The main point of this is to thank Fly for her french lesson which worked perfectly. Thank you.
Apparently I am 'super contente' aussi.
There were 6 of us this week and a quilt making group too. Interesting things (well to me anyway):
- I met my first woman who had 9 children and was largely pregnant with her tenth. Which brought out the fact that one of the other women had 6 children and another was one of 5. We are certainly in a catholic country. And it still took the pregnant woman 18 hours to have her 9th baby! Incidentally she looked lovely. Relaxed, fit, blonde and outdoorsy.
This revelation led to a discussion about the shopping involved in catering for such large families and they were amazed that in England lots of people could get their supermarket shopping delivered via the internet.
- the woman with 6 children bought 3 kilos of sweets every week. Her reason seemed to be that her husband was a lorry driver and needed them in his cab and her children ate them when they came home from school. They also had a discussion about how many litres of long life milk they bought but I got lost in the numbers.
- the lorry driver's wife came from 'up north' and watched the local news from her region on satellite television. This was considered bizarre.
- you can buy a drink in the local supermarket that is a mix of beer and whisky which is an english thing!!! (Must have a look.)
- booze cruises were a complete revelation to some. The idea that english people came over to france on a boat for the day just to buy stuff that is cheaper in france was completely bizarre. Lorry driver's wife from the north had obviously experience of this and apparently Belgians do it too.
- the only english food that is consistently praised is 'le pudding' which is Christmas pudding.
- my conversation is improving with every visit :-)
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Plus ca change, plus c'est la meme chose, Rosie. Sounds like every knitting group I've ever been to/. The context/content may vary, but the interactions are very familiar. French practice is a bonus :-)
ReplyDeleteHas woman number one received her medal for being mother of a big family?
ReplyDeleteWhere I last lived there was a couple who were happy to say that they had had nineteen children...when there was a get together they needed to hire the village hall to get all the kids, grandkids and great grandkids in...
I used to shop for mother...in the U.K....by internet while living in France.
She would 'phone me her list, I'd order it online and it would be delivered.
I used to marvel at the advance in communications that made that possible.
Looks like I'll be doing it from Costa Rica shortly as her new shopping helper is not up to scratch...!
Glad you're happier with your French..but you're doing exactly what's needed...regular practice with the same people so that you have a context which helps with understanding.
Good for you!
I knew a lady with 10 children in France... but she was English. I remember talking to an Arab woman in a gym when I was in my 20s. She asked me how many children I had and was amazed when I said none. She was the same age as me and had 6. I worked out she had her first at 14. Eeek!
ReplyDeleteOh my god, I have 5 kids love them all but couldn't imagine life with more! I too am in the throws of learning French and have to say the break for school holidays don't help. It makes class interesting when you can have fun whilst you are learning doesn't it. I'm really pleased with myself because yesterday I made an appointment with the option ALL in French - the woman deserved a medal!
ReplyDeleteMamaB x