4. Things We Might Have Been: Regulars at a Kids' Cafe

Here's something I wrote barely a week after we got here. We still weren't online in our apartment yet, so we roamed the neighborhood, looking for places with free wifi.

9/7/11 (in France they do the dates day/month/year, so if I wanted to go all native I'd write 7/9/11, but then you guys in the States'd be confused): 

There's this tiny little cafe near our place called la Dinette des Fils a Maman, or Mama's Boys' Little Diner. Or something like that. It has four tables and would be crowded with ten people in it. It's got free wifi (as long as you buy at least a 1 euro cup of coffee) so that's been super helpful. The places with free wifi (with purchase) around here are few, and we've been using this other cafe where a cup of coffee is 2.40. When I say a cup of coffee, I mean a shot of espresso. That's how they roll here. A cup of coffee with cream and stuff is 4.20. Anyway, La Dinette is a super cheap alternative. Also it's crazy awesome.

One wall is a giant mural homage to 80's TV and movies with a focus on cartoons and the kind of shows that folks my age loved. Captain Harlock (Albator, Le Corsaire De L'Espace here in France) is next to MacGuyver is next to Wonder Woman is next to Buck Rogers is next to Nausicaa is next to the Smurfs is next to Mr. T is next to Clash of the Titans (Le Crusade de les Titanes)...I could go on. A shelf on the opposite wall is filled with Asterix books and french translation manga and a few old-school He-Man figures hanging out on the edges. The sandwiches (also some of the cheapest we've run across at 2.50 a pop) have names like the Vegeta, the Top Gun, and Snorkies (which I am assuming is the Snorks). There's a Hutch sandwich, but no Starsky; I keep meaning to ask him about that.

Wasn't there a Snork that had two, um, snorkel things? 

The guy who runs this hangs out behind a shoulder height bar which opens to the cafe and the outside. People (he tends to cater to students attending the several schools nearby, go figure) can come in or just walk up and order a sandwich or un coca (coke). He's super nice. The first time I came in I was without my faithful translator and had to try to muddle along myself. Our conversation went something like this:

He: Good day.

I: Good day.

(awkward silence begins as I collect my few phrases that I've been practicing on my way down here)

I: I have the need to use your internet.

He: That's fine. (I think. He said something that sounded similar in tone)

I: So...I need to buy something, yes?

He: Yes. But just a cup of coffee. One euro.

I: (rubbing stomach; I don't generally drink coffee and have had more today than I usually have in a month) No coffee. Um, a boat of water?

He: A bottle?

I: Yes! A bottle. (See, the two words are similar; boat is bateau [ba-toe] and bottle is boteille

[bo-tay]) A Perrier? (It's the only kind of fizzy water I can think of)

He: San Pelligrino?

I: That's perfect. I need a code for the Internet, yes?

He: It's...

And that's how it went. The whole time he spoke simply and slowly but not condescendingly. I found out a bit later that he actually speaks some English, but I'm glad he let me flounder around as long as he was willing to wait for me to get where I was going. Instances like that are what will get me to the point where I can talk to people without praying they don't give me an answer with more than three words. I want to become his friend. But I also know that I am needy, and that's the worst time to look for friends. I wouldn't be a very good one in return. Plus, he's essentially a bar tender; of course he's your friend, but don't try to presume upon that or think it means anything more...what was it Moe on the Simpsons said? “Think of me as a well-wisher, in that I don't wish you any specific harm.”

Sure, kid. "Friends"

I love this place. We're supposed to finally get phones and have the internet hooked up at our place today, which is great, but it means I won't have to come down to La Dinette every day to check my mail.

Update (10/17/11): We went to this place several times, and always liked it. But we realized that we weren't his preferred clientele; for starters, on average we were twenty years older than his usual customers. In addition, we came in there to do our internet thing, not have lunch. We would stay there for a couple hours, however long our laptops' batteries lasted. Unless we got up early enough to get in there when he opened (10:30) we'd still be there when lunch hit and all the schools nearby let kids out. The place would get swarmed, and we'd be taking up valuable seat space. The one time we stayed for lunch the place was packed with kids crammed shoulder to shoulder, eating their Vegetas and Hutches with an Orangina, served on plastic cafeteria trays. This place is really awesome, I'm telling you. But the retro aspect of it is lost on the kids, and we're in the way.

We haven't been back there for a while. We probably won't go again. When I pass by on the way to the Metro or to do laundry I always say “bonjour!” and he usually fires back with “Hello!” but I think that's as far as it will go.

Final note: that part at the end there where I say we'll be getting phones and internet hooked up later that day? Lies. It was close to another three weeks before we got online at home. That's a story in itself. A long one. For another time.

More update: I went looking for pictures of the place online, because I hadn't taken any myself, and it's got its own website! Also a facebook page, of course. So, even though it's sad that I don't get to be besties with this guy, I want you to see its coolness. Those pictures must be a little old, though; the sandwiches have normal names instead of the cool ones.