1957 Les Escargots

When my dad had to go to Paris for whatever reason, we often went with him.  One night, he decided to take us to Maxim's, the most expensive and most famous restaurant in Paris, and maybe the world.

It was June 26, my mother's birthday.  He and I hatched a plan that I would order escargots (snails) and I would eat them.  He basically trained me on how to do it, never to chew them, just to suck the garlic and butter out and then swallow them.  I was pretty scared, I was afraid I would throw up all over the beautiful white linen tablecloth and get us kicked out. 

When I told the waiter I wanted "les escargots s'il vous plait" the expression my mother's face was priceless.  But then they arrived and I wanted to chicken out.  One look from my dad though, and I knew I couldn't.  So I took a deep breath and in went the first one.  It wasn't so bad with the garlic and all, but when I had to swallow it, that was hard.  But I did it!  I don't know how many there were, probably at least one thousand, but I did it, I ate all of them!

My dad was so proud of me.