Totally Frenched Out

From the blogger formerly known as Samdebretagne

Sunday, July 6, 2008

First of all, let me say - do not bring up the fact that the Tour de France is currently passing in front of the frickin' house I was supposed to be living in. Not that I'm a huge Tour de France fan or anything, but it's just that we all had had big plans to watch it go by today, and it kind of pisses me off that everyone else is watching it from what was supposed to be MY lawn.

Bitterness aside, I had a really good time this weekend - and, God forbid, I actually spoke French! It felt good - I worked so hard to learn French that it's a shame that I'm barely using it now that I'm in Paris. And I swear, more people told me I spoke French well in the past two days than total in the past five years. It's nice to have people actually recognize the effort I've made for once, instead of having them make fun of and/or stare at me because I'm a foreigner. So thank you to the Frenchies - ça m'a fait un bien fou. And it was definitely a good reminder that I need to make more of an effort to meet French people here.

Despite the rain in the morning, Leesa had a fairly good turn-out for her picnic at the Parc de Sceaux, and she deserves a huge round of applause for all the work she put in to it. There were a lot of nice people there, including a really friendly French girl that I hope to see again soon. Of course, it'd be nice if I could say that I'd met a really friendly French boy that I hope to see again soon, but oh well. *S* It was also cool to meet up with Justin and Opal. I just missed Rochelle, but she was kind enough to leave me her spare copy of "Petite Anglaise" anyways - I own you one chica!

And now it's Sunday, and I'm trying to decide if I want to go to a museum (many are free the first Sunday of the month), or if I should go see a movie with the lovely Ms Kyliemac. Or maybe both.

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12 Comments:

Blogger Sara said...

I love it when French people tell me my French is good, I think it happens more in bigger cities because they are used to meeting so many people who don't speak it well or at all.

July 6, 2008 at 12:13 PM  
Blogger Ashley said...

Wait until people don't say anything at all because they can barely discern an accent. That is kind of a sad day, too. All of a sudden, your just one of the crowd!

July 6, 2008 at 1:29 PM  
Blogger islandgirl4ever2 said...

Hi Sam...

It was a fun day yesterday.. in spite of the bad weather in the morning... the afternoon turned out to be quite warm with no rain.. YAY!!! Thanks so much for coming.. as I had a really nice time meeting everyone, finally... We'll have to do it again.. Have a nice day.. Bon dimanche! --Leesa

July 6, 2008 at 2:19 PM  
Blogger The Late Bloomer said...

Yeah, another event I missed... Once again, I was wiped out yesterday. I was on the phone until far too late with my mom in the U.S. on Friday night, and then Saturday, all day long, for some reason I could hardly leave the apartment. The exhaustion just hit me in waves... Otherwise I had definitely planned on coming down to the Parc for Leesa's picnic! I was even planning on bringing some yummy pasta salad with lots of fresh basil. Oh well -- it looks like I'm going to have to start getting used to this "missing events" thing, because I imagine it's only going to get worse as the weeks pass! And then when the Bean arrives...

Anyhoo, I'm glad you guys all had a great time! I had hoped to see you all again, and meet Rochelle myself -- we've tried several times over the past few months and have never been able to make it work when she's been passing through Paris! Oh well -- we'll make it work one of these days!

Happy museum visit and movie as well -- I have a few tickets left on a movie card that I need to use up, so one of these days we're going to have to get out and use them -- again, before the baby arrives!

July 6, 2008 at 3:17 PM  
Blogger Jules said...

I was watching on tv yesterday and thought about you Sam.

July 6, 2008 at 4:37 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Hey, no worries about the book, I'm glad I was able to give it to you somehow! Too bad we didn't meet though, but something tells me you're going to be in Paris for quite awhile yet so I'm sure we'll meet eventually! I might be back in August since we're not going down south anymore.

July 6, 2008 at 5:01 PM  
Blogger MISS YURI said...

sorry sorry sorry sorry sorrrrryyyyyy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! btw you honestly didn't miss anything though. we waited in the windy wet cold for an hour, then there was a flash of color (seriously, maybe five seconds), and then it was over and time to go home. it's actually much better on TV.

July 6, 2008 at 5:40 PM  
Blogger Victoria said...

french people always tell me that my french is good, but then they speak too soon and hear me make a mistake.

can't wait to hear what you wound up doing (movie or museum)

July 6, 2008 at 11:59 PM  
Blogger Raison d'Art said...

Watching the tour is much better on tv, but who cares about watching in your old town, it's the past remember...you'll be able to watch the final day in Paris, your present.

July 7, 2008 at 4:20 AM  
Blogger Alison said...

Hey, I was VERY impressed when I heard your voicemail message! (And I not-so-humbly believe my opinion has some weight, since when I left France I had no accent. *S*) Rock on, sister.

July 7, 2008 at 5:41 AM  
Blogger Barbara said...

Hi Sam,
Nice seeing you again.
You are right; Leesa & Alex did a tremendous job.Despite the weather, we had a nice cozy group. Really cool.
Leesa wants to do a second picnic before the end of summer, so maybe more people will show up.

July 7, 2008 at 1:37 PM  
Blogger Fuzzy said...

well now it is much later than this post but when you guys left that evening you came for dinner both Jean-Jacques and Vincent said how perfectly you spoke French, it was slightly in reference to LIF who speaks well but with a terrible accent, he was there too, and he has been in France for 17 years. You do have a great accent.

July 16, 2008 at 9:18 PM  

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