Dinner in France

Gigi and I decided to have dinner in France on Tuesday evening just for kicks. The following day was the 4th of July, so we would be able to stay out a little later than usual. It took about two hours to get there, mostly due to some traffic around construction areas along the way. I opted to drive since Gigi drove last time. If I hadn't overcome my "small-lane" phobia yet, I sure did fix it along the way. There's nothing like riding next to a semi when the lanes are half the size you're used to and construction barriers kick in.






We got to Strasbourg around 8:00 pm or so and found a parking spot next to the University. We walked along and crossed the river Ill until we found a little city square.









When we found a couple of menus on the street, we decided to go to Au Dophin (the dolphin). They had several entrees and specialties you could order, but we wanted to try one of the set three-course meals that they recommended. The one we chose was called The Terror menu, although the Pirate menu was very tempting. Believe it or not, I was relieved to see that they had German subscript under each menu item. I was able to read and understand some of what I saw, but when it came to French, I had no idea. Gigi said he had studied French for several years, so I told him that he could order for me. As soon as the waitress came to take our order, both of us stared blankly at her for a moment until Gigi finally said "water," and proceeded to order in English. Haha!!










Both of us had the soup of the day even though we had no idea what it was. We wanted to try something authentic since we were there only for the night. It turned out to be a really good (and really green) potato and asparagus soup. For the main dish, I had a steak with mushrooms, potatoes and cheese, and vegetables. Gigi ordered the pork roast with veggies and noodles. When we were finished, we ordered the tart for dessert, but it turned out there was only one left. He gave it to me and instead of choosing ice cream, Gigi ordered the cheese. The moment that plate came out, I about passed out in my chair from just the smell of it. We were laughing so hard, I had to keep my napkin over my nose because I felt my stomach turning each time Gigi took a bite. I tried a little piece because I figured I might as well, but I wasn't a fan. He enjoyed it, but had to acquire a taste for it which he had done awhile back.





After dinner, we took some pictures of the cathedral. The windows and lights were set on different colors and timers, and made for some great pictures. There were quite a few people on the streets enjoying themselves and watching the display.





We had a hard time finding the correct direction to go on the highway, only because the cities listed were the same as the ones we were moving towards when we drove to Strasbourg. The navigation system only seems to work for Germany unless you install a different CD, which we didn't have. After a little effort, we figured out where to go and made it home around 1:30 am.