It's a piece of cake...

Date: 18 April 2012 15:22:01

Gilles is the owner/manager of the local mini-supermarket, Shopi. When I first met him, I was very wary of him, as he seemed a little "eccentric" to say the least! He always tried to speak English to me - very, VERY bad English! - and would corner me against the charcuterie, while attempting a conversation, of which I understood 5% at best! As we have got to know him, mostly through the Cycle Club, we have come to be good friends, and while he still tries to speak English to us, we now know that it is because he tries to speak English to everyone, regardless of whether they are French, English or Uzbekhistani! He will always greet them with a strangled "'Ello! 'Ow arrrrrre yoooooooo?"

He is funny, generous, and, yes, very eccentric!

It is his birthday on Saturday, and we have been invited to a restaurant with him and his girlfriend, Sylvie (who is remarkably chic and sane next to tall gangling Gilles). We wondered what to get him, and have come up with a mixed bag of goodies...a Union Jack lamp, very similar to this:

some B-D (bande dessiné) books about "Les Anglais", and these plates, which I have decorated myself, with a Foodie/Learn-English-as-you-eat theme:

don't spill the beans...that's a different kettle of fish...you are as nutty as a fruitcake, and:

It's a piece of cake...don't cry over spilled milk...you are the best thing since sliced bread...

I'm really pleased with them! I'm thinking I may try to make some for us sometime. They were really easy to do, using a special pen, to write on porcelein, and they become dishwasher-proof after 3 days. I got the idea from this site, where Kelly wrote song lyrics on her plates. This is Kelly's wonderful plate:

I decided to stick to a more simple layout than Kelly's, so that it was clearer to read, but I'm certainly going to experiment with other layouts and designs. I've already drawn a sheep plate and will do some more to try to sell at a Craft fair next month.

What fun!