The Full Sit Down

Another of the great things about France is the quality of the food available here. You really have to be unlucky to find yourself eating a bad meal. Even "road food" is delicious. M & I have a little stop that we do on our ride where we stop at a gas station (!) buy a baguette and a couple of packs of meat. We sit in the winter sun and chow down on our DIY sandwiches. Outstanding.

M doesn't speak the language here so she's never quite sure what's going on when we're in a restaurant. It's pretty much just a succession of "grand cremes" with me getting more silly as my level of caffination increases.

A few days ago we rolled into a small town, sat down and I ordered the-full-sit-down. Two courses, bread and optional desert (I declined). M got a big kick out of watching me eat salad, starter and a grilled veal entree in the middle of a ride. Daylight is a bit short on our rides, as I've been having trouble getting going in the morning. To be honest, I can also get a wee bit overloaded when I get a fifty message email download to kick off my day. So with daylight short, the full-sit-down is a rare luxury.

...doesn't everyone like to end every ride with a 90 minute "TT 'cause it's getting dark"?

So yesterday we were riding along mid-afternoon. Man-o-man it was cold. My jaw was starting to freeze and both of our speach was slurred. A few grand cremes were in order and I navigated us into a cafe.

We fired up a few coffees and M looked totally miserable -- she was so cold that her skin colour was grey (that's a step past blue/purple). We perked up a little when these monster coffees arrived -- the closest thing to a latte that we've found so far.

I wandered down the restaurant and served myself up on their appetizer buffet (marinated mussels, smoked salmon, boiled potato salad, red peppers). A few minutes after I finished my plate of food, coffee, bread...

M: Gordo, there's a mistake, they are bringing you more food.
g: No way baby, I'm having the full sit down!

Thirty four euros for lunch with a third of it spent on coffee. As I am an athlete, naturally, I waived off the optional wine and dessert.

I love this place.

PS -- I'd probably skip the mussels next time.