Louis Laulhere, Edmond "Lafayette," Ken, and Repeat all made our trip to France in Orange County a memorable one. Louis and Edmond both offered French lessons to the high schooler we brought with us. Louis suggested that the best way to learn any language is to practice small parts and words often. La Chaise, la table, lampe--all things he pointed to in his lobby as we were leaving. Edmond was the host who sat us at our table. He came to the US on November 11, 1955, 50 years ago next month.
Ken is a student at California State University, Fullerton with two majors and two minors. He was excellent at making conversation. Even though we thought his hair style might have been the result of either an horrible accident or mere neglect (he just finished mid-term exams), he assured us that he worked very hard to make it right.
Trying to be funny and avuncular, as usual, I asked Daniel after dessert, if he wanted anything else, like port in front of our second waiter "Repeat." Since Daniel said "no" I told Repeat that we were done. But, Mr. Repeat came back a moment later with some vintage port which he poured into a tiny stemmed glass. Daniel and I both agreed that it smelled something like vinegar.
Daniel and I examined the bill, did the math to leave an appropriate tip, and that was our fun French evening--soirée française.
Who'd like to join us on our next adventure?
What a great time. Wish I had been there. Sounds like a bad port, vintage port should smell like raisins or spices. Always best paired with chocolate. Hope the food was as interesting as the waiters.
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