Language school in Antibes - tres difficile

Oh my God - How difficult is French - the more I know the more I realise I don't know....


My goals for  my trip have been to learn French in France and Spanish in South America, so here I am...after being with the family I realised I needed a more formal fench lesson so enrolled in one of the cheaper language schools - in Antibes.  


I actually knew I needed brushing up on my french but I didn't think I needed a total workover like I do now....I realised when the teacher today asked me to repeat the word "rue" with a rolling of the "rrrrrs" like the french do (about 3 times) - that maybe it may not come so naturally to me - hahaha, I think for an Australian it is difficult....it's easier for Italians and those that already have the lilt of the language....perhaps...


Even the vocab - the word coup is often said and when I looked up the dictionary, there are about 50 meanings for the same word depending on what you want to say  

coup means knock or blow or shock but also a shot with a firearm; also a golf stroke or tennis or du premier coup means - the first time and du meme coup - at the same time; apres coup is afterwards and un coup de main to someone is to give someone a hand with something, coup de chance is a stroke of luck etc etc


OMG, how hard is this !!!!


I am in a homestay with a french family and, at the moment 3 Italians and a Chek guy....it's very humbling....the Czek guy speaks really good english, the Italians speak very good french and I speak very good english and only can aspire to speak as well as they do.....for all of them it is their 2nd language....
The "parents" who own the home are lovely and speak to us (only in french of course) so often I don't say anything because, by the time I have formulated a sentence in my head, they are on to other conversations....maybe next week I'll be better....

I am enjoying being here - it really is a beautiful place - the yachts are amazing - some are 4 storeys high - the largest in the harbour is the Eclipse - it is owned by a Russian of Ill-repute - here is a site about it - http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/16/roman-abramovichs-eclipse_n_540947.html  this is real - it's in the harbour now and looks just like the photos - how many full-time staff must they have...doesn't even bear thinking about...

One of the fellows on the course told me that when it was being built it was ordered at 164m long but while it was being built, someone built a boat 165m long so the owner changed the plans to 166m - cost - $400 Million.  Can you believe it???  It is another world here - the boat are enormous - I will take photos tomorrow and send them....

The beaches are not like ours - some pebbly and others with course sand but I am very close to Juan-les-Pins - like the song that Peter Sarstedt sang - "you go to Juan-les- Pins ...... with your carefully designed topless swimsuit, you get an even sun tan on your back and on your legs...."
I went here and it's a nightmare with wall-to-wall or should I say people to people on the beach  often not room enough to even put a towel and the sand is course and not that attractive but it is the Riviera so....who cares!!!????  I suppose...

As a traveler, you realise that you are at the mercy of the people of that town/country because you come with a little knowledge of the country and city and a want to become part of it - you have a place to stay (often) but directions and real knowledge of the place are only attained with time....and often you don't have long enough to discover that....you really know nothing of the place or the people by the time you leave....


That's me for now and as they say here....a bientot - see you soon (although I'm missing the accents on my keyboard).

Living with a family in France

Firstly I would like to qualify this as this has been my experience and I'm sure, like in all places, living with a family is diiferent from one home to another but this is my experience with a small family of 2, mother and son and husband away with work.

To say a bit about how I have found the french people.  Since living here I have realised that, unlike how we perceive the french (usually as arrogant people), the local french people are very gentle - they speak quietly, are patient and gentle in their manner and it even comes across with their food, - although this is more difficult to describe.  It is made in small quantities, precisely but with a generosity.....served in courses ...slowly and usually late but absolutely delicious....

WHERE I LIVE:
I am living with mum, Vanessa, (about 34yrs) who is lovely and her son (LouLou for short - 6yrs old).  They have very generously allowed me to stay with them.  The husband, Lilian, speaks English but he left for work with the army for Reunion Island, just after I came here and the others speak no english.  I knew all this before I arrived...I haven't come across anyone who speaks english so my french is really being tested...

