there are attractions of France which can only be found in Paris, and so one grits one's teeth and bears the slings and arrows of the French Sophisticate, Versailles would be one of them, without attempting to list the whole pantheon . . . a very popular place for business meetings, apparently, which may make the tourist trade such as ours less important, but it doesn't make us feel any better about it, that we may have been out-of-place . . .
our room was not quite ready when we arrived . . . it was before check-in time . . . not an issue . . . we will wait in the restaurant and have lunch . . . we're good!
the sandwiches were, uh, uninspired, but entirely satisfactory . . .
my vegetable cream soup was good, of largely celery and something sweeter, like corn? . . . with the crust-with-cheese . . . I can't deny I enjoyed it . . .
our wine was a pouilly fume . . . the first two glasses each we had were fine, very good, but somehow when we ordered a 3rd, when Our Room Was Still Not Ready, we felt they swapped out on us and gave us some lesser varietal . . . that is, in our paranoia americain in the face of le sophistication francaise, they may take advantage of us . . . they feel we don't know in the first place and can't tell . . .
finally, our room was ready -- we left a half glass of wine and went to move in . . . it was sweltering, the ac, the tv, and the phone did not work in the new wing they were trying to put us in . . . I mean, the room was brand new, still smelt of paint, very clean, but not ready . . . after fiddling about for a half hour with everything, I hadda go downstairs, thru miles of hallways, and across the parking lot to the office. after waiting patiently for yet another gaggle of business travellers to clear, I made my case: HEY! I waited 2 hours for this room and it's not ready for occupancy . . . I don't see HOW you tho't it was ready, and so I hadda come down here since the phone didn't work, and I am a little put out . . . how it is with those people who fart higher than their asshole, when you catch them up they go all to pieces. . . oh' sorry, sorry, sorry, some asst mgr sweating profusely as he shuffledpapers on the front desk . . . gave us free drink coupons, and a different room, and came with us to make sure the room was good . . . still as new, fresh paint smelling, but the ac worked, the tv came on, and the phone had a dial tone . . . so ok...
after a fantastic dinner at Le Cape Rouge down the street, we settled in at the bar for a champagne and an armagnac, a 25 year old LaBaude, and what do they tell us, but that the coupon was good only for "bar" drinks, not for name brands . . . OMG . . . what cheap pseudo-sophisticates . . . to charge $190 euros a night for a room that is barely habitable, and then to skimp on the make-you-feel-better-about-getting-the bums-rush . . . since i am not french, words fail me here. . . . during our visite, some menial came around replacing coffee pots, installing coat hangars. . . WTF? . . . the light switches were an array of 8 unmarked switches that only trial-&-error could get to the right combination . . .
I don't want to be anymore unfair . . . the menials ofthe hotel and restaurant seemd friendly enough, but the managment lacks a je nais sans quois
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