Since September, my ever-evolving group of school friends has eaten lunch at the same cafe in Rambouillet. Every Friday, chaque vendredi, without fail. Though our numbers have fluctuated as various classmates come to and leave France, Janelle and I have retained our coveted cafe ritual.
A few months ago, Caitlin, Janelle, Aimee, and I began a breakfast routine. Fridays before class, sometimes Tuesday or Thursday mornings...or whenever possible for a coffee fix...we pay our cafe a visit. We are cafe junkies. Needless to say, we frequent "our cafe" many times par semaine.
Somewhere along the way, as we began to feel at home in "our cafe," as we learned the waiters' names (or just gave them nicknames of our own), the girls and I realized that we wanted to take the next step. We were already les filles who spoke funny English-accented French and conversed animatedly over a grand crème - they recognized us and greeted us knowingly - but we were ready to be recognized as "regulars." That's right, boys. Remember those orders.
After a series of unfortunate events due to the jerk "new guy" waiter, Janelle and I grew more and more turned off to our cafe. (Gasp!). New Guy didn't understand that we were working on becoming regulars. He didn't know that we'd been there longer than he had. We're not sure if his egotistical manner and casual mocking of our French were attempts at flirtatious banter or tell-tale jerk signs. We tried to seat ourselves in different parts of the cafe, hoping to get another waiter - one of the others who actually *liked* us - and somehow we routinely got stuck with New Guy.
The other day, we'd had enough of feeling awkward in our cafe and decided to go to the rival cafe next door for our coffee. The waiters were *friendly* and treated us with respect, even after various encounters with our imperfect accents. On our third visit to the new cafe, the waiters greeted us kindly and remembered what we'd ordered the time before. Are you kidding? We've been going to the other place all year and are finally being treated like regulars...here?!
After a brief hiatus from our cafe, today, Janelle and I paid a visit for breakfast hoping to scope out the waiter situation and weigh whether or not to return during lunch. To our surprise, New Guy was not there (even though he always works Fridays), and there were two new New Guys who seemed to be training!! (Was New Guy fired...? or just off today?) Our old waiter friends were nice as usual, and we seemed to win over the newest staff additions. YES! We have a new "in"! We are beyond excited to feel welcome and comfortable in our cafe once again. In one week, we've become accepted "regulars" at two cafes. With the amount of social time we spend in cafes in France, this is definitely a great thing. It was a glorious day for Janelle and me :)
Sidenote: Just for those of you who haven't heard, on my way back to Paris by way of Orlando I was totally in line behind/at the US Air check-in counter next to Ryan Lochte and his brother. Yes, the Olympic medalist swimmer teammate and friend of Michael Phelps. That was a great 15-20 minutes of 8 am waiting. Amazing.
A few months ago, Caitlin, Janelle, Aimee, and I began a breakfast routine. Fridays before class, sometimes Tuesday or Thursday mornings...or whenever possible for a coffee fix...we pay our cafe a visit. We are cafe junkies. Needless to say, we frequent "our cafe" many times par semaine.
Somewhere along the way, as we began to feel at home in "our cafe," as we learned the waiters' names (or just gave them nicknames of our own), the girls and I realized that we wanted to take the next step. We were already les filles who spoke funny English-accented French and conversed animatedly over a grand crème - they recognized us and greeted us knowingly - but we were ready to be recognized as "regulars." That's right, boys. Remember those orders.
After a series of unfortunate events due to the jerk "new guy" waiter, Janelle and I grew more and more turned off to our cafe. (Gasp!). New Guy didn't understand that we were working on becoming regulars. He didn't know that we'd been there longer than he had. We're not sure if his egotistical manner and casual mocking of our French were attempts at flirtatious banter or tell-tale jerk signs. We tried to seat ourselves in different parts of the cafe, hoping to get another waiter - one of the others who actually *liked* us - and somehow we routinely got stuck with New Guy.
The other day, we'd had enough of feeling awkward in our cafe and decided to go to the rival cafe next door for our coffee. The waiters were *friendly* and treated us with respect, even after various encounters with our imperfect accents. On our third visit to the new cafe, the waiters greeted us kindly and remembered what we'd ordered the time before. Are you kidding? We've been going to the other place all year and are finally being treated like regulars...here?!
After a brief hiatus from our cafe, today, Janelle and I paid a visit for breakfast hoping to scope out the waiter situation and weigh whether or not to return during lunch. To our surprise, New Guy was not there (even though he always works Fridays), and there were two new New Guys who seemed to be training!! (Was New Guy fired...? or just off today?) Our old waiter friends were nice as usual, and we seemed to win over the newest staff additions. YES! We have a new "in"! We are beyond excited to feel welcome and comfortable in our cafe once again. In one week, we've become accepted "regulars" at two cafes. With the amount of social time we spend in cafes in France, this is definitely a great thing. It was a glorious day for Janelle and me :)
Sidenote: Just for those of you who haven't heard, on my way back to Paris by way of Orlando I was totally in line behind/at the US Air check-in counter next to Ryan Lochte and his brother. Yes, the Olympic medalist swimmer teammate and friend of Michael Phelps. That was a great 15-20 minutes of 8 am waiting. Amazing.
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