Our first meal in France was Italian

Our flight was delayed an hour so we didn't arrive at the airport in Paris until almost 7:30 PM.  By the time that we got our car and got on the road it was more like 8PM.   In preparing for this trip I knew that this arrival time would be a problem.  I had contacted the concierge at the hotel "Pavillion de Lys" in Amboise and asked him if he could recommend a restaurant the might be open late on Saturday night for dinner.  He informed me at that all restaurants in France close service by 9:30.  After landing Linda and I were anxious to get to the hotel and get settled and hopefully we might be able to find some pizza or something for dinner.  We didn't get to the hotel until about 10:15, check in and reception was not very helpful about where to find something to eat.  We were both starving as all we had eaten all day was some yogurt on the BA flight and some chip on the flight to Paris.  We decided to start walking Ambiose at 10:30 PM.  Of course everyone was closing. or had just closed.  It was beginning to look like it was going to be Almonds and water in the room for dinner, but Linda spotted "La Scalla".  It was now 10:35 and the sign outside said that they closed at 10:30.   Linda, anxious to practice her  French when in to ask them if we were too late to be served.  They agreed.  We sat down and made a couple of quick decisions which did include a nice bottle of Red Wine from the nearby town of Chinon.  I asked the waiter for a couple of recommendations.  I asked about the fish and he gave me a disapproving looks so it was on to the Veal scallopine with cepes and a salad.  Linda had a pasta primavera, basically pasta with vegetable.  My scalloping was pretty good, not great but way better than the Almonds and water that I though it was going to be for dinner.  It had a really good cheesy/creamy sauce that I managed to drag my bread through and finished every bit of it.  They didn't even need to send that plate through the dishwasher after I was done with it.  Linda's pasta was OK, but the wine was nice.  A little chocolate mousse for dessert followed by coffee.  They always serve the coffee after the desert hear even if you ask for it with your dessert, it always comes afterward.  Don't fight it just go with it.  Great company, good service a good bottle of wine and decent food, even if our first meal in France was Italian.  Linda and I were thrilled to be here and get started on our latest adventure.  Linda has really been studying here French and is 10 x better than I am but we have been making a very concerted effort to speak as much French as we can.  We both feel that goes a long way towards respecting their culture.  I really think this is the reason that the French consistently treat us very nicely here.  I do not agree that the French are cold or rude.  Quite the contrary both in France and in Italy it's all about respect.  If you treat them respectfully they will return it.  Little things like saying Bonjour, s'il vous plaît, au revoir, it's important.   I get so concerned with know which words to say I forget to say s'il vous plaît.  I'm making a concerted effort on this trip to say s'il vous plaît more often.  It's all about respect.  That's why I love both France and Italy so much.