Bonjour,
We haven’t been anywhere new this week, but returned to a couple of favourites so this blog post will be just some random stuff.
Our French lessons are still a work in progress. The reading comprehension is improving but trying to understand French people when they talk to us is still……..
The words run in to each other and they use so many words compared to our English version. For example, we would say “it’s quarter to 11”, they say “il est 11 heures moins le quart” (it is 11 hours less the quarter). We say “ninety-four”, they say “quatre-vingt quartorze” (four-twenty fourteen). And then you have to think about whether the words are masculine/feminine, whether it’s one of those adjectives that comes before the noun or after and if the verb should be the formal or informal version (depending who you are talking to). Our French teacher is incredibly patient. It must be excruciating for her to sit and listen to us murdering the French language.
A bit off topic, we were invited to her place for a small get together last night and it was her partner’s birthday last week, so one of the other Australians made this “explosion cake”. We had never heard of it, but it was a mountain of a pavlova. Two layers of meringue, with chocolate and fresh cream sandwiched in the middle, then a third meringue crushed into pieces and mixed with more chocolate and cream piled on top. Then the whole thing was drizzled with more chocolate. Definitely a dish for a large group of people.
We are getting used to the fact that the French like to take their dogs everywhere – shops (both owners and customers), restaurants, etc. One of our regular cafes has their resident pooch – looks like a cross between a St Bernard and a great dane. He wanders amongst the tables (not that easy when you are that big) and waits for the small biscuits that everyone gets served with their coffee. Here are a few photos of dogs in patient waiting mode.
The French version of Bunnings is Brico Depot. It is obviously based on the same business model, and if it wasn’t for the French signage, who would swear you were in a Bunnings store. The big difference is that these places never seem to have any customers. We have been several times for various bits and pieces, always on a Saturday (they don’t open on Sundays) and are always amazed at how quite the place is. And it’s not just Brico Depot – other similar businesses are the same. Maybe they need Chez Theirry (more on that below). Here is a photo of the car park yesterday at 1pm. Deserted.
About Chez Theirry – he and his trusty sidekicks sell sausages at the Saturday markets (see OTT Versailles blog from 11 April). There was a big scandal a couple of weeks ago when another van pulled up next to Theirry and also sold sausages. Then Theirry didn’t show up the next week. But he was back last Saturday so all was right with the world.
As the heading suggests, we think we have seen the last of summer. It’s not exactly cold yet, but definitely cooling down and we are getting a bit more rain. The long summer holidays for the schools ends next week and so people are starting to settle in for the inevitable cold months. It was good while it lasted.
Bye for now
L & M
thefrenchfeed 