Bon Appetit

I toured Mont-Saint Michel. More on that later. :)

Food at the Mont was expensive so I waited. "I'll get a sandwich at the mart when I get back," I told myself.

The bus was late, the walk to my hotel was forty minutes, and to top it off it was the Golden Hour when I returned to the medieval city. I wanted to get pics for the last two days with the low sun casting golden rays on the ancient rooftops... Stomach, hold on a little longer?

Walking among the rooftops, French seagulls hovered over me. The sun cast a perfect outline around their pearl-white feathers. I put my zoom lens on and shot away. This was a different kind of shot. Like in Wildwood when I first got my camera..

I got a few stunning photos. Wow, how perfect natural light makes all the difference.

I walk back. The tide is low so I walk on the beach. In a couple of hours there won't be a beach. I felt the sea sneaking in..


I walk past the mart. It's empty. Past 7:30. Closed.

No sandwich for me. Darn, I have to spend more money. Might as well enjoy it!


I pass a Pizzeria. The menu is in French. I snap a picture of the menu. 

At my hotel I change and look up the words on Google Translation vis my iPod. Yeah I'm a dork. But I'm gonna order the right pizza, darnit. The Mexicana sounds delicious.

I type "Mexicana" and "L'eau du robinet" (tap water) into my iPod so I won't forget. I march into the French restaurant and tell the girl, "Bonsoir. Uh..Mexicana." I don't know how to pronounce tap water so I show her what I typed. She looks confused.

"Le pizza?"

"Oui!" duh, haha.

A ten euro pizza? Sure. Just this once..

I ask how to pronounce tap water, because L'eau du robinet has me at a loss. Is that a silent au? Is 'du' duh or doo or diyeah?

She replies, "loo doo row-bin-eyh!"

The tap water is served in a bottle. It's a cool French thing.

I sit down. A few minutes later this arrives.

"Bon Appetit!" she says.
"Merci!" I say.

It's my first pizza with potatoes on it. I glance up at the fancy drinking glasses on the tables in the twilight of the evening in France, the television on, showing French news, and here I am with this juicy pizza just for myself.

In a world of firsts, this suddenly feels familiar. In the post-event deja vu I've been having lately, it feels as though this moment was coming, or the feeling itself. I was here in this restaurant, no? Perhaps life is just living up to expectations.


I finish it. The waitress comes and asks something. I don't know what she says, but feel it's like, "Did you enjoy?" I just nod.

Only when she brings the dessert menu did I realize, oh she asked, "Dessert?" or "Dizzer?" 

I don't want to spend €5...or do I?
The hypnotic power of 'why not?' overpowers me and I order a Fondu de Chocolat.

It looks so small.
"This better be one freakin' good dessert," I think.

One bite. The chocolate center is warm. The whip cream and light almonds accentuate the taste. This is...ten times better than the same dessert in America. Yeah...it's worth it.


I ask her how to say, "It's excellent!"
She says, "c'etait!"

So I say with a smile, "C'etait!"
"Merci!" she responds.

She spelled it out for me. :)


I wipe my French-experienced mouth as my taste buds thank me for flavours a la Europe.

As I head out the waitress is retrieving an order for a table of four. "Au revoir," I say with a smile.

"Au revoir, merci!" She says. As I enter the cool breezy outside, I feel giddy. Downright giddy. I just communicated in another language. And got my fill of French Pizza and dessert (and tap  water!) on my own.

This is different.


As I returned to my hotel The tides were angry, waves splashing up onto the patio of the corner restaurant. It's vicious out there, fifteen meters from my hotel..

(Click for video) It's quite spectacular.

Welcome to Saint Malo. Bon Appetit.