Friday, April 18, 2014

lease signing + tapas + lost bag + 11pm nap = the perfect night........TAKE DEUX

Ok so a few minutes ago I got sidetracked and rabbit trailed on the wonders of Beatrice. Back to the main road...
WE SIGNED OUR LEASE LAST NIGHT!
 
 
He is wowing them with his ability to write HUGE numbers in French for the check.
 [our 1st French check btw]
[That is "The" Beatrice btw]
 
So as I stated in an earlier post Beatrice rode her bike to the real estate agents office [in a dress] [this can not be stated enough for my liking] And we signed 100's of papers....at least that's what it felt like. At one point David assured me were not buying the flat. Anyway after standing in the street with the map (after) with Beatrice telling us where to eat for the best supper close to the office. We headed off to the flat to meet with the current tenant, Madame Roche. She speaks a little English and He speaks a little French so we set off to discuss the purchase of the stove and several ceiling light fixtures and to talk about when and where to drop the trash which is called dechets [pronounce: day-shay] and such. When you rent an unfurnished flat in France [and other European countries I am told] the old tenants bring or purchase and then take with them ALL the appliances...range, dish washer, fridge, washing/drying machine and all ceiling light fixtures. Unless the previous tenet is like The Roche family and moving to a smaller flat with lower ceilings and already has a range. Its an odd system but never the less the system that has been working here since the dawn of time. After chatting with this very lovely sweet Madame Roche about where to shop and leave the trash and seeing the garage and cave [cellar] and meeting by chance one if the neighbors she walked us to the gate. I thanked her for her time and she told us that there are many times she wished she had someone help her with a new situation and she pointed out something that we are coming to realize, that the French are not big sharers of information...they are very private and play their cards close to the vest. We walked around the corner to our neighborhood restaurant...a Tapas place with, as is common here, lovely  outside dining. We worked our way thru 4 waiters trying to decipher the menu and ordered a sampling of their most popular tapas.
 
 
 
We got there at 7:30...it was almost completely empty...the kitchen didn't start serving until 8...the staff was still finishing up their supper inside. By the time we left there were people waiting in the street for a table.
 
 
a. calamari
b. Toulousian sausage
c. tomatoes
d. mushrooms with eggplant and garlic paste
e. fried cheese
f. fried chicken
g. the ever present duck [hearts i think]
h. bread with sauce and sardines
j. bread with sauce and ham
k. bread
l. fried  potatoes
m. garlic butter for the bread
n. sauce for the chicken [but I used it for everything]
 
 
 
oh yeah...and there was straight up octopus too
 
 
 
 
 
Anyway it was a lovely place with the best Sangria I have ever had [tho I haven't been to Spain as a legal adult so I'm leaving the vote open until we visit Spain] And we made friends with several of the staff especially the girl who spoke English very well. When we first got there the kitchen had not started serving yet so we just ordered drinks. When He went inside to use the toilet he said the whole staff was sitting at a long table together having supper. This is the custom here and we have walked in on this scene more than once. Since most places here have a "menu de jour" that changes daily, depending on what was available at the fresh market that day, it is important that the staff eat what is being served that day so they can tell you to the finest details what is in it and what it taste like. 
 
Anyway, because this is going to be a regular place and because we are this way anyway and because I am not sure enough of myself in this strange land to be anything but, we went out of our way to super friendly. And thank goodness we did....
 
We were exhausted when we got back to the room @ 11pm and flopped down on the bed and napped for 2 hours! When He got up to do some work that needed to be done He realized His bag [containing a very important little book with all sorts of personal sensitive info and his visa and Embassy badge and French work badge and phone charger and a bunch of other less important things] had been left on the patio of the tapas place!! He tried to call from the front desk with no answer. Now it is close to 2am! He ran, like really ran...with His feet across town with a dead phone and gets past the 2 big bouncers at the door to find a wild party going on...on a Thursday night...at 2am. I digress... He tells them why he has come and they hand him his bag from behind the counter.
Them: "You are very lucky we found it first."
Him: "You are my new best friends!"
 
He runs back across town to me and our room and takes a long hot bath while I work on my French flash cards!
 
 
Fini
 
 

3 comments:

  1. You two are my favorite people ever. Don't tell the others.

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  2. Beatrice sounds amazing and everything is coming together so well! I am SO HAPPY for ya'll. . .PHEW about the bag. what a nightmare. once you've moved nearby, you'll have to stay for the late-night parties. :) xoxo

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