a schmancy meal! It was forty euros!! Thankfully, the cadets were guests of the society so they covered that charge. Everyone there had such a distinguished career! It was such an honor to be in their presence. I had the privilege of sitting next to the Défense Attaché for France!! What an incredible job to have! He's the military advisor for our US ambassador to France. A lot of responsibility but the colonel was brilliant, so I can imagine he's very deserving of the position. He was a FAO (Foreign Area Officer) before this and so I talked to him about that and heard his two cents of advice. The dinner was almost 3 hours long and the entire table was filled with interesting people! On my other side was a grad from TX, the Attaché's roommate back in their days at WP, who was visiting town on a business trip! They joked on each other the whole time. It's humbling to see that someone so distinguished is also just an ordinary human--sometimes I have to be reminded of that. All I can say is...wow. I am always astounded by the blessings God has given me. Praise Him!

That night, the members of the society hosted cadets at their apartments so we wouldn't have to worry about lodging, which was very appreciated. Traveling to Paris for a dinner was 80 euros but well-worth the price. I was surprised that I managed to take the train and Paris metro by myself and actually knew where I was going too!

Overall, an unforgettable weekend.