It was the celebration of my 35th anniversary that saw me in Paris for the first time. We had taken a tour or two but this does not get you up and personal with the people. I don’t speak French, but knew a few words and phrases that were touted as being sufficient enough to get you through. One of the phrases and secrets was to let the person know that you did not speak much French. When you appear to be willing to meet people rather than expecting them to cater to you, you establish a willing to help relationship.
My wife and I had ventured away from the hotel and into the city with no particular destination. It was wonderful! Walking around like you knew what you were doing and knew where you were going, but lost as hell. Wondering what was around the next corner and what the next experience was going to be.
As the day wore on, we began to develop an appetite, but which place would we choose? There were so many choices. Here was our chance to get some authentic French cuisine. Not quite ready for a plate of escargot, but I adventuresome enough to try them if placed in front of me. How do you chose a place to eat when they all look so good?
Decision over, we pick a place and go in. So far so good. Knowing a bit of French I stray from my original plan and chose a pizza, it has got to have different stuff than the typical American pizza joint, so I take a chance. I see a section of the daily menu that appears to feature salads, ah ha, home free from this point. This one looks good and seems to mention duck in it. I have made my selection of a pizza and salad. At this point my wife had made her selection and we enjoyed watching the people walking by the restaurant and going about the activities of the busy city.
The meal is served and I know it is going to be Great! The pizza is kind of an oval giving away the secret that it was hand crafted with love and attention. What I thought was going to be a salad with a few shavings of duck turned out to be a half duck. No salad! Wow, I was flabbergasted and I did have a big appetite, just not that big. It was tasty, but it has been the source of stories ever since. Take adventures complete with your mistakes or misunderstandings and make the most of them. Enjoy what you do and you will get more pleasure from life. Don’t take yourself so seriously, nobody else does, so don’t sweat the small stuff. Enjoy, learn and move on!
Now that I was full of pizza and duck, it was time to go back to the hotel. But in all of the confusion, I got a bit confused with my directions. Ah ha, it hit me, this was a perfect time to try out my hand at communicating in French. Spotting an officer of the law, I approached with the confidence of an accomplished tourist and made a complete fool of myself. I could not think of the name of the hotel and stranger than that was the fact that I could only think in German. Gosh, this was the wrong country for that. I needed to think and talk in French, not German and was so taken aback by the whole thing that it was almost impossible to ask in English. Finally the dust cleared off a small portion of my brain enough to think of the name of the hotel and get directions back there. What a relief to settle into the room completely satisfied with the food I ate, and be back in the safety and sanctity of my room.
After a bit of rest, I gathered my courage, and went out and made like a tourist all over again. Let me guarantee you, the adventure is a whole lot funnier today than it was standing on the streets of a foreign city acting like I knew what I was doing and making a complete idiot out of myself, but a different day and time for a different adventure. Bon Voyage!
Let me go and follow them, for I am their leader!