Some recent examples:
- Bonne installation (when you move into a new place)
- Bonne dimanche (every Sunday, after every purchase at the market)
- Bon spectacle (at entry to a pretty average local musical show), and my favorite ...
- Bonne continuation (upon serving the plats after the entrée, for the remaining enjoyment of the meal)
I had a few articles to repair/replace/return this week. Every article, every vendor has their own story. So, in order of occurrence on Saturday ...
France Telecom (who, by the way, have launched a new marketing campaign called "Open". On large black signs, the word open appears in simple text font, in orange letters, just left of center. I don't know if this in deference to or in defiance of l'Académie Française, but in small print on the bottom of each sign is the translation into french ("s'ouvrir"). At any rate, the cell phone that I purchased from Mr. Open-ness last month is no longer working. The reason I bought a new phone last month is because the prior one was stolen from my house on Easter week-end. So, after about one and half hours of conversation, it was decided that the next best step was to have Mr. Orange visit my house on Tues AM and replace the phone. Despite several attempts at explanation, it was not real clear to me why that was a better solution than just exchanging the one I had with me for the one in the back room of the store. No matter. Everything will be resolved on Tues. Mr. Open does not equal Mr. Convenience today.
- Bonne conversation.
FNAC ... and Michelin GPS.
I bought a Michelin GPS machine just after Christmas last year, without which I suppose I would still be wandering the Loire Valley trying to find my hotel in some medeviel shaped village. Instead, I travel the roads of france without fear, without regard, without maps, and I always arrive on time. Michelle (the voice in the machine who guides me thru each rond-point) is suffering from some strange voice malady that needs to be rectified. Approaching Place d'Italie on Thurs evening, she could barely choke out 'deux----i---eme ----s--ort---ie'. I had a flashback of Chevy Chase and BigBen. I took the first sortie. At any rate, to get Michelle fixed, as it were, Mr. FNAC demands that the machine be sent back to Michelin for ONE MONTH. Incroyable. After much protestation, he did agree to write on the return ticket to Michelin that I need the GPS for professional reasons, so please return urgently. Mr. FNAC suggested this might speed the process to three weeks. This, for an article with a one year guarantee. I am sure every return ticket has the same urgent plea. I am not the least bit confident that I will ever see Michelle again, and I am not happy with the prospect of traveling le sud de la France next month with old-fashioned maps.
- Bonne route, bonne chance.
Decathlon ... and a bike rack. I bought a bike rack a few weeks ago, but it doesn't fit the bike, so I returned it. No problem. Just get in line with your receipt and the cashier will refund your money. No long conversation; I almost forgot where I was for a second. 
But then she said:
- Bonne restitution.
