iamlindoro

OK, so here's an interesting story. I was in Paris last night and went to a bar in Montmartre. We were told (in English, and by the way, I speak pretty good French) that the cover was 10 Euros and that included our first drink. Being a bit tired, I was happy to go along speaking english. We finished our first round and we were asked if we wanted a bottle of wine. I asked "Ca coute combien?" and they answered "Trente." That's thirty. We agreed and drank the wine.

I guess they assumed that asking that was the only french I spoke, because when we went to get our bill, we were each presented with a bill of THREE HUNDRED EUROS. Now, Trente and Trois cent sound nothing alike. At that moment, I stopped speaking English and spoke the best french of my life. They kept trying to demand that I come in back and "talk to their manager" but I told them I preferred to stay up front in the light. When it became obvious that we weren't getting anywhere, I started asking them to call the police. There was no way I was paying 300 Euros. They responded that the barman would do it, and they would soon be there. I said that I wanted to see it because "Je sais le numero, monsieur. Je sais le numero."

The police never showed up, of course. I kept demanding that they call them. They kept saying they would. Nothing. My friend tried to walk out and the bouncer shoved him into the bar. I kept calm and finally realized I had my cell phone. I pulled it out. The very instant I pulled it out and started dialing, they agreed to the real price.

Bastards. If I'm spoken to in English I'm going to respond in English. But if I have the means to do it I'll hand there ass to them in their native tongue. It was actually really fun. I came away from it feeling like a hero because I got us out of a tough situation, and that's just the kind of adventure that this trip is about.

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Iamlindoro