To Barbara Sher's French Retreat: I am in love with everything French

I am in love with France

How can one country get everything so totally right!!!???  Ok I am sure they are just as in debate and conflict about their politics, their breakdown in social values, their immigration policy, their economy and their environmental record and blah blah, and from my brief and voyeuristic point of view, these people are sooooooooo lucky to live like this.

Never before have i witnessed a town and a culture that I think has got it soooooo right....

For one, it is so beautiful.  the architecture is so gorgeous, consistent, old, full of character, no doubt steeped in a rich history of which i have little desire to fathom.  The cobbled windy narrow little streets have surprises and eateries and little boutique shops at every turn.  There are hardly any cars!!! everyone walks and they have a city sponsored bike scheme, with lots of bike depots so you get a card, take a bike, ride it across town, then leave it at another station.  I mean, how evolved is that??

the bread, pastries, cakes oh my god and I haven't even tried the yet ... the presentation is done with such beauty and flair ... The freaking cheese section in the supermarket was almost as big as our whole cold section!!!

Wine and beer is enjoyed with gay abandon and is so cheap .. Long social lunches are the norm.  People dress with such style and finesse, they speak with such finesse I mean .... For goodness sakes!!!  MUsic is in abundance, there is a teeming night life... So much going on, yet with flair.  Beautiful romantic, seductive and downright juicy and passionate french flair.

So as for me, when i turned up two days ago, I was sooooo Tired i walked around half starving too scared to attempt french with anyone. .... I felt deeply embarrassed that i couldn't speak any French .... And the couple of people i parlesvou anglais-Ed, did not!!!  I couldn't even say anything to that, quite awkward really .... That day i was finding it hard to muster up a smile or any friendly body language either .... Although i finally after two hours of pathetic and wishful wandering finally plucked the courage to venture in to a little eatery.  she took a while to warm up after i said 'bonjour ... Par les vous anglais'? And she said 'a little', then said 'hmm I think the english menu is good for you, yes?'. thank god thinks me.

I sit down in this little bustling and rustic restaurant ... Full to the brim.  then after perusing the menu, the guy comes over with his note pad presumably asking me what i want, to which i respond sheepishly, par les vous anglais ? to which he eyeballs me with a straight 'no'!!

big sigh ... Right then um, so i get my finger out and point, probably looking dazed, confused, tired and um, embarrassed .... So then he softened and had a go with some english,

I ended up settling on the fish with white sauce, ordered vin rouge, and waited for my beautiful piece of fish to arrive.

In about sixty seconds flat, a plate piled high with mashed potato and a piece of bread arrived.... Ooooh, that is not what i imagined at all!  I taste it and it is like a big pile of fishy mashed potato .... Sooooooooo Heavy. Tasty , but, a whole plate of the stuff with  nothing to break the monotony either,  i decided i needed a salad to go with it but wasn't game !!! .... I made it through half of it ,,,, it was quite tasty.

I then ventured on to the chocolate mouse and un cafe au lait. the mousse was also so heavy and rich i could eat only a third which is saying something for me.

The whole time i sat at the table with my nose in my phrase book trying to figure out what to say next!!  When I asked for l'adittion, the female waitress said with a beaming smile 'trae bien' he he ... I had managed to woo the guy over too by the end and he taught me a bit of French,

I walked past the same restaurant again last night and yelled 'bonjour' feeling all excited that i had a friend in there to say hello to to which he happily responded, and then a little later realized i should have said bonsoir.  Man couldn't even get that right and there i was feeling all savvy for one moment,

so after my nine hours sleep then another whole night sleep just two hours after  waking from that, I awoke ready for a toulousian morning.  Off to get a bike and go riding along the canal .... And on the way i found a patisserie.

feeling a bit more game with my finger to point.,,,, I go in to see a little sign 'pain au chocolate' ,.... And there are none there

the smiling shop assistant says 'bonjour', I say 'bonjour', confidently.... I say with a questioning look 'oh, no pain au chocolat', she replies 'no'' I go 'oh', with a look of dismay..... He he, so far she doesn't suspect a thing how exciting i can ask for chocolate croissant fluently in French what a revelation.

well next i move across to the baguettes, and say 'un jamon au frommage silvous plait' and she corrects my pronunciation of jamon .... Nicely ... I pay and leave with an 'aurevoir', and I'm off,

He he ... That wasn't't so bad.  Never ceases to amaze how a good night sleep can make the ability to function happily so much more available to me.

there is Not that much more to say really, I love this place and I wish our culture was more Ike this.  I don't go there very often, down the wish path for things that are clearly not possible, and I really do wish australian culture had more flair and more music and more, community.

anyway i met up with most of the group who will be on the retreat last night,  and they were sooooo lovely.  In procuring ourselves a reservation i asked the girl on reception if she could recommend something.... She went over to the wall of office of tourism sponsored brochures and plucked one out reading from the back why I would like it so much.  there was no connection there,

so next i ask her 'if you were going to take a best friend out for dinner where would you go?'. A little smile crept over her face and her eyes lit up .... She Told me of a little crazy spanish. French tapas bar that had bench style seating and could get quite loud and fun later in the night .....

Now that sounds more Ike it... So she booked.  I wasn't quite sure how my Our party of American and. Swiss scanners.would go as i hadnt met them yet, and it was great.  We all squished in to a table, hardly able to open our elbows.  It was so packed! and full of noisy happy people, and it was just good fun,,,, they are all so lovely.

today we get picked up for our next six days in our nearby medieval French village and inn, for our retreat with Barbara so you may not hear much from me this week,,,, my room mate I hear will be Gloria, and if the beautiful, full of life and interesting buddies I met last night are anything to go by, it is going to be an awesome week.

Stay well.

Love
J9

Ps thank you for your kind comments. Part of me feels indulgent writing these!!! The act of writing them is dusting off a lost desire, recovered by Barbara when we had my coaching session...