Yes. Actually, I am still alive.
I’m sure you thought that I had been arrested or killed or never really existed in the first place and that it was too much work for Aimee to continue the charade. However, I do exist. I’ve been trying to think why I haven’t posted in months and I think the reason is just that I’m just really busy!
Much of my free time is spent studying. I spend more time studying than Aimee does and maybe that’s why she thinks I’m so much better at French than she is. Maybe I am a bit better but it is still very, very awful. It takes a LONG, LONG TIME to learn a language you have never studied before, even if you live there and especially when you are well into your 30s. I spend a lot of time every weekend catching up on what was learned and trying to get all the homework done that is due on Tuesday, because doing any homework during the week is very hard.
*Newsflash* Aimee is currently making omelets for brunch, containing: bacon, caramelized, onion, and cheese of the goat. Yummy! We will probably have some champagne and grapefruit juice too. Ahh, Sunday! Also, it’s thundering and raining a little bit. Aimee really likes thunderstorms. To be honest, I like them too, as long as I am not walking to or from work while it’s happening. (In French you say: “He rains.” To say: It is raining) *End Newsflash*
Ok, back to complaining about my French… so anyway, it is progressing. Frustrating yes but at the same time, it is a great and exciting challenge to live and work here. I still like it a lot and I’m totally hanging in there (some days better than others.) The other night when Aimee was in Toronto, I stopped by the bistro. Denis & Laure were both there (sometimes when it’s early, or late only one of them is taking a break in their apartment upstairs). They knew Aimee was out of town and they asked if I had eaten dinner. I had just gotten back from school and work. Last week, was very challenging, so I’ve been skipping lunch to try to meet this deadline (missed… merde… hopefully Monday.) I said I had not eaten so they said, “tu dîne avec nous.” (you will dine with us.)
It was very nice of them to feed me a terrific salad with smoked salmon, a tiny bit of some white dressing, a poached egg, with a nice baguette, still warm from the oven of the bakery a few doors down, at 10pm. (As we all know, they are very, VERY SERIOUS about their baguettes here.) So, while we were eating, they decided to close the doors and Denis’ brother showed up and I was hanging out with 3 French people, speaking all French. I missed a lot of the conversation, of course, but they are very patient with me. But, I did get in on some of the conversation and happily drank about 3 or 4 free beers. The beers were Affligem
Affligem is very tasty, so it figures that it’s from Belgium. The French, as far as I can tell so far, are not really into making beer. A lot of people drink it, and that night I was at the bistro a strange thing happened. Some guy came in as I was enjoying my Affligem, and ordered a beer and I heard “blah blah blah… grenadine”. So, before pulling a beer, Denis poured a good shot of grenadine into a beer glass (beers here are 0,25ml unless you want a pint [pronounced the same] which is also known as a bière “for-mi-dab-le”.) Grenadine and beer. Yes, strange. I suppose I should try one and see what it’s all about. The only French beer I know of are 2 kinds from the same brewery “1664” and “Kronenburg”. In my opinion, it’s not very good. It’s the Budweiser of French beer (but not cheap!) As our friend Graham says, “The price of beer is just not fair here! It’s like 3€ for a half pint!” I must agree.
I don’t know why Denis and Laure are so nice! I think they are new to running their business and they want to attract some tourists. I think at first they thought we were tourists. But after 2, maybe 3 months, they asked if we live here. They were even nicer and friendlier after they found out we were semi-permanent here. It’s hard to convince them to accept our money anymore! We are trying to help them with a website, but, we have been so busy. We’ll have to get right on that. One of the problems is that they can’t decide what they should call the place. On their sign it says “Café Contre Allée” (café along the way) but in the yellow pages there is already a place called that (yes, they have the yellow pages too, but of course it’s Pages Jeunes.)
Well I am over a page of text so I think I’ll stop this post now. I have pictures to put up!