The town I live in is Magnac sur Touvre - last night in bed I went onto Google Earth with my iPhone and you have to love technology....it pinpointed exactly where I was, my phone showing as a blue spot, even to the point of being in the back part of the house.  It is a very small village and we are only a short walk to the la poste, boulangerie and tabac (post office, bakers and newsagents).  The local Mairie (Mayor's office) does everything that others don't do....I needed to photocopy something so I went there and the lady kindly did it - charge?....gratis... then I had to fax something so back I went, after asking at the bank and post office so the lady there (who has an incredible amount of silver in her teeth) did it very kindly again - gratis....I have tried to get French lessons here one to one but because it is holiday time (like Christmas in Australia) nobody is available and I'm sure if they are, they don't want to work!  Bien sur! (Of course).  I am enrolled in French classes in Antibes in 21 Aug - 3 Sept so that will be great.

We are about 8 kms from Angouleme - I rode there the other day on the bicycle I have been lent - it is a bit small for me....about a good foot too short but it gets me around and I love riding.....but because of the height my derriere kills me after about 1 hour....
I have been to places that Vanessa hasn't....yesterday I rode to the Bois Blanc - the white wood? - up quite a good hill - so good for me to do this....then we all went walking in the forest which was just so peaceful and Loulou could race and just be free.

Angouleme, the closest large city and 8 kms from Magnac, is very old - we went the other day and in front of the Mairie (Mayors house) is a statue of Marguerite...it says she lived there in 1465 and was a part of the Renaissance....the Monastery was built in 1045 or thereabouts....the age is hard to fathom when you think Australia was discovered in 1770? or a few years before....

Here's an extract from Wikipedia:-
Angoulême (Iculisma or Ecolisna, later Angoulesme) was taken by Clovis from the Visigoths in 507. In the 9th century, it was invaded and plundered by the Normans.
In 1360 Angoulême was surrendered by the Treaty of Brétigny to the Plantagenets; they were, however, expelled in 1373 by the troops of Charles V, who granted the town numerous privileges. It suffered much during the French Wars of Religion, especially in 1568 after its capture by the Protestants under Coligny.

The Counts and dukes of Angoulême were established in the 9th century. The most important of the early counts was William Taillefer, whose descendants held the title until the end of the 12th century. Withdrawn from the descendants on more than one occasion by Richard Coeur-de-Lion, the title passed to King John of England at the time of his marriage to Isabella of Angoulême, daughter of Count Adhémar. When, widowed, Isabella subsequently married Hugh X in 1220, the title passed out to the Lusignan family, counts of Marche. On the death of Hugh XIII in 1302 without issue, his possessions passed to the crown.

My time here and in Normandy has made me so much more aware of history like in Normandy - the Vikings and with the Bayeaux Tapestry - William the Conquerer and here - Richard the Lion Heart - the fables you hear but seem to think are just fairy tales....possibly because of the hollywood versions and I must admit I thought they were just stories with no basis but I realise now they are real and part of the history of this and so many other countries....

My young 6yr old friend, keeps me on my toes.  I love the way that his mum calls him "mon coeur" - my heart....or I suppose, my love...He can be soooo challenging a bit more than my children at the same age and one forgets the things they do.....because he is an only child he is the centre of life...in a way...but I think he is very intelligent and just loves stimulation...he has a computer in his room and the other day he asked me to come in and see it - I was expecting a modern one but it was an old laptop and he only has songs and childrens movies on it...and Hairrry Potttter (as he says it)....  Anyway he put a song on and started dancing and the 2 of us were bopping around the room - it was such fun and soooo funny....what a great time I had - he's only 6 and I'm 56 but we had such a ball....  Other times he can be so trying but the good make up for the bad.

FOOD:
I can only speak for the experience I have with my family here so it may differ elsewhere but breakfast, as I have described in a previous post is a bowl of hot chocolate (usually made on milk (usually UHT) and cruskets or some other form of dried bread.  We then have a coffee after a while.  No eating in between meals.
Lunch is often 2 courses, the first being maybe tomatoes, or boiled broccoli, cut up in a vinaigrette dressing or pate and bread (baguette) then the next course is meat with perhaps cucumber (skin and seeds removed, cut finely and served with vinaigrette dressing) and/or artichoke (freshly cooked - yum).  If you feel like it there is cheese for dessert.
Sunday we went to the local market and bought Moule (mussels) for lunch avec Curry sauce and Huitres (oysters) for dinner - lunch was great - I can only imagine what dinner will be like !!!

