I spoke too soon about the wonderful weather, as overnight, things changed. We had been expecting windy weather for the last days of our stay, but it rained quite heavily on and off for most of today.

Il pleut means “it is raining”!

This work site that our apartment overlooks has provided Mick with hours of enjoyment. He loves watching machines, diggers and trucks, and during the day he gets to see loads of them. This infrastructure is not for the new apartment building that will one day fill this site, rather it is a storage depot for all the paving works that are taking place in Anse Vata, the neighbouring beachside suburb to where we are staying.

We still were able to get out and enjoy a stroll along the beautiful beachfront, and today I spotted the water taxi being loaded up to take supplies across to the Ile aux Canards (or Duck Island) which we can see from our balcony.

We decided to dine in a restaurant nearby to us as we had noticed that whenever it is open it is always full. I had to make a reservation as we had been disappointed on an earlier occasion.

Les Bouches des Goûts (the restaurant) serves gastronomic fare. We observed other customers before we decided on our order. My limited French could not really decipher all the details, but the owner was very patient as he could speak excellent English.

Before we had selected our meals, we were presented with an ‘amuse bouche’, blue cheese foam, very chilled, sprinkled with ‘something’ crunchy and savoury.

It was delicious.

For ‘starters’ the menu offered four choices that were either hot or cold, or you could choose all four from either the hot or cold selections – called Le Tour du Monde.

Here was where we made our first mistake, as we chose the share platter of the hot entrees. A mistake because we do not usually eat both an entree and a main meal.

While each piece was delicious, the fact they were deep fried did not really suit my tastes. And then came the next surprise. I ordered a typical French menu item – steak et frites, and I understood that the meat would be turkey and not beef, I was okay with that. Mick chose shank meat in a Roquefort cheese sauce.

Holley dooley – both of these meals were very rich, and we did not complete either of them.

But, then the dessert menu was presented and while I did not deserve it because I had left some of my main, I decided to try the smallest item on the menu. And I did finish that!

Mick chose a very nice wine, a Médoc which featured Cabernet Franc, Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Petit Verdot – all varieties we enjoy. Even the owner completed Mick on his selection by saying “You speak very good French in wine”. It wasn’t until we got home and I showed him the receipt for our meal that he realised had chosen a very expensive wine. No wonder the restaurant owner was pleased with Mick’s choice.

Regardless, it was amazing served slightly chilled, and we needed to get rid of some cash. We only withdrew one lot of cash from an ATM on our first day, and have used our credit cards for most purchases. So we were ‘loaded’, and with less than 48 hours to go, we needed to use it.

Then came the biggest surprise.

When we went to pay and leave a tip there was bedlam. The waiter said he would go and change some of the notes so he could give us our change. But I had some change and we actually could make up the exact amount. When we said we had wanted to leave a tip we were told that there was “no tipping.”

How bizarre?