The customer is not always right...

Bonjour tout le monde,
I read an article the other day in which the writer is having a heated conversation about a type of cheese that he wants to use in his fondue.  The cheese monger is telling him that he can't sell the writer the cheese that he wants because it is just too good to use in the fondue.  He will sell it only when the writer signs a document saying that he will not use the cheese in the fondue.
Most of us will probably think that is really crazy.  Why does the cheese guy even care about how the cheese that he is selling is used?  He's not going to be there..
But the French seem to really care about things like that.  They will tell you that they can't sell you this cheese because it's too good for the fondue, or perhaps they will not let you order two scoops of vanilla ice cream on a hot day.  Why not?  " There are other flavors, why not try one of those with your vanilla scoop?"  If you don't already know, the vanilla girl was me in 2006 at the Café of Le Grand Intercontinental Hotel at the Opéra.  His passionate argument caught me off guard, because who really tells you what kind of ice cream you can have?  The nerve!
But, I thought about it for a second, and ordered a scoop of strawberry to go with my glace à la vanille; I have to admit, it was a great combination.
Waiters seem to love lecturing me, probably because I speck French so well.  Michael and I were in Rouen with my student group.  Normally on those trips there isn't a whole lot of time for lunch and we were in a pretty nice place.  I had the best lamb tangine; Michael some sort of fish.  But time was of the essence, so when the waiter came over to ask if we wanted coffee, I said that we were under a time constraint, so could we just have the check.  He brought it, but as he put it on the table, our waiter said "Voilà, mais la prochaine fois, il faut avoir assez de temps pour un déjeuner comme il faut. (here's your check, but the next time you must have enough time for a proper lunch).

The fondue story can be found here:  https://www.thelocal.fr/20171220/fonduegate-why-the-customer-is-never-right-in-france

How about you?  Have you ever found out that the customer is not always right? What are your stories with French servers, shop assistants, or store keepers? 
Answer in the comments below - please limit them to your experience in a francophone country...

My scoops of vanilla and strawberry - very fancy!

a waiter in the traditional uniform of vest, white shirt, and white apron

An amazing opportunity

Bonjour tout le monde!
I used to travel with students to Europe. I had a blast.  People used to tell me that it seemed like so much work, but not really.  I just thought of my group as one giant family.  Depending on the size, we could be like the Duggar family (more than 19), or just a mom, dad and 7 kids - an intimate group. It was a pain sometimes, usually when it was necessary to get everyone together, or when it was time to go to bed. However, I used to wonder who got more out of the experience, them or me.  I think that I got to know these kids better and on a different level.  Did they like to eat certain things, how adventurous were they, were they willing to go with the flow without question?  I guess that "getting my bluff in early" with my one rule - Don't embarrass me - worked for the most part, and I really only had one trip that came close to disastrous.
Now I travel with adults, which is the same and different at the same time.  I don't have to answer the same question more than twice, and we usually get to meeting points on time.  Then again, I don't have to keep up with them, since, well, they are adults!  And they get my jokes. We have more time to explore, and sometimes the wine comes with dinner!
I am taking a group of adults to the South of France and Paris this September.  Since I have been talking about this for awhile, you have heard all about it, but didn't act in time to assure your spot on the tour.  Well, sometimes you are given a second chance because just yesterday, TWO spots have opened for the September 18 tour!  Come with me, and an experienced tour director for 10 days of beautiful and historic sites, great food, and fun companions.  This opportunity is for you, and you don't even have to live in the Los Angeles area to take advantage.
Don't wait - you know that you wanted to come before, so let's go!  Call Go Ahead Tours, 800-438-7672 and ask for Britney Everett today!

En route on the Airbus 380

Tuilerie Gardens, Paris

The Eiffel Tower from the best kept spot in Paris (but I can show you)

The Promenade des Anglais in Nice

A beautiful town in southern France

Great wine!

Delicious meals (sooooooooo good)

