Communicating with the French

Well, the day started as usual, with a dog walk, although Bob, the male boxer, isn't feeling very well today, so he really couldn't be bothered chasing after apples.  Also it has been very hot today so it does affect the dogs. Today the temperature was over 30 degs, but with it being cool in the morning and at night it is very pleasant.

Bien! quelle journee, communicating in French is defiantly not easy, especially when your french is very limited.  We have a garden shed in the garden, and the plastic windows are in a really bad state. 

So we needed to go out and look for a sheet of plastic to replace them.

  

We went to a big DIY shop called Bricorama I would say it is equivalent to  B&Q.  So we walked everywhere looking for this plastic and couldn't find it. Then we went to another shop, which looked more like a builders place, but all they had was glass. The young man there was really helpful, and directed us to another place not far away. When we got there a man came out to see what we wanted. Now first of all I must say my french is really very limited, and my husband's is even worse. So I tried to explain that we have a jardin abris (garden shed) and we need plastique dur pour couvrir les fentetres. (hard plastic to cover the windows). So after him shaking his head yes, he understood, I asked him if he had that, oui he said, but nous somme ferme pour le dejeuner, (we are closed for lunch). Now you have to understand, that in rural area's like this, everything stops from 12pm until 2pm. There is nothing more important to the French man than his lunch. They will have a big lunch and a snooze before going back to work. So we went home without the plastic. But at least we know where to go now.

'Now what?. Everything I can pronounce is OFF!'

This afternoon we decided to visit our friends Francoise and Michel, they are friends we met when we first came here and have been a life saver when things have gotten hard. We always have a laugh when we visit them, or I should say they have a laugh. You see when I can't remember a word in french I just say it in english, with a french accent. I would say about 40% of the time I can get away with it, but the other 60% people just don't have a clue. So when I say things like 'je suis chaud' I'm not saying 'I am hot' what the french here is 'I am a prostitute'. I remember one day we were leaving their house and I said 'je vais manger mon chien', which I meant as I'm going to feed my dog, but what I had actually said in french was 'I'm going to eat my dogs. So you really need to be a bit careful, although most people are very understanding.

Françoise

Aligot with sausage

Michel

Franscoise and Michel, were the first couple we went out with for a meal, of course it was the village fete and the food was not the best. As you can see from this photo, but it was an experience.

Bonsoir a tous !!!