Melinda even said there should be a third H for me, Heaven. Yup, that was what tonight was like for me. Heaven. For quite some time I’ve talked to Laurent about taking him to a hockey game. He suggested that we combine the hockey game with another of my desired plans for him, going to the Burger House (remember Ella’s and my first visit in September?). So that’s what we did, a night of hockey and hamburgers. Indeed, heaven for me.

But get this. Frédérique came along, which means Melinda came along. So it was a double date! I was with my date, Laurent. And Melinda was with her date, Frédérique. It started in what I think is very French fashion, with a glass of wine. But that’s where the French side of things ended (well, other than we are in FRANCE!). After our glass of wine, we zipped over to the rink for the game, only to find the place was filled. There were not 4 decent seats to be found together. Nantes was playing Cholet, a city about 30 miles away and the top team in the league, so lots of Cholet fans came. In order to be together, we sat on the steps in an aisle way. It was a great game, back and forth, until the 3rd period when Cholet scored 3 quick goals to win 5-3.

Afterwards we drove into town to the Burger House. It was difficult to find a place to park and the tiny restaurant was overflowing with customers. But our desire for hamburgers and our patience won. Besides, Rick and Sidonie, the owners, took good care of us. I know I still have some work to do with Frédérique and Laurent. They ate their Route 66 cheeseburgers with knives and forks (other than this first bite photo I got of Laurent). But I did get Frédérique to practice saying, “I’d like a classic cheeseburger, hold the mayo.”