Dress Code Outrage

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We're still really tired. We wake up just in time to get breakfast, but then then go back to sleep again and miss lunch. I hope we haven't caught Sleeping Sickness. I think it's an African disease, and technically we're in Africa. We'd always intended to spend a lot of our time here relaxing, but I don't think we'd meant this to extend to sleeping for the entire time.

We decide to go exploring. Our hotel is called Le Paradis and is on the Le Morne Peninsula which is dominated by the Le Morne Brabant mountain. The sister hotel next door is called the Dinarobin, and the two share a manicured looking golf course. Some of the bunkers are bigger than entire beaches we've been to. It's a shame that playing golf makes me throw my toys out of my cot, otherwise I think I could have quite enjoyed playing a round here.

The beach in front of Le Paradis is narrow, but it's lined with palm trees and looks very attractive. The water looks crystal clear, and there don't seem to be too many rocks. There don't seem to be too many people swimming, but there's no shortage of them lying on the beach. I dip my toes in the water. It's cool, but not too cold. The air temperature only gets up to about 24 or 25 at this time of the year, and it's pleasant, but not quite warm enough to entice us to dive in.

We need to cross a bridge across a small canal to get to Dinarobin, and if you're playing golf you need to hit your ball across the water. I think that there might be quite a few golf balls in there. If I was playing, some of them would be mine, and some of my clubs might be in there as well. The beach at Dinarobin doesn't look quite as nice as the beach at Le Paradis. It's much wider and more windswept, and the sand's much coarser and harder to walk on. It also looks quite rocky in the water. The beach is almost empty and there don't seem to be too many people staying here.

We stop for a cocktail at a bar on the beach. The menu suggests that this is also a restaurant. I don't think it's open for dinner. If it was, then we'd need to wear long pants and shoes before they'd let us in. It would seem to me to be really silly to have to wear long pants and shoes to be allowed to sit on a beach. I think it's silly that they make you wear long pants and shoes in the restaurants that aren't on the beach. A review I read on Trip Advisor last night told the story of a man arriving here without any luggage because the airline lost it, and when he turned up at one of the restaurants without any long pants or shoes they wouldn't let him in. He said that surely they could make an exception due to the circumstances, but they refused and told him he'd have to eat in his room. It seems that they take the dress code here very seriously.

The sunset off the beach in front of Le Paradis is spectacular. We try to book at the hotel's Italian restaurant for dinner, but it's booked out, so we go for the buffet restaurant instead. There's food of every imaginable description, and you can eat as much of it as you like, so we pig out. This is my sort of restaurant, even if you do have to wear shoes and long pants. I see a young boy sitting at the next table wearing shorts. I ask Issy what the age limit is before they make you wear long pants. She gives me the look. I tell her we need to keep a look out for people breaching the dress code. We start looking at the bottom half of everyone who walks past. We don't have to wait very long. A middle aged Frenchman walks past wearing thongs. I'm outraged. I tell Issy that I'm going to talk to the manager to find out which shoe and long pants inspector was on duty when this guy came in, and demand that they be sacked immediately. Just as I'm about to get up the same Frenchman walks past us again. He's still here, and he's still wearing thongs. This outrage can't be allowed to continue. I decide to demand a full refund for tonight's meal.

We go back for seconds and then dessert. They have coconut ice, which I used to love and haven't seen for years. Issy says she's never heard of it. My mum used to make it, and she used to tell me that when Auntie Beth was a little girl in Geelong she was chairperson of the Coconut Ice Club. I'm pretty sure that there was only one other member, Auntie Beth's best friend, and the Club meetings consisted of the two of them sitting next to the train line eating lumps of coconut ice.

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Comments

[maree young]

Looks beautiful ! You both look so relaxed but sounds very pricey. Enjoy :)