A Christmas Terrorist Incident in Paris with an Unusual Twist

While staying in Paris for the negotiating sessions with the North Vietnamese, Amb. Quinn and the other members of the U.S. delegation are awakened around midnight by a large explosion. When they go out to investigate, they discover that political separatists anxious to strike the French in a particularly sensitive area had firebombed the Fauchon gourmet grocery store. The shop, which had featured dressed geese and turkeys in its window along with exquisite French wines and foods, had all been set on fire by the blast. Thankfully, there were no casualties or deaths. One particularly memorable aspect of the incident Amb. Quinn describes was that the rich aroma of the smoke emanating from the shop was particularly appealing to him and all the bystanders. As the turkeys and geese burned fueled by the wine, the resulting bouquet of the smoke was deliciously intoxicating. This caused Amb. Quinn to observe that the terrorists certainly knew how to strike the French at the heart of their gastronomic culture.