An "American" Moment

I know I have already blogged once today, but I wanted to relate something that happened tonight at dinner. Carolyn, Carleigh, Wright, Miles, and I were not scheduled to eat dinner with our families, so we all met in front of Notre-Dame to scout out a restaurant nearby. Notre-Dame (the one with the false gargoyles) is right by Les Halles (the enclosed market), and Les Halles are surrounded on all sides by cafes and restaurants. We chose one called L'O, and it was a good choice.

I had duck with peach gnocchi (the peach flavor was mild, if not nonexistent, but the gnocchi had a good texture and were served with grilled peach slices, so I was appeased). Carolyn and Wright both had the frog leg fricassee (or "fri-cAss-EE" as Wright put it). Carleigh had parrot fish and Miles had short ribs. All of us heartily enjoyed our meals. Our server brought us menus for dessert and also two steaming white porcelain mugs on plates, which he placed in front of Carolyn and Wright. "Because you ordered the frog legs," he said in French. What he said next is contested. I thought I heard him say "it's not tea," but the "not" was not heard by all. So we all assume it's a palate cleanser, and Wright and Carolyn tuck into their hot water with lemon.

This photo might be a good example
of the challenges of food photography.
I swear it looked more appetizing in person.

The server returned a few minutes later to see if we had chosen our desserts and he looked shocked to see Carolyn drinking from her mug. "It's not for drinking!" he said (this time in English), "it is to wash your hands!" Oops. Carolyn was mortified. We laughed and laughed and laughed. My face was bright red and I was practically crying from laughing so hard. Of course the server looked bemused at our silly mistake. I promised next time to speak up - although even I wasn't exactly sure what he had said. Oh well. It was a pleasant evening and an excellent meal, so who cares if we looked foolish?

Carolyn with her frog legs. Pre-drinking the hand water.