Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Girls' Night Out

I had my first Girls' Night Out in France this weekend, and I survived! Sandra and Sabrina take such good care of me. They have become great friends. I can joke around with them and everything (that’s really saying a lot, since I can still barely speak French!). Thanks, Sandra & Sabrina!

It was really, really fun – and exhausting all at the same time.

As most of you know, I don’t often go out at night. You can blame that on Mike! So, a Girl’s Night Out was really something to look forward to. However, knowing that everything would be in French, I was also nervous. We were going to Sete to meet Sabrina’s sister-in-law, Martine, and her friend, Vincent, for dinner and drinks at a piano bar.

Dinner was excellent! Fue de Bois was the name of the restaurant, which roughly translates to Wood Fire. It was similar to a steak house, and it could have been in America if not for the language. It was decorated with steer skulls, saddles, etc. The owner told me, in English, that he’s a cowboy!

I had steak hache (French for a hamburger), which was mouth-wateringly delicious. They are served without buns here, so it was straight-up beef. I haven’t eaten beef in weeks, so it was wonderful.

Everyone else ordered the special – Souris de Agneau. That translates literally to Mouse of Lamb, which is the best cut of the meat in France. It was so beautifully presented.

I managed to follow most of the conversations through dinner. Well, I think I followed most of the conversations. Ha! I didn’t contribute too much. By the time I thought of something to say, and constructed it in my head in French, it was well past time to make such a comment. Our friend Debb told me about this, as she experiences the same thing in French conversations. Now I know what she means. Next time, I’ll just spit it out – even if I don’t make sense. I figure that I don’t make sense most of the time anyway, so what difference does it really make?

By the end of dinner (which lasted almost 3 hours), I was physically exhausted from straining so hard to hear, understand, and contribute to the conversation. Since it was late (almost 11:30pm), the sleepy-factor was strong!

However, there was more fun to come! Our next stop was a piano bar. I have never been to a piano bar or a karaoke bar, so this was a new experience for me. I had been hoping for lots of people to dance with (Mike has never gone dancing with me!), but alas, we were 5 of the 12 people in the bar.

The piano player & singer was very entertaining. When Sandra told him that I was an American, he whipped out a song from Grease, a Beatles medley, and some Elvis. He kept asking us to sing with him – especially me once Sandra told him my name! – but we weren’t interested. Sandra sang to us at our seats instead. She knows the words to every song he played.

While we were there, they were playing the weirdest things on a big wall screen beside the piano. They were movie snippets of models posing for topless calendars & lingerie ads – or that’s my guess. It was bizarrely entertaining when coupled with the dramatic piano player. That guy was really, really into playing the piano & singing.

We drank some delicious Pina Coladas (mine was virgin, as I was the designated driver), too. Yum!

Unfortunately, we didn’t get to dance, and we didn’t find a new man for Martine. But it was a great night. I had a ton of fun!

And I almost forgot to tell you! I was pretty dressed up (makeup and everything!), and the kids were so sweet! As I was kissing them goodnight, Max said, “Mommy, you are beeeaautiful!” A few minutes later (she hadn’t heard Max), Josey said, “Mommy, you look so pretty!” Yeah for me! When I arrived at Sabrina’s to pick up the girls, Logan told me I was tres jolie (very pretty). Thanks kids!

And . . . We even went shopping – just us 3 girls – the day before. Woohoo! I have girlfriends to shop with, too!

Love to all!!

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