“You mean that red stuff? What is it? Horseradish, lemon juice, and ketchup?” asked Richard. “They don’t do that here. They think it interferes with the natural flavor of the shellfish.”

“I think they’re right,” said Lucy, raising her chin and tipping a firm and juicy oyster into her mouth. “Delicious!”

“That’s a Cancale, from Brittany,” said Richard.

“I can see why you like living in France,” said Pam, biting into a large and plump shrimp.

“Oh, come on, Richard,” said Ted. “Aren’t you tempted to come back to the good old USA? Don’t you get tired of the French attitude? Don’t you miss steak and cheeseburgers and . . .”

Pam finished for him. “Chocolate milk shakes!”

Richard laughed. “Sometimes I do miss home, like when I have to pay five euros for a very small Coke. And there is an American grocery store. It’s actually not too far from your apartment, over on the rue Saint-Paul. I could get peanut butter and Duncan Hines brownie mix, if I wanted.” He chose an oyster, holding it in his hand. “I’ve gone by it often enough, but I’ve never been tempted to go in. Not when there are beauties like this to savor,” he said, slurping the oyster out of its shell.

“But as a journalist, isn’t it hard operating in another culture?” asked Lucy. “Our friend Bob, he’s a lawyer. He’s really struggling with the French justice system.”

“It wasn’t easy at first. I’m not pretending it was. But I’ve been here for more than twenty years, and I’ve got the hang of things.” He paused to crack open a crab claw and extracted a chunk of meat, which he popped into his mouth. “I was quite the ambitious young man, and I didn’t have a job waiting for me, like you, Ted, at a family-owned newspaper. And the community news thing, it wasn’t for me. I’ve always been interested in the big picture, not whether the board of selectmen is going to support the new school.”

“Hey,” protested Ted, “that’s important stuff. Schools, taxes, police and fire, all the stuff that makes a town work.”

“I’m not saying it’s not important. I’m just saying it’s not important to me. I’m more interested in what the IMF is going to do about the Greek debt, and whether the French are going to step up and play a role in Africa, or if they’re going to let the Chinese take over.”

“The Chinese are in Africa?” asked Lucy.

Richard laughed. “Big-time. I did a three-part story for the Times, front-page stuff, but Americans don’t really care what goes on in the rest of the world. You’re all focused on the price of dump stickers. . . .”

“Going up,” said Ted.

“They are?” asked Bill. “I suppose that means contractors’ waste fees are going up, too.”