shrink-wrapped S T E A K

One of the best parts of our day-long shopping outing was the authentic French lunch we enjoyed.
Fabulous little spot we were lucky enough to stumble across.

You hear it all the time to ask the locals where they recommend.

In any foreign country, there's always a language barrier. Boy are we learning this living over here!

In my {super} limited time in France, it feels way more difficult to communicate than in Germany. Of course, I understand knowing a little German helps.

Germans are often not super friendly, but I think the French are even a few steps further in the non-friendly direction.

Some say a lot of the French just refuse to speak English even if they know English perhaps feeling inadequate and refusing to risk looking or sounding stupid.

I wish I could just communicate to all of them that my French is WAY worse {pretty much non-existent} than their English. Merci is about all I know and have been able to retain.

Sometimes, I just don't think I have that language-learning-ability gene. It's tough stuff- especially French.

 Anyhow- we were lucky enough to hit a shop that the worker spoke English. He directed us to this golf-course restaurant just down the street.

Amazing. Amazing. Amazing.

I'm feeling a little tall here!

After getting the server to help us in translating the menu the best he could, we still weren't totally sure what we were in for. I think we each ended up being delighted with our selections.

I ordered:

A cream of mushroom soup- think super thick, super rich, super calorie-filled goodness. Of course, there was bread on the table to go with it.

I especially loved the soup bowl/spoon combo that they served it in. How cool is that to rest your spoon on top of the bowl? Might have to find some of these.

Salmon over a bed of lentils. We understood the salmon. The lentils were a pleasant surprise and were fabulous together.

For dessert, I had an apple torte or strudle or something yummy with a buttery crust.

The presentation, atmosphere and of course company was perfect for our mid-week outing.

Maybe this is why the French take at least two-hour lunch breaks every day and everything closes down. They know how to enjoy their food and their down time.

As we were checking out, two of my friends had left-over steak that they wanted to take home.

It took the server a minute to figure out they wanted a to-go box. That language-barrier thing again.

He took the remainder of their steaks, and brought them back shrink-wrapped, placed on a platter.

How crazy is that? Another first. Lots and lots of firsts over here.