A Fish Story!

Lyndee asked me to tell the fish story.  I think it was one of the kids favorites when they were little guys.  So, here's the fish story!
When we had been in France about 8 months, the in-laws came over to meet their newest grandson and to visit us, and see the sights, of course.
We borrowed a church van and took them around to many places we had a great time.  The night before they were to fly out, they wanted to take us out to eat, so we went out to a cozy little restaurant that we had passed many times.  It was very homey looking outside, and when we went in, we found it to be even cozier on the inside.  We were there a good 1 1/2 hours before any other clients, because the French don't usually eat until 8 PM or thereabouts. 
The owner was on hand, and he was so thrilled that we, as Americans, had chosen his restaurant, that he was extra attentive to us.  We were pleased that he made efforts to communicate with us, because our French was a long way from being perfect!
We looked at the menu and one of the meals listed said, "Poissons en friture."  Poisson is fish and friture means it is fried, so Don's dad, mom, and I ordered that.  Don, ordered something else, because he wasn't a big fan of fish. 
All this time, the owner carried on a conversation with us.  He brought a special salad that wasn't included in the meal, and was really just amazingly kind.  Mom told him she was sorry she didn't have her camera because she would have liked to take pictures of him and his restaurant to show people in the States.  We told her we would just leave early for the airport and stop in on the way, since we passed right by it.  He was thrilled!
When the food was ready, he brought it in and set it before us, with grate pride and delight!  WE, on the other hand were kind of in a state of shock!  The fried fish was...breaded, fried minnows!  Piles and piles of them...heads, tails eyeballs and all!  I felt queasy just looking at it, and Mom looked like she was, as well.   Dad W. took it a bit calmer.  He pinched the heads and tails off and ate them, also giving them to little Cris, who could have cared less, and seemed to really enjoy them.  Fortunately, other clients had come in, so the owner was occupied for the rest of the evening. 
Now, I am blessed with the sweetest mother-in-love you'd ever want to meet.  She is always kind and considerate.  She didn't want to hurt the man's feelings.  I watched as she scooped up a few fish at a time and reached down to put them in the diaper bag.  Cris ate most of mine, so I wasn't worried. 
We finished eating, said pleasnt good-byes and went to get in the van.  Mom immediately grabbed the diaper bag to get all the fish out...and there weren't any!  She had missed the pocket and dumped them all on the floor of the restaurant!  We laughed and laughed, but she was so worried because she didn't want to hurt the man's feelings!  Needless to say, we did NOT stop on the way to the airport! 
I have always wondered what the owner must have thought about those strange Americans that left a pile of fried minnows under the table!
Blessings to all!  Have a great day!!!