8 hours sleep in 2 days

Bonjour tout le monde!
I have just returned from a whirlwind trip to Denver, CO.  I was attending a meeting of GEAs (Global Education Ambassadors), who are basically experienced group leaders traveling with EF.  The trip didn't start out too well.  Those of us from the Los Angeles and Orange County - all three of us - were on a 7 pm flight on Frontier Airlines. In the middle of the afternoon, I looked at my phone, where there was a notification that the flight was delayed from 7pm to 9:18 pm.  I tried to call, but after a 20 minute wait, the very nice customer service lady could not tell me much.
At 7 pm, I met my flight buddies at the Starbucks in Terminal 3.  Our flight was delayed again, with a departure time of 9:40 pm.  That would put us into Denver just after midnight, and to the hotel about 40 minutes later.  The plane landed, we all got on the plane seated and ready to go...but we didn't.  The ground crew was understaffed and it took them almost an hour to load the plane.  Long story short - it was 3 am Denver time when I got into my room. Four hours later, I was up for breakfast.
But, of course when one starts like that, it can only go up, right?  YES!  We had a wonderful day of meetings, and I reconnected with a ton of EF people I have met over the (many) years but employees and other GEA folks.  There was great conversation about how to make the GEA program better and more effective, and I got some awesome ideas to use in my next recruiting efforts (and you will just have to wait for those!).
The most exciting thing was the evening drinks and dinner at the Clock Tower in downtown Denver (http://www.clocktowerevents.com).  The event was spread out over several floors in the very top of the tower - my legs and butt got quite the workout!  After arriving back  in my room, I repacked and set my alarm for 4:40 am and a 5:15 am hotel departure for the airport.  Four more hours...
I love to travel, and although it is a lot of work, I still love organized travel, both with students and adults.  I will continue to seek out the chance to do both, so watch out!
Oh yeah; the flight home was fun AND it was on time.  Better yet, my husband met me at the entrance to baggage claim.
Some photos of my adventure...

Behind the clock

Downtown Denver by night

Me and Lindsay, my EF tour consultant and bud

The clock tower from the ground.  We were in the blue and red colored sections!

North and South

Bonjour tout le monde!

We left Paris this morning.  Yesterday we had a great day, but I will write more about that later.  As we left our hotel, the sky was very dark and menacing.  By the time we got to the Gare de Lyon, it was pouring. It let up enough that I did not have to search for my umbrella.  The gare is lovely, and you need to visit the main hall 1 to see the old style and the Train Bleu, a cool restaurant done in the old style with lots of paintings and big lamps.  Our train left on time, and we were soon flying towards the blue sky (almost literally, as we outran the rainy weather).  

Here in the south, it is hot and humid. I am so glad that I packed lots of light clothing and have a fan.  We visited Cezanne's painting studio in the town of Aix-en-Provence, and then did a walking tour of the town.  There was at one time a tax on windows, so on many buildings some windows are blocked in, or the owners have had "trompe l'oeil" fake windows painted in their place.  Tonight - a Provencal dinner.

On the television - the French version of 4 Weddings, Macguyver, Murder She Wrote as well as Psych.  Different stations, naturally, with some Spanish and Italian stations thrown in.

A demain!

A fun Saturday night

Bonjour tout le monde!
I should say bonsoir, but I forgot to write this last night.  After a fun day of exploring Paris and visiting my old                         stomping grounds in the 7th arrondissement.  The building where I lived was bought awhile back by the Ile de France, and is now an office building.  But it's still there, along with the Pagode theater and the Cine-Image across the street that sells vintage movie posters.
But of course all that walking makes one hungry, so a bunch of us went to dinner at the coolest place ever: Restaurant Bouillon-Chartier.  They don't take reservations, so you come and stand in line.  Someone comes down the line and asks how many are in your party.  Then you wait.  Sometimes you see parties of 2 or 3 go by (we were 6), and then the group in front of you gets seated and you can move towards the sacred front material barrier.  When you are called "six!"  you are seated in the restaurant - sometimes you share a table, but we were perfect for a table of 6.  We had a first course, main course, dessert, and wine - and the total was incredibly small, only 22 euro/person!
But what makes this place awesome is that entering the doors is like going back into time...waiters in white shirts with black bow ties and vests and a long white apron.  They take your order by writing it down on the white squares of paper that cover the table.  At the end of the dinner, our waiter (actually, a waitress, a sign that there is progress) did the math on the paper with her pen; that was our check!

The line.  Not too long, but just after this, it was down the street.

The interieur, with luggage racks for packages.

Dinner!  Lamb chops and fries...note that there is no bread plate.  

Here is the link to the restaurant's website - http://www.bouillon-chartier.com/

Bon appetit!

Travel with me in 2013!

Besides commentary on all things French, I will, from time to time do some travel talk.  I will be taking a group to France and Italy in June 2013.  This is a departure from traveling with students at my school. Next year's trip is open to all my friends and their friends too. Check out the details here and enroll!  $95 gets you onboard, and when you enroll before March 7, you will save $150!  Come with me on a wonderful adventure.

Quelques photos

Bonjour comme toujours!
Today we visited the Croix-Rousse section of Lyon.  It is on a hill, so we took the metro up and walked down visiting all sorts of places on the way.  Besides some photos from today, I have photos from the past few days, including our highway party while stuck in accident traffic.  The accident occurred on one of the weekends when the July folks lave for holiday, and the 14 July folks go home from the week's holiday.  There is also another huge traffic weekend at the end of July when the juilletists go home and the aoutists leave for their holiday.  Just imagine one half of the nation going home while the other half leaves on vacation.  Ouais...