Our company restaurant is rather popular as it serves generally good food (we’re in France, after all) at subsidized, and thus very reasonable prices. By noon, the lines are not usually out the door, but it does tend to become quite busy inside. This is the reason I usually try to eat when the place opens at 11:45. Today, however, it was already bustling when I got there because they were serving the official Christmas lunch, and everyone knows that the dishes prepared on this occasion are even more fancy than usual. For instance, it took me a while to decide between two of the main dishes: a delicious looking ostrich steak or scallops with rice and a seafood sauce (the scallops won). As you can see, a few minutes past noon, the queue into the restaurant had reached a record length.