Resting Day

I was so tired this morning, I didn’t even want to get out of bed. I got ready anyway and ate my breakfast quickly. We were going on the road again today, but for only around 3 hours. In the car, I just stared out the window, being in my own world. We also played some music to help us stay awake. We were so tired from all the touring we’ve been doing for the past couple of days. We’ve walked for hours on end everyday, going from one tourist attraction to another. It sure has been a busy vacation, but it has definitely been worth it.

We drove all the way from Paris to Dunkirk in Northern France. The city   wasn’t entirely what I was expecting. I thought it would have more beaches and more people. Instead, there was only one beach with a lot of buildings and museums. There were also some monuments for both the World Wars. Dunkirk is a small place and there’s not many people here. Though, the beach was pretty nice.

  
 After checking into the hotel, we went out to eat some dinner. We went to the recommended restaurant, L’edito. The place looked so impressive from the outside with its balacony hanging over the ocean. There was also a harbor right next to the restaurant, filled with old sailboats. When we entered the building, we were struck by the old-fashioned decorations. It was almost like we entered an old study room. Bookcases filled with old books, globes, and typewriters where covering the walls. The whole design was impressive.

We were taken to our table, a comfortable booth with a beautiful view of the harbor. Our menus were in English (thankfully) and we skimmed through them. Some of the meals sounded delicious, while there were other very strange ones. For example, there was a pizza with potatoes on it. There was also a fish burger where the fish replaced the meat in a regular burger. I went with my gut and ordered a normal burger. Though, I thought I should’ve ordered a meal with fish, since we were right next to the ocean. The restaurant was bound to have great fish dishes. My mom ordered scalaps, my sister had wok, and my dad ordered fajitas. I wasn’t expecting wok and fajitas to be on the menu, but I couldn’t  judge the meals without trying them.

As we waited, we looked around us and there was absolutely no one else in the restaurant. We were shocked because the hotel receptionist said that this was the best restaurant in town. We did come early for dinner though (4 pm), but there was bound to be more people anyway. Later in the day, two other people came, but not more than that.

We were soon greeted with our food. At first glance, everything looked delicious. The plating of my mom’s scalaps looked amazing. My dad’s fajitas looked appetizing. My dish looked like any ordinary burger with a bun and a pattie inside. When I took a bite of my burger, I immediately tasted something buttery. It was from the bun, which was weird. It almost tasted like one of those buttery croissants you sometimes get here in France. There was a weird kind of sauce in the burger that must’ve been made out of a tomato base or something. It was a weird burger, but at least the meat was cooked perfectly.

I asked my mom if I could try one of her scallops. Before even looking at it, I shoved it in my mouth and chewed. I immediately realized it was really undercooked, on the brink if being raw. I forced myself to swollow it down, even though I probably should’ve spit it out. What if I get food poisened by it? I wasn’t surprised because judging by the others’ faces, their dishes weren’t as good as they looked.

My sister’s wok was made out of tomato sauce and it barely had any noodles in it. It almost looked like it could’ve been spaghetti with a large amount of undercooked vegetables. My dad’s fajitas were ok, but yet again it tasted like tomatoes. My mom also had a salad with her scalaps, which looked terrible. She didn’t even dare try it.

We were all disappointed with our meals, but mine was probably the best out of all of them. It’s pretty hard to screw up a burger. We were actually so disappointed that my dad complained to the waitress. He asked her to send the message on to the cheif, stressing that the wok was terrible. She left us waiting, but soon brought back the general manager of the restaurant. My dad looked at him in the eyes and was straightforward about our complaints. He even said that the wok was so bad, it should’ve been taken off the menu. We saw the manager walk up to a computer and change something. The waitress came back with our receipt, which was changed. The manager took off the wok from the menu. In the place of the wok price was the word “void”. We didn’t have to pay for that horrendous meal.

So, overall impressions of the place wasn’t all that fantastic. I do give the restuarant a plus for its decorations, but they seriously have to work on their food. For being the best restaurant in town, it was just plain sad. Hopefully, the will make a better menu and hire a better trained chef. Where’s Gordon Ramsay when you need him?

While walking back to the restaurant, I was kind of creeped out. There were hardly any people on the streets, only a handful of people. Nothing seemed new, especially considering the buildings and boats. Eveything looked run down and very depressing. There was just no joy.

We walked in between narrow roads closed in by large buildings. We suddenly noticed that some of the run down buildings were actually places where people lived in. I was surprised when I saw curtains in the window of a trailer-like building. My dad was making fun of it, banging on the walls of the steel plates. I told him to stop because I was so freaked out. I was afraid someone would come out of the building and cause a ruckus. My dad even went up to a door, and I swore I thought he was going to knock on the doors to see if anyone would open the doors. My immediate reaction was to grab him by his shirt and pull him back. I didn’t even think about it. It happened so fast, I couldn’t sop myself. He cursed and all of a sudden the mood changed. I was furious at him for being mad at me. I was only scared. What kind of people do you expect to live in places like that anyway? You never know. I was just trying to protect my family, but I guess it isn’t my job to do that.

So, the rest of the day was spent in our hotel rooms. Today was out rest day, which meant watching hours on end of Netflix. Tomorrow’s going to be a long day with a 5 hour drive to Germany. I’m really looking forward to that drive (not).