An American celebrating July 4th in Paris

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by Elizabeth Milovidov

Having lived in Paris for over 18 years now, it goes without saying that celebrating the Fourth of July in Paris is just not quite the same as it is in the good ol’ US of A. But that being said, July 4th in Paris is still a lovely occasion to invite friends and family over to the house (or should I say apartment?). And in my mind, any occasion to sip on a fantastic wine from the Burgundy region, is a good occasion indeed.

True, you may not see barbecue chicken, macaroni and cheese, coleslaw, potato salad, baked beans, and so forth and you may have to content yourself with quiche, baguettes, cheese platters, fruit trays but if you’re lucky, you’ll find yourself the center of attention as all of your French friends listen to you in awe as you recount the days leading up to July 4th, 1776. And if you can’t recall in perfect detail the Continental Congress, or the minutemen, or the names of all of the original colonies, I assure you, your enthralled guests won’t hold you to it - just keep pouring the wine.

The French children and the American children will run around and sneak treats from the table or gobble down Goldfish (yes we have them here now too) and there will be laughter and screaming and good times for all. The kids may not necessarily play out the Battles of Lexington and Concord, but tell the truth, have you ever witnessed that at an American barbecue? I didn’t think so.

More times than not, I have been fortunate to attend parties (on the weekends, since July 4th is not a national holiday here, as you might have guessed) where there has been a smattering of Americans, French and other Europeans happy to come celebrate the day with us. I always find that heartwarming that despite politics and foreign policy and the latest American on-dit, the French do enjoy Americans and American culture.

However, if my quiche and wine party didn’t quite hit the spot and if I find that I am totally desperate for that American feeling, I can always find a barbecue party with the American Club of Paris, (one of the oldest non-diplomatic American institutions in France http://www.americanclubparis.org/home.html). Or I can surf Anglo Paris (global expat network http://paris.angloinfo.com/ or Message (www.message.org) looking for child friendly events.

But I know that whatever I do end up doing, I have two little people holding on to my hands as we travel to our destination, asking ‘are we there yet?’ ‘do you have any snacks?’ and ‘did you remember to pack my Lego Jack Sparrow?” Paris, France or San Diego, California, July 4th is always a day for family.

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Elizabeth is a California lawyer who moved to Paris in 1995 to make some dreams come true. Fast forward a few years, she’s fluent in French (more or less), married a Russian (wow), worked as General Counsel in two French companies (no billables), and became the mom to two little boys (can you say epidural in French?). She morphed her legal and business background into a part-time teaching and children’s rights advocacy gig and now lectures on child rights, or leads child safety workshops (Internet, school security, child proofing, etc) or blogs and then picks up her boys and spends the afternoons in absolute mommy bliss (well okay, most of the time).


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