Last night of the trip - Paris

Yeah, I was right..... just got my opinion of Parisians confirmed. I gave it a second chance, even a third chance. But our final night in Paris did nothing to change my mind about how rude and snooty Parisians can be (or is it just the waiters?) I would even like to leave a little room for doubt - or maybe believe that I'm making a judgement based on how the waiters behave.... I'll be here for a few more years - maybe I'll have to give them a 20th chance to change my mind.

So here's what happened... Well, in my opinion, it was very bad planning on the part of the tour to have an optional excursion on the very last night of the tour. When you spend 3 weeks on a tour bus with 40+ people, you make a lot of friends and it's nice to have a final evening with them before everyone gets scattered. But it couldn't happen because half the group went to a show at the Moulin Rouge, a few went to see more Paris sights, and so there we were... the "stragglers" who had no specific plans. I was a straggler. One of our group talked to the concierge about a good place to go have dinner. He made reservations for us and we set out for dinner. We were even greeted with a complimentary glass of champagne. A good night ahead... or so I thought.

Before we were even seated, one in our group - Bob - asked the restaurant people if they would take his credit card. Bob only had about 10 euros on him and he was using a temporary replacement credit card because a French pickpocket was out enjoying his real credit card. The restaurant said, en Francais, no problem.

The waiter came and took our order and spoke perfect English. We asked if he could provide separate checks - no problem! The food was excellent - I had mussels and a wonderful dessert. When it came time to pay the bill, the waiter suddenly couldn't speak English anymore. He had combined the bills of several people and would not separate them. He told Harry that the tip was NOT included in the bill and there was nothing to indicate otherwise. (Liar, Liar, pants on fire.) I then paid with my French credit card. He commnented (en francais) that it was a french card. I told him yes and that I lived in Lyon. Transaction completed... c'est bon.

Then it was Bob's turn to pay. Bob tried to explain that he pre-approved the use of this temporary card earlier that night and that it would involve a "non-swipe" use, that is, they would have KEY IN his number. But no, the waiter wanted to swipe it and pretend to not understand. He then told me (in french remember because he suddenly lost his ability to speak English) that to approve Bob's card would involve making a phone call to the US (NOT!) and they did not want to pay for a long distance call. I laughed to myself... yeah, a phone call at 3 in the morning to the US? So poor Bob would have to wash dishes or else come up with the money to pay the bill. We all gladly pitched in but Bob was a bit dissapointed that we cleverly didn't give him enought to leave a tip.

Oh, and I've posted some more pictures.... and will continue posting more.