Bonjour!

We went to France to celebrate our two year anniversary this year. (Thank you all for your well wishes, by the way!) We spent our first week in the French Riviera with two nights each in Cannes (where the film festival was wrapping up), Nice, and Monaco (where the Grand Prixe was wrapping up). One night each in Avignon, Beaune and Brussels (yup, snuck over the Beligum to see Tina's cousin). Finally, had our own apartment in Paris for a week!

Loved every minute of our trip. Tina was determined for us not to look like tourists so she banned t-shirts, tennis shoes and shorts on this trip. Both of us started taking French lessons (via CD which we listened to on our way to work) so we could fit in more with our surroundings. We think we fit in well as we had several people come up to us and ask US for directions in French! One guy in Beaune was surprised that we were Americans when he asked us how to get to the main place square. Tina didn't know how to say "left" in French so she kept saying in French "don't turn right, don't turn right"...it was pretty funny.

Some memorable moments...

Train Station ~Raj~
After several weeks of learning French via the Pimsleur Approach (highly recommended by us by the way),Tina was put on the spot when we were taking a train to Cannes from Nice our first day there. A local came up to ask and asked (in French) if we knew what time the train would arrive in Cannes. We knew the answer but under pressure, Tina shouted out a "je ne comprends pas le français!" (I don't understand French!) She was in panic mode and couldn't even ask her properly if she spoke English (which she did).

Schaffer ~Tina~
In Beaune, we went to a popular restaurant known for their escargot and local specialities. When we got there, I walked onto the patio to sit down (you seat yourself in most of the restaurants there). I quickly noticed that the only two open tables had a card with names on them so I casually walked out of the patio and proceeded to walk away from the restaurant. Raj on the other hand, was a little "dazed and confused" to say the least and walked up to one of the tables and just stared at the card with the name Schaffer on it. By this time, the waiter (obviously under much stress as we noticed later) came running up to him yelling in French. (Apparently he had no tables to seat us and we'd have to make a reservation if we wanted to eat there that night.) Raj was so out of it that he just blankly stared at this waiter while the waiter continued to yell at him in French. By now, all the other diners were staring at Raj who seemed to have no intention of moving away from the Schaffer table. He was looking around for me (I had fled the scene by this time). After Raj finally realized that he needed to leave the patio he did so and then returned again (back to the screaming French waiter). But this time, to make a reservation for later on in the evening...still slightly "out of it".

Hot Chocolate ~Tina & Raj~
It was our first night in France, more specifically, in Cannes. We were heading back to the hotel to change for dinner. Prior to that, we thought we'd stop at a café and have a small bite and something warm to drink as it was getting chilly. We ordered (in French) two cups of hot chocolate and bruschetta (best bruschetta we've ever eaten by the way). The waiter, shocked, kept saying "chocolat and bruschetta? chocolat and bruschetta?" We repeated our order again (we took turns saying it over and over thinking our French was wrong). Evidently, our French was fine - it was what we had ordered that was upsetting our waiter. He wouldn't let us order hot chocolate and bruschetta together (apparently not a good combination. But we were cold and didn't want anything else..and was craving some bruchetta as we saw how good it looked at a nearby table. Well, we won our battle with the waiter, and he stormed off to the back of the café where we could see him (arms flying everywhere) talking with another waiter (and laughing) at our order.

What we had read (in our guide book) was very much true...the French love their food and do their best to make sure others appreciate their food the way it was meant to be appreciated.

We have a lot more stories, and a lot more pictures...but wont bore you with all of them here, bottom line - loved our trip to France. We never met a rude waiter in Paris (though we were told time and time again that we would by several people prior to our trip). Maybe it was because we started off each and every encounter with a "bonjour" which is their culture. Everyone there was so helpful - especially when we attempted our 3 weeks of French with them. Loved it. Until next time....enjoy the subset of our pictures...we have many more that we didn't upload!

Au revoir ~

Tina & Raj