The first evening on the coast brought a ludicrously early dinner thanks to an equally as early flight. After stumbling around the beach reading menus, somehow we settled on L’escale because it’s always crowded as it was early this evening.

We were so early in fact, that we were seated a table reserved for 8:30, but we would be long gone by then. We each enjoyed a glass of terribly inexpensive champagne ($8!). Mum dined on salmon that looked quite nice though she couldn’t understand why her “lemon was shaped like a toilet.” We also couldn’t figure out why our waitress kept touching us, stroking our arms and such… I guess the toilet lemon was not so much of a turnoff to her.

I opted for the scallops in a saffron cream sauce that arrived with a pile of boiled, unseasoned potatoes. Thankfully, I also ordered a small green salad which was mostly limp and mushy. I definitely opted for the wrong choice, but I’ll blame it on my tired gaze, thinking the menu was more Scottish than coastal France.

Maybe I’d give L’escale another try, but would probably opt for another random beachfront resto first. The $8 champers is quite a strong draw though and I’m easily the other side of that magnet….