Birthday Meal? Perhaps... at least the baby was chatty....

When in Rome, etc etc... so tonight I decided to take myself out to dinner.  I thought I'd find one of those little bistros... you know the kind.. with all the tightly squeezed in wicker chairs, and little round tables hardly big enough to hold a cup of tea, all facing the road, same direction... as if they all belong to Stalin's little army...
I head off to Rambouillet town centre, and am amazed how I know my way around this place already! No more u-turns and cursing at on-coming traffic that is in my lane (when actually... i'm the one thats in the wrong lane)... nope. I'm in and out of the town centre in not even 10 minutes now.  Huge improvement on 45 minutes.
Anyway... so I hop in the care, don some lip gloss and a squirt of Hugo Boss Femme, and make my way towards the Carousel.

I park the car, in one of those little parking bays, get my parking ticket and display it on my dashboard and sure enough, find my first little pub. Already crowded with locals, enjoying their afternoon Pastis, I rather self-consiously walk towards the pub and settle at a little table on the edge of the hustle and bustle.
I clearly do not fit in.
I'm not wearing stilleto heels and waiflike summer dresses.
I do not have a cigarette either hanging out of my mouth, or clenched between my fingers
ALTHOUGH, I do have the big sunglasses.
I am tempted to fake a telephone call in English, so that people know what they're dealing with.
But I dont. And look around nervously for the waiter.

He eventually arrives, and he doesnt seem to be very friendly or inviting. So my idea of asking him for something "typiquement francaise" flies out the window, and I settle with trying to order a Gin and Tonic.

He brings me tonic water.
Nothing else.
Just a bottle of Indian Tonic Water.

I pretend that that is exactly what I wanted - and proceed to enjoy it. Turned out ok in the end, but I decide not to make this my Destination Dinner tonight.

After my tonic water, I take a wonder down the main road, and discover Le Cinq.
Le Cinq is a street cafe / pub, on the opposite side of the road to the Rambouillet Castle - so there are lots of people coming and going.
I settle down at a table, and I dont quite know what it is, but immediately I relax and feel familiar with my surroundings.
A blonde waitress comes to take my order, and immediately I know that this will be a willing candidate for a "What can you suggest" scenario.
She hands me the menu, and I can feintly make out a couple of things that I recognise from Mama's french cookbooks.
I order something to eat - and she wants to take my drinks order.

I begin.
"Je voudrait boire quelque chose qui est tres typiquement francaise" (I would like to drink something that is typically french).
She laughs, and yells out from the pavement where my table is, through the interior of the restaurant, to the back of the room, where the bar is situated and says, "Papa... something or other, blah blah, yadda yadda Typiquement Francaise"....

I cringe.

He yells back something in a tone that indicates that I have no other choice than to drink what he suggests...
at which she disappears, and brings me back...
Le Ricard... Anise....

Not bad at all, if you enjoy liquorice and fennel....
I mix a lot of water with it and it goes down alright!

Dinner arrives which consists of an avo ritz, followed by a piece of meat with pommes frites (that's all i'm going to say about the food... because it doesnt deserve any credit space here).
The only company I have, besides my own, is a little baby who's been pushed up alongside me in his pram and insists on making small-talk with me...
I indulge him by making faces back to him, and nodding at every little gesture he makes.
It does concern me slightly, however, that during all this time of chit chat, his right hand is holding his toe, mid-air...
I shrug.
Must be gifted... I suppose.

I take a leisurely drive back home - passing through the gardens of the Castle of Rambouillet... and discover lots of little spots that I would like to come and walk along. Mental notes remind me to return here soon!

Its almost midnight, and the sun has just set.
Beautiful day awaits tomorrow.
Perhaps I'll visit Versailles... or perhaps, I'll just sleep late.

Bon nuit, mes petits enfants!
A tout a l'heure!