Frustration!!!

Have I mentioned that I hate (yes hate!) the touch screen on my iPhone. I just wrote for 20 minutes on this blog and when i scrolled up to change something I lost everything. It's 6:24 am and I'm not happy!

OK so here goes again. During our travels yesterday afternoon we checked out a few places for dinner last night. We saw several cafes but wanted something nicer. We found La Reale a cozy spot with table cloths (that was the only criterion). Actually, the tablecloths were salmon with runners of salmon, mauve and plum (think a geometric design painted by Monet). The chairs were plun leather - we realized the place was run by 3 women - hence the color scheme. Anyway, we arrived a little before 8 pm and asked for a table for two. The hostess asked of we had a reservation and we said no. She asked another woman something in French and told us the only table available was one right by the door. We looked around at a mostly empty restaurant but said OK we'll take it. We both wondered if she was living up to the French people's reputation for treating foreigners rudely. After 15 or 20 minutes the place was full and they had turned away 4 or 5 groups of people. We literally got the last table. We both made a silent apology to the French!

The food: Where do I begin? The entire menu was in French so with the help of my newly acquired dictionary we opted against the salad with frogs and instead Rich had a shrimp salad and I had soup poisson - fish soup - both were delicious. Then we both had what they called lamb chops but they were really rack of lamb done to perfection with a sauce that started and finished with browned butter. Our taste buds were smiling! Add to the lamb the richest, creamiest potatoes au gratin and we were in heaven. Oh, yes, and we ordered a half bottle of a local ( we're in the burgundy region, dontcha know) - excellent! For our third couurse we had an option of fromage or dessert but there was no question we would go with dessert. Rich had a cake filled with chocolate mousse nd topped with whipped cream and strawberries. I had 3 scoops of glacé - cafe, chocolate and vanilla ice cream. I only ate the vanilla; Rich ate the rest. Oh, did I mention that it was a prix fixe menu. Our 3 courses each and the wine cost 66 Euros - less than. $82. Gary Danko and Fleur de Lis in SF would have been at least twice that and maybe not quite as good.

OK so enough about food. Now on to another story. As we're eating a group of young ladies comes in leading one woman dresed I white with a veil and blindfolded. Obviously a bachelorette party. They lead her up stairs to a private room. Well, we all know that a bachelorette party needs entertainment and sure enough, in walks the "entertainment". This guy looked like Arnold S. in his prime - even his muscles had muscles and his clothes were painted on him. He was Mr. Steroid and he came with a bodyguard (to protect him from those young ladies). Pretty soon we hear the young "ladies" hooting and hollering - heaven only knows what was going on up there but the 3 womenwho worked at the resturant made numerous trips up to be sure everything was OK (more likely to get a peek at Muscleman. I was tempted to head to the ladies room up stairs but Rich saw through my ruse.
Shucks!

Onward. Today we are off to take the train from Chalon to Lyon, then have a 1 hour layover and take another train to Avignon and our cruise. It's the only part of our trip about which I'm apprehensive - getting a taxi, schlepping our luggage and finding the right train. Keep your fingers crossed. Also, we're leaving our car at the hotel for a week and pray it's still here when we return. Stay tuned!