Gateau pour Buerre

I spent the last weekend of Jan 2001 at Paris. Traveling in Paris was no problem since there were plenty of sign boards to guide tourists and the French alphabet is the same as English. But whenever I needed to purchase anything or eat out or shop, not knowing the French language was a big barrier. People would not even decipher the term ‘vegetarian’. The safe way out was to pick up Cheese sandwiches from cafes.

One evening, I decided to skip sandwiches and decided to look for some cakes, fruit and juice at a supermarket. A package which attracted my attention read “Gateau pour Buerre” (my translation – “cake for butter”). Was it bread or was it cake? Though it was in transparent packing, I could not make out what it was.

I asked a lady shopper standing next to me whether it was cake. She did not answer me. She just ran away. "How rude", I thought!

But to my extreme surprise, the lady came back soon, cradling several packs in her arms, pointing to them and saying “bon gateau – good cake”. Salut to the good woman!!!