L'Oiseau Blanc Review

Tired, after a long day's travelling, we thought a drink in a local brasserie would pass the time until we caught the train from Gare Saint Lazare. It didn't start well when the waiter, once he had finally noticed us, didn't seem to know that the menu didn't say what kind of teas they had; apparently they had verveine (lemon verbena) or tilleul (linden). My wife ordered verveine (EUR3.80 according to the menu),while I ordered an espresso (EUR2.50). The tea that arrived was tilleul, but fortunately my wife likes that too, so we didn't complain. When it came to leaving, the waiter muttered something inaudible and gave us EUR12.40 change from a EUR20 note, giving himself a nice little EUR2.30 supplement. It's partly my fault because I should have asked for the slip from the cash register ("ticket de caisse"), but it left a bad taste to be cheated like that. Les rosbifs d'hier qui n'ont pas apprécié se faire rouler!