Cross-cultural communication （134）　

134) Suzy and Muscadet
What on earth is this title about? But please bear with me, and as you read on, you will see that it is the perfect title.

In 1995, I began practicing at American Hospital of Paris in Neuilly-sur-Seine, a suburb of Paris. For the first month or so, I stayed in the hospital's resident dormitory while searching for an apartment. Fortunately, I found an apartment in the 17th arrondissement, just a 30-minute metro ride from the hospital, near the Arc de Triomphe. Since I was living alone and could only cook simple dishes like omelets, I decided this area was ideal because it had many tourists and restaurants open even on Sundays. At first, I was satisfied with being able to enjoy French cuisine at various restaurants, but after a month of doing this every day, it started to get a little tough. That said, the high-end sushi restaurant located halfway between my apartment and the hospital wasn't somewhere I could visit very often.

After searching around, I found a Chinese restaurant on Troyon Street, just five minutes from my apartment, which was quite delicious and reasonably priced. The person serving us was the owner-chef's wife, Suzy (I assume that's not her real name). She is a first-generation Chinese immigrant who came to France with her husband from mainland China. Suzy speaks both French and English fluently enough to handle customers, and the restaurant was popular among both French locals and tourists. After about six months, I started going there almost once a week, and we began exchanging small talk in our broken French. One day, when I told her that I had seen more than 10 patients in a single day for the first time, she recommended the restaurant's signature dish, “marmite des fruits de mer” (seafood stew), as a treat for myself. Additionally, she suggested a half-bottle of Muscadet (a white wine from the Nantes region known for its acidity and fruitiness) as the perfect pairing. From that day on, whenever I shared some good news with a smile, she would say, “Today it's marmite and Muscadet.”

Well, more than 20 years later, in 2018, when my wife and I took a sentimental journey to Paris, we stopped by the apartment where I used to live in the 17th arrondissement and decided to check out Suzy's restaurant during lunchtime. Inside, a middle-aged Asian woman was serving customers. As I stared at her, trying to remember Suzy's face, she suddenly said, “Si par hasard vous etes le medecin a l'Hopital Americain?” (By any chance, are you the doctor at the American Hospital?) I was overwhelmed with emotion. Of course, that day's lunch menu was also something she had remembered perfectly: seafood hot pot and Muscadet. And before leaving, I asked my wife to take a photo of me with Suzy.

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