When I was stationed at NATO I had a White Russian that worked for me as a Budget Analyst that commuted weekly from Paris. Her family left Russia when she was a small child. Her father was the President of the Bank of Moscow, who got the family and money out before the Revolution. Through her I met many White Russians in Paris. The older ones [Russian born] had many tales to tell. The younger Russians [French born] liked to party. It was fun times, and I should have written it down. I learned Vodka is best when nearly frozen. Being a pallbearer for a Russian Orthodox funeral is a very long hard day. Food and vodka were good though. I was gifted several items. plates from the dinner service used by the Russian Embassy in Paris before the Soviets took over, Easter eggs, a paskha mold and other memento. Never did get excited about the Russian food, but did get some recipes. One for a cucumber salad that we still make. Good times
I managed to take a trip [visas were not easy to get then] to the USSR. I had many requests for things to do from the Parisians. One, take a photograph of a statue a grandfather had sculpted that still stood in a park in Moscow. Another wanted a small container of Moscow dirt to sprinkle on some graves in the Russian Cemetery in Paris. And several other requests. I managed to get it all done without getting the attention of the Soviets that followed us everywhere.
