Training in French Scottish and Chinese

Second attempt to lodge the China visa application. As I had dreaded there was a difficulty with the paperwork, from a completely unforeseen angle, and a few moments when fainting seemed the only appropriate or possible response. However, the Agent with great patience, took time to resolve things correctly, and my application and documentation was filed away to be sent to the Chinese Embassy for approval. I should know if I can go, one way or the other, by December 6th. 

More cake and coffee was needed for recovery but the place I dropped into was undergoing what was probably a permanent crisis of French drama and lay out logistics. Coffee was made around a corner at one end of a galley that doubled as an outside counter and was so narrow that the coffee maker was frequently trapped  for some time whilst someone else served customers. Croissants were kept on the counter but had to be warmed somewhere far far away  at the end of a dark corridor. The entrance to this was akin to a rabbit hole, perched to one side of a flight of cellar steps that hurtled down to the toilets. For half of the time the two wild-eyed staff and the wild haired owner were jumping out from the counter, running full tilt the length of the cafe, and disappearing down either one of the holes. After 5 minutes of this there would be a sudden cessation and all would be off-stage as the person making coffee was stuck behind the person serving at the counter and the person warming the croissant lost themselves in the warren of steps and passages.. Service was a bit slow  and the coffee luke-warm but the verve of the proceedings, waving arms, and French/ English communications carried out on the move between staff and customers made it more than worth while.
I am still coming to terms with transactions being done entirely with  phones - such  temperamental pieces of equipment that depend on signal and die in the cold. My train tickets were digital today so there was an added dilemma of how to keep the phone warm in such frosty weather without having to undress to find it again when needed.
Still it worked for my Duolingo Mandarin session on the  glorious train ride home