Another week goes by

Another week has passed quickly!

On Monday I had lunch with Khem at a Thai restaurant where she knew people.  The menus here in Chinese and Thai restaurants have been modelled on the French way of eating.  Entrée, plat and dessert.   The French don't share food so you get one large plate of whatever you order which is rather different from the Asian/UK approach of lots of small dishes shared.  I had a very spicey duck dish. There was a lot of duck and a good bed of bok choi and although I enjoyed it, I could have done with a bit more variety.   I'm choosing the restaurant for next Monday.

Wednesday with the 'craft' group at the club was the usual mix of work and conversation.  The lunch served on Wednesday was particularly good.  There's usually a main course, salad and cheese and then dessert.  We had veal casserole, a good selection of cheese and then a delicious apple and blackberry crumble - and a couple of glasses of wine.   Afterwards Anna and Patsy took me to their favourite café for a coffee.   I keep discovering new watering holes.  They realised that I didn't know about a particular chocolate shop so they have arranged to meet me at a bus stop next Tuesday for some window shopping and lunch.

On Thursday the BCWA had their annual 'outside' Christmas lunch - a get together that's not in the club.  We went to one of their regular venues, Chez Françoise which is next door to the Assembly Nationale and full of Deputies.  We had excellent food and wine and I discovered that the son of the Membership Secretary is the series producer of Holby City!  There was quite a bit of serious gossip on our table about a rather elegant looking woman of a certain age on the other table.  The ladies on my table were delighted to tell me about her barbed wire tatoo and her habit of 'inducting' the teenage sons of friends!   I didn't believe a word of it of course!  The femme fatale is the lady near the window in the white sweater.   I couldn't in all conscience stand up to get a better view!

Lunch at Chez Françoise

Afterwards a small group of us went back to Anna's (that's her on the right) and had champagne.  I managed to lose my gloves on the way home...not being quite myself.

On Friday I played a couple of games of Scrabble at the club.  This is usually a quiet pastime but on Friday we clashed with a 'rehearsal' for the carol concert - which I won't be going to!  I had great difficulty not laughing.  The lady 'singing' is well into her eighties, bless her.  My Scrabble friends were stoical.