Around 6pm we have an apperro - either whisky or Pastis (licourice flavoured alcohol) with water and some nibblies like olives, chips, dip with cruskets.
Then around 8 - 8:30pm we sit down for dinner - some vegies fried with meat followed by cheeses.  Cheese is considered dessert and not eaten otherwise.  Rarely is a sweet dessert eaten at our home.  There is plenty of food but small portions are eaten and hardly any fruit...I bought a few grapefruit and apples but they aren't eaten, unless I eat them....

I have never read the book "Why French Women don't get fat" but I can understand why...even as we eat, I don't think you would put on weight....Many of them smoke and often replace food with cigarettes as well but even without that they food is wholesome, eaten in small quantities and without sweets to follow...

PLACES to SEE of interest:
Cognac is the city, the distilleries are Remy Martin and Couvoisier - huge areas of grape growing and distillery here - went on a tour of Remy Martin - so interesting....have decided that XO is the one for me - only 3500 euros a bottle for the exclusive one.... haha!!

Also the beaches here are lovely but, I didn't say this (because I didn't know how to.... probably....) but not a touch on Perth or Qld beaches....

Apres les Vacances

Well, I write this sitting at the table drinking my hot chocolate in a bowl and dipping crusketts without butter (unlike skinny mum) into the hot drink - this is petite dejeuner (breakfast).

The holiday started with a very early start at 1am because the news stories had shown the roads as black (very busy) - so we hit the road by 2am and despite the horrendously early hour, there were plenty of cars doing the same thing - packed to the hilt with holiday gear.

Our days quickly entered into the pattern of wake, watch "Days of our Lives" called Les Jours et La Vie here,  while having a bowl of hot chocolate then beach, swim, play with ball and frisbee, lunch, rest, walk before dinner at 8:30pm then walk after, looking at markets spread far and wide, and concerts at the beach - as this is peak holiday time....bed after TVor playing a game with Ludwig, 6yrs old by midnight or 1am.

It's funny, before coming away I remember saying to one of my friends at home that I was soo over small children and whamo - here I am like his grandmother - he said that....I must admit I was rather taken aback as I would never think of myself as a grandmother (I'm too young to be a granny.......aren't I????).
He's a lovely boy, intelligent, kind, a bit spoilt etc but he hates to lose and cries genuine tears if he does, throws cards or game pieces or steals them so we can't continue - oh well, he's not my child and I'm not going to change him in the short time frame I have, so we just play on or not....

This is an experience in living with others, with a different culture and different habits - you watch and see what they eat, what they do, habits, likes, dislikes, how they treat their children, what's good for them, what works, what doesn't work etc.  It isn't easy..... and I feel sorry for them as well because the language barrier is there too making many times of silence because neither of us can be bothered....it is tiring...

Also, because I'm travelling, I have so few clothes and yet my pack is full - I'm away for a year and with winter and Antarctica and Patagonia on the agenda, I have clothes for all seasons and not many for each season - also 3 pairs of shoes and one of them is a hiking shoe doesn't make for a great wardrobe!!!
Yesterday I put on the only dress I have and Vanessa was so excited.....maybe she was sick of the one pair of shorts and one skirt I wore at the beach.....every day!

It's not easy living someone else's life eg the other night we went out quite late and at midnight, mum bought fairy floss for son and then we get home and he wants to play a game of dominos so at 12:30am we all sit down and play - it's holidays so that is different for all but very different for me.

I'm finding the French language difficult as well - words sound so alike eg marron and mere on, words for soft and hard are - doux and dur - it's ok if I know the context it is said, but if a statement is made out of the blue and I don't recognise one of the words...........I'm lost, feel like a dork and just smile and say, je ne comprends pas.....I feel sorry for them, for me and for not learning far more and being far more diligent with studying french before I left home - I tried but my hours were filled with other things like dancing and catching up with friends..................oh well, I'm here to learn and will do my best................aarrrgggghhhhhhhh....