It's been really funny - I'm staying back at the same hotel we always stay at when we're down south. Some of the older readers might remember that this is where we got mega yelled at for eating in the room and also where how I liked my steak became the topic of discussion for the entire restaurant. But that was before the woo technician came and the owner decided she liked us.

This time around, I've been getting the five-star treatment. I believe this is my fifth two-week stay here, so we've officially become regulars and have thus now worth of their time. When I walked in the door Wednesday, they were all there to greet me and the owner came over and gave me the bises and said "Mais qu'est que t'es belle!! (because apparently we now "tu" each other) Ta nouvelle coupe te va super bien. Et t'es toute maquillée blah blah blah". So I explained what happened, and that I was feeling the need to feel belle and they commiserated appropriately with me re: the injustice of it all (they're about the first French women to do so, LOL). And then we all sat down at the bar and had a cocktail. She also said I should've told her I was arriving at the train station in Dax, because she would've come to get to me (instead of me waiting 1 1/2 hrs at the gare, and then having a 1hr+ bus ride on top of that...all for what normally takes 20 minutes by car).

After a few drinks, she took me up to my room, and decided to give me a free upgrade to a lovely room that overlooks the garden. When we went down to dinner that night, I explained I still didn't have much of an appetite, and for once, she didn't make a huge fuss when she came back and found my plate not 100% empty. I am definitely going to milk this for all its worth, especially when she brings me bloody red meat.

And the chef/barman has been eying me up as well, which is nice for the ego. He's been coming to chat with me while I have my nightly apératif. Last night he sat with me after supper and we drank his bottle of "special" wine his parents had given him. He called it "du vin jaune". Doc, maybe you can help me with this one - he says it's a wine from the Jura mountains - it smelled like Cognac, but was a really dry white wine. Anyways, he's really sweet, but not my type (a little too muscle-y & brawny for me). But that didn't stop me from sitting on my balcony yesterday afternoon and watching him mow the lawn shirtless while I caught up on everyone's blogs. But of course since Fate couldn't just sit by and let me enjoy this, I learned last night that his name was Fab. What are the odds? But at least it's short for Fabien and not Fabrice, right? :-)

They were also all really excited because they planned a "soirée américaine" for while we were here. Apparently there is a French country music band coming in, along with a mechanical bull and an animateur. So we'll see how that goes, and how many people show up for it. They're going to have to ply me with quite a bit of alcohol if they want to see me getting up on that bull, but the owner has promised to let us try out a bunch of the vin moelleux she's testing for her son's upcoming wedding, so we'll see. The technician is promising to take pictures, LOL.

All in all, I'm feeling pretty good about being down here - I was a bit nervous since the nights are usually a little lonely, but we've got a lot of work to do, so that's keeping me busy. Plus, this technician is really chatty, so instead of me spending my nights bored in my hotel room, we spend the evenings talking with each other and/or with the owners, and it's often bedtime before I know it. Pourvu que ça continue.