And here I thought that <i>pain perdu</i> was the French toast.

taconic traveler: I see you are back in the north ...and I am back in an even more northerly clime.
Now planning a short jaunt to Bermuda in late April....
Cin Cin to you

Reviving this after StCirq said "cin cin" to thin pep. Anyone heard of a Portuguese derivation?

Chin chin is very current, as is Ciao and also "choos" which may be German(?)>>

"Tschüss" is the common german informal equivalent of "goodbye" ie "bye", cheers, see you, etc.

>"Tschüss" is the common german informal equivalent of "goodbye"<

Be careful not to confuse it with "tush".

"Anyone heard of a Portuguese derivation?"

"Saude" in Portuguese.

All these people claiming expertise on France. And none's apparently ever heard Richard Anthony's 1963 hit Tchin Tchin.

Not just almost the only song regularly heard during the Great Summer of Real Pop on 'Salut les Copains' that wasn't a cover version of a Liverpool original. But in the Italian, German and Belgian charts for most of the year as well.

Are you really all SO old you'd moved on to Bert Kaempfert & His Orchestra by then?

The lyrics are at http://lyrics.wikia.com/Richard_Anthony:Tchin_Tchin

lol ! Bert Kaempfert, James Last, Kai Warner (and his singers).... the list goes on.

If I drink too much wine I may take it on the chin chin!

Bert Kaemfert... haven't heard that name for years.

Kaemfert ... Mantovani ...Percy Faith....

Was there ever a moment when they were contemporary, instead of horribly dated?

None of my French friends ever used that in France

Maybe your friends need to get out more...

I've heard it so many times if I had a pound for every time I had, I'd probably be able to buy Belgium.

It's also common to hear it just the once 'tchin!'. It's for when that second 'tchin' will keep you from taking your first sip for too long...

Cin Cin is a uniquely Italian Toast!!!