A Fawlty Towers Moment

Because I put my www.cunewswire.com newsletter out on Fridays, I treat myself to lunch at a neighborhood restaurant. Of course the time is about the same as if I cooked, but after the checking, getting in the final stories, I don't want to look at dirty dishes. And I like eating out.

This Friday I went to The Flowers for roast duck with banyuls sauce...something I would never cook at home. As usual I took a book to read, Fatherland by R. Harris, which is about the world if Germany won the war.

Now Argelès is a very international town with people from all over. The Flowers had many empty tables but the maitre d' decided he would sit the one German group, probably in their mid-seventies next to me. They eyed the book cover in between looks at their menus. Of course, I lowered the book to the table the minute I heard their Schwabish accents so reminiscent of my two wonderful years in Stuttgart.

All I could think of was the Fawlty Towers episode where Basil keeps telling his staff before they welcome German clients not to mention the war and then proceeds to mention it every other word and goose stepping around his hotel lobby. I didn't goosestep, thank goodness.