À plus tard,
--Dennis
I’m sure you thought that I had been arrested or killed or never really existed in the first place and that it was too much work for Aimee to continue the charade. However, I do exist. I’ve been trying to think why I haven’t posted in months and I think the reason is just that I’m just really busy!
Much of my free time is spent studying. I spend more time studying than Aimee does and maybe that’s why she thinks I’m so much better at French than she is. Maybe I am a bit better but it is still very, very awful. It takes a LONG, LONG TIME to learn a language you have never studied before, even if you live there and especially when you are well into your 30s. I spend a lot of time every weekend catching up on what was learned and trying to get all the homework done that is due on Tuesday, because doing any homework during the week is very hard.
*Newsflash* Aimee is currently making omelets for brunch, containing: bacon, caramelized, onion, and cheese of the goat. Yummy! We will probably have some champagne and grapefruit juice too. Ahh, Sunday! Also, it’s thundering and raining a little bit. Aimee really likes thunderstorms. To be honest, I like them too, as long as I am not walking to or from work while it’s happening. (In French you say: “He rains.” To say: It is raining) *End Newsflash*
Ok, back to complaining about my French… so anyway, it is progressing. Frustrating yes but at the same time, it is a great and exciting challenge to live and work here. I still like it a lot and I’m totally hanging in there (some days better than others.) The other night when Aimee was in Toronto, I stopped by the bistro. Denis & Laure were both there (sometimes when it’s early, or late only one of them is taking a break in their apartment upstairs). They knew Aimee was out of town and they asked if I had eaten dinner. I had just gotten back from school and work. Last week, was very challenging, so I’ve been skipping lunch to try to meet this deadline (missed… merde… hopefully Monday.) I said I had not eaten so they said, “tu dîne avec nous.” (you will dine with us.)
It was very nice of them to feed me a terrific salad with smoked salmon, a tiny bit of some white dressing, a poached egg, with a nice baguette, still warm from the oven of the bakery a few doors down, at 10pm. (As we all know, they are very, VERY SERIOUS about their baguettes here.) So, while we were eating, they decided to close the doors and Denis’ brother showed up and I was hanging out with 3 French people, speaking all French. I missed a lot of the conversation, of course, but they are very patient with me. But, I did get in on some of the conversation and happily drank about 3 or 4 free beers. The beers were Affligem
Affligem is very tasty, so it figures that it’s from Belgium. The French, as far as I can tell so far, are not really into making beer. A lot of people drink it, and that night I was at the bistro a strange thing happened. Some guy came in as I was enjoying my Affligem, and ordered a beer and I heard “blah blah blah… grenadine”. So, before pulling a beer, Denis poured a good shot of grenadine into a beer glass (beers here are 0,25ml unless you want a pint [pronounced the same] which is also known as a bière “for-mi-dab-le”.) Grenadine and beer. Yes, strange. I suppose I should try one and see what it’s all about. The only French beer I know of are 2 kinds from the same brewery “1664” and “Kronenburg”. In my opinion, it’s not very good. It’s the Budweiser of French beer (but not cheap!) As our friend Graham says, “The price of beer is just not fair here! It’s like 3€ for a half pint!” I must agree.
I don’t know why Denis and Laure are so nice! I think they are new to running their business and they want to attract some tourists. I think at first they thought we were tourists. But after 2, maybe 3 months, they asked if we live here. They were even nicer and friendlier after they found out we were semi-permanent here. It’s hard to convince them to accept our money anymore! We are trying to help them with a website, but, we have been so busy. We’ll have to get right on that. One of the problems is that they can’t decide what they should call the place. On their sign it says “Café Contre Allée” (café along the way) but in the yellow pages there is already a place called that (yes, they have the yellow pages too, but of course it’s Pages Jeunes.)
Well I am over a page of text so I think I’ll stop this post now. I have pictures to put up!
À plus tard,
--Dennis
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About me
- I'm off2paris
- From Paris, France
- off2paris at wonky point org
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