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| Jessica, Consul General Monique Q, and Cerese |
The new Consul General from the US Consulate General in Marseilles came to Montpellier to meet with Americans in her territory, and AWG had the privilege of hosting her for lunch at Katharine and Phil's home in Ecusson.
The CG was accompanied by her Public Affairs Assistant, Vanessa P. (the CG on the left, Vanessa on the right with their backs to the camera). AWG President Jessica thanked the CF for honoring us with her presence and presented her with a copy of Season and some AWG greetings cards.
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| Rachel and Katharine |
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| On the CG's left is Jessica, on her right is her Public Affairs Assistant, Vanessa P |
Everyone brought wonderful food to share - we started with Peggy's spicy red pepper soup, followed by quiches, vegetable casseroles, many salads, salmon steaks, and an elegant chocolate decadence cake with fruit salad for dessert.
We had some questions/issues for the CG, mostly tax and finance-related.
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| Noel, Kim, Peggy R, Dennelle, Dalene, Monique, Katharine, Cerese, Rachel, Susan Re, Jessica |
The CG has immense charm, and showed an interest in finding out about those of us present. She herself has a background in cultural affairs, and an international background which serves her well in her appointment. We all liked her immensely.
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| Rachel, Vanessa and Monique |
Vanessa spoke about the cultural outreach (of American culture, values) in which she's involved in the greater community that the Marseilles Consulate serves (France's border with Italy, through to its border with Spain, and north as far as Lyon) and invited AWG participation in her outreach projects - which include explaining American cultural traditions such as Thanksgiving, July 4th, etc. Vanessa is a "foreign national" for the State Department - she remains in Marseilles, and does not rotate to other embassies/consulates.
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| Dennelle and Noel |
The CG's appointment is for 3 years. I do hope we'll get to know her well.
Photo credits: Cerese
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