So first, I just have to say: I saw the French-est thing ever today.
While strolling with Jolie, I noticed a bunch of cars backed up and starting to honk on our street. Part of the problem was a woman in one of those adorable smart car thingies…well. “In” may be the wrong word; it was parked in the middle of the street while she maneuvered a huge package along the curb.
There are two opposing traffic lanes on our street, though, so that wouldn’t have been so bad on its own; what made it a real mess was the bus sitting right next to her, facing the opposite way. I’m honestly not sure why the bus wasn’t moving (maybe he was ahead of schedule; he was sitting at a bus stop), but between the two of them they managed to block 100% of the traffic…and 100% of the traffic was getting pretty annoyed about it.
The woman ignored the first few honks, but when they got louder she looked up and noticed the bus. By then she had her package safely tucked into the passenger seat (sticking out through the sunroof), and had the driver’s-side door all open and everything. I, being American, assumed that she was about to contritely drive along on her way.
I was, of course, wrong.
She straightened up and looked intently at the two long lines of cars. She stepped back and closed the car door. She walked over to the bus, and rapped on the driver’s window. “Can’t you move?” she demanded.
When I lost sight of her, she was standing on the sidewalk, chatting with another woman beside her still-double-parked car.
Anyway.
Nick and I have resolved to speak fluent French by June 30. We’re looking into classes, but in the meantime, I had this brainwave, and we went book shopping–in the children’s section. Nick got a copy of Aladdin, a book on Greek gods, and an illustrated Bible; I now own the first two books in the Harry Potter series (“Muggle” in French is “Moldu“–who decides these things??). This is how we learned a written language the first time around, right?
We even considered some of those I-Can-Read-type chapter books, but decided against it, and were glad when we got to the register. “How wonderful,” the cashier mused, flipping through the Bible. “Shall I gift-wrap these for you, then?”
I just kind of wish that one of us had had the presence of mind to say “yes,” is all.