Here are some random thoughts that didn’t fit nicely into previous blogs, so I’m putting them together as a wrap up from our first week. I know it seems like we’ve already been here forever (until you hear our French— then you are reminded that we’ve only been here one week).
My husband always complains about the shitty knives and pots and pans in rental houses. I am here in the food mecca of the world— and I can tell you that this is universal. Uber crappy knives, pots and pans in our kitchen; however, no matter how crappy, this kitchen also came with things the French expect you to need: a rolling pin, a crepe pan and a quiche baking dish. No vacu-vin however, I brought my own. No French person can imagine that you could not finish a bottle of wine. Believe me with three boys on my own, putting down an entire bottle of wine myself is tempting, but alas, inadvisable. Also Corelle Ware is obviously required in all rentals.
If you ever think the waiters switch on you in a restaurant, don’t say anything! We went back to the pizza place and were told there were no places for us, even though I could view an available table from the door. They think I’m a crazy person; it could have been that when Samuel short-stopped in front of a waiter balancing three plates on his arm, it really pissed him off.
I read through several “what I wish I knew before going” threads on the Trip Advisor forums— here’s one I didn’t see: bone up on passe compose, imparfait and the future proche. Bonus— two of them are the easiest tenses. There’s your French lesson for today.
Fashion status update— winners are Robyn Mathas (cute coat) and Colleen Hagan Egl (boots). So glad I took your advice and brought those. It’s cold here— not as cold as Norfolk, but my cute coat and boots are in heavy rotation here. Good call.
Other good advice I got before coming- if you have some good bread and good cheese, you don’t need to go to find a good restaurant. So true; if I wasn’t worried about exposing my kids to the language more, I’d stay in more. My kids are having so much fun doing nothing (they’re very good at it BTW). They are totally on board with the bread thing. Done.
After getting turned down by the pizza guys, we went back to the first restaurant we ate at when we first arrived (where my children were shushed). We had the same waiter and I told him we were at the local school and we had just finished our first week— he said- ah yes! your French is much better! I’m glad he sushed my kids right off the bat- it made an impact.
One of the reasons I wanted to come here is that Sancerre is a small town. From the literature and videos about the school, you get the impression that the whole village is “in on it.” They are patient and help you get through your French immersion experience without too much humiliation. When I went to the wine shop today, the woman there was answering my questions, a little in French and a little in English, when I told her we were with the school, she said “oh, I will answer only in French then!” So nice! But I have no idea what I bought. Except is cost $80. Kidding— totally kidding. Understanding is not my problem and good wine is so cheap here, I feel guilty.
I put the kids down early tonight and watched TV. Samuel figured out how to run the closed captioning, which is very handy. If you don’t quite understand what they’re saying, it’s scrolling below. They use a lot of American music and slang on their TV shows. My kids look at me like, mom, why are you making us learn French when they’re using English!! Not fair.
We met a kid at the park today who was nice enough to kick a soccer ball around with my boys. He asked Samuel if he was from England. When Samuel told him he was from the US, the kid said— the US is soooo much better than here. Samuel told him he thought France was better than the US. I told Samuel he was just being a surly teenager—it’s as universal as Corel Ware. With much wisdom, later Samuel said “people always think they’re going to be happier somewhere else, then they end up moving all the time!”
We’re supposed to have good weather tomorrow and I’ve tried lining up a horseback riding trip for the boys. The guide hasn’t gotten back to me- which is one thing about the French I can’t understand. They don’t try to win you over or make a sale. If it works for them, they oblige, if not, you can go somewhere else -kind of like the pizza place. I’m sure they were thinking, why stress ourselves out by making room for four more people? We’re doing fine as is. That’s a saying I’ve learned since being here: “ca marche” that works.
OK- stayed up too late writing- again.
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