the birthday dinner

My fiftieth - I mean fortieth - birthday dinner began on the balcony of our hotelroom with local wine we bought on the Canal. The concierge was kind enough to provide us with wine glasses. We sat and toasted and talked ...


and then walked to the Cafe Louis Philippe on the banks of the Seine, which I can highly recommend.


We had:
an aperitif of anis, some red wine, and Perrier
the glasses for which looked like this:


Then an appetizer of tomato stuffed with warm goat cheese.

For our entrees, L had the rib steak and I had rib of lamb.

And then for some reason, without any prior communication, the couple at the next table offered me one of their frogs' legs, which I've never had before. They must have known we were visitors and decided to help us to have a richer French experience. The frogs' legs were very good, and they even gave us some of their white wine to go with it.

For dessert, L had the Rum Baba and I had my new second-favorite dessert: prunes in Armagnac with vanilla ice cream:

omg

After dessert and espresso, our waiter spontaneously and of his own accord brought us two glasses of Calvados. There is much generosity among the French. The perfect way to end a perfect birthday dinner.

~~~~~~~

It began to rain as we walked from the Seine back to the hotel and we watched a lightning storm over the city through the hotel window.