"Then I've got something for you"

That's what the butcher said to me when we'd said our bonjours and handshake.

Saturday is my shopping day. I mooched to the shops and said my usual '2 kilos de mandarines svp' a pause. There were none left. merde! 'I've saved some for you'; and the grocer disappeared and bought the 2kg bag of small oranges. 'pour vous' he said.

daaamn, I thought. Have I been living here that long. Evidement!

Then it got weirder. The butcher looked over at me as I usually buy a chicken.

'Le meme' he said

'dommage' I said 'J'ai les moules pour ce soir'

'Attendez-vous' he said, and disappeared.

I wondered whether he'd come back with oranges. He didn't. It was better than that!

'voila' he said 'ca sera deliciuese avec les moules'

And he produced a bottle of white wine!

So I shall have moules with apparently a lovely white wine tonight! I shall let you know how it goes!