The last day of my mission was Fast Sunday, September 1963. Since I was by myself, about to catch the plane that night, I went to the Champs Elysées American Drugstore cafeteria.
I added a carafe of "water" to my tray, but when I went to pour it into my glass, it looked a little murky. I drank the few drops that made it into the glass, and it felt and tasted like someone had put kerosene in the water. When I told the cashier, she looked at me in disgust, and said, "Tourist! That is white wine, Monsieur!" What a way to end one's mission, and on a Fast day too. |