Friday 12 December 2008

Croque Monsieur for a lady

On December 6th I begin to get ready.

I’m told that for shopping trips makeup should be different than for nights out. However, my makeup skills are still somewhat limited. And ... well ... I enjoy it. So there’s not a lot of difference.

Working out what to wear is trickier. In the end I decide trousers, shirt and cardigan. Well ... as well as underwear and shoes.

The doorbell rings at about 11:15. Makes me smile as I walk towards it thinking ... “what do I say if its the postman?”

In fact it is Billie.

We head for the car and drive in to Windsor. En route I remember the things that I have forgotten.

I park at the Victoria Street car park – it would have cost less if I had brought my Windsor residents card.

What used to be “Shoe Fetish” is now “Naughty but Nice”. They specialise in fancy dress kind of costumes. As we walk past we are greeted by a couple of Santa’s little helpers. One of them is Natalie from Naughty but Nice.

A little further down the road there is a guy dressed as a medieval town cryer.

And just a little further a guy ... or maybe a girl ... dressed as a cat.

Perhaps being a guy dressed as a girl isn’t so odd after all.

Heading for Cafe Rouge I realise how surprisingly relaxed I feel. I don’t have the urge to keep looking down. People don’t seem to be staring – and I’m not worried if they are.

We order drinks and food and I discover that Croque Monsieur is a grilled ham and cheese sandwich.

The waitress doesn’t stare. Nor do the other people sitting at tables around us.

It amuses me to think of Emily and Florence in the TV (as in television) show Little Britain:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/comedy/littlebritain/characters/emily.shtml

After the meal we spend a while wandering into and out of shops and pop into Naughty but Nice for a chat.

And oh – I see someone that I know and that knows me. I used to work at the same place as Dennis – and there he is collecting money for the Windsor and Eton Rotary Club. Although he sees me, he doesn’t recognise me. I think it wouldn’t have bothered me too much if he had.

When, and if, summer arrives we decide it would be great to organise a tgirl picnic in the park (Windsor Great Park is perfect for this) and maybe a walk alongside the Thames.

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