The stuffed fox in Croix Fry
This is part one of three posts about how to annoy the locals merely by giving them your custom.
My friend Elodie celebrated her birthday this week, and she wanted to start with an apero (a pre-dinner drink). She called a bar in Croix Fry (up the road from La Clusaz) to check they could provide a very specific drink for everyone (grapefruit and lychee juice mixed with rosé) before she invited us all. Being French, Elodie was late to her own party, but only by 15 minutes, which really is nothing in French time. We drove up together, and a friend called her from the bar, saying the manager didn’t have her apero booking recorded. Elodie presumes she called a different bar with the same name in La Clusaz centre. Sure, it’s nice to pre-book, but surely a bar can sort out 19 people with a drink. Is that not what they do? Pour drinks? A detailed discussion with the manager followed, with prices negotiated, timings confirmed and one very apologetic Elodie (I’m still not sure why she was apologising for bringing him business). They agreed we’d be there for no more than half an hour, as we had a dinner reservation.
Although the place was otherwise empty when we arrived, a busload of tourists poured in soon after, and then Christophe Pessey arrived. Do you know who that is? He’s a local celebrity in Croix Fry and La Clusaz: he’s the famous, award-winning, child-prodigy accordion player. Here he is, playing keyboards, with a child dressed as a chimney sweep (bottom left corner), and some other guy playing the piano accordion.
Happy Belated Birthday, Elodie!
I had know idea that you could request a bar provide your particular apero for a party – what a great discovery! I will have to try that out here with one of my regular restos in Grenoble!
Well I’m glad some good has come out of it! Let me know if it works in Grenoble.
Oh, wow. How difficult is it to mix a drink? That is just crazy bad service.
Yeah, you’re right Emm, but on the up side, the old lady singing so badly proved it was just one of those shambolic evenings. I went with the flow. :O)