Although my sweet boy woke up at 6:30 this morning (rather than his usual 8:30), we had an EXCELLENT morning. The sun is shining (finally!) and I think that puts everyone in a better mood. Plus, due to our early rising, we made it to the market around 9, rather than our usual 10:30ish. I had THREE (count them: 1-2-3) fun conversations in French with my vendors this morning... All of which not only increased the smile already on my face (due to the gorgeous day) because they were simply pleasant conversations, but they also left me feeling so proud and satisfied because I can communicate and make friends in French. Who cares if I probably sound like a 6-year-old who has terrible grammar skills? ;)
1. My friend at the charcuterie (who sells pork and prepared meats and yells, "Bonjour Oliver!" each time we walk by) asked me if I wanted any ham today. I told him not today but possibly Saturday because we had company arriving on Monday. He asked if it was my family from the US, and I responded that it was actually my husband's family, but they were also from the US... At which point he began to tell me that he really liked American cars. I'm not sure how this was related, except that I guess he associates me with anything American. Anyway, we discussed that there aren't many importers of American cars into Paris (which is not too surprising as many American cars won't fit down the streets there), but that he really wanted an American car because he has a huge dog and the dog needs more space in the back seat. I didn't recognize the breed of dog he mentioned, but from his description the dog is about the size of a small horse (twice the size of a labrador, to be specific), making it easy to see why he coveted a large American car... From there the conversation turned to how many trucks and suburbans my family owns and the fact that my Jeep Grand Cherokee (which is a HUGE car for Paris standards) is the smallest one. Pretty entertaining, I must say.
2. My vegetable vendor asked me last week (when I was sporting Chris' North Face fleece over my workout clothes at the market - clearly I am NOT Parisian, for a true Parisian wouldn't be caught dead as such... ah, well) where I bought the jacket. Unfortunately, I had to tell him that we purchased it from a US website... Since then, he and I have been searching for a site in French that sells the jackets and will ship to Paris. So we compared notes for a while...
3. My other vegetable vendor (who has higher prices than the first so is not my regular one except for sweet potatoes which my normal vendor doesn't carry) teased me the "Americaine" buying "patace douce Americaine" (American sweet potatoes). And then we discussed what green onions are called here and he told me about how they're used in many Chinese dishes.
Oliver just woke up... so this missive must end. Suffice it to say that I felt really good as we walked back through the 45-degree sunshine to our little apartment. So good, in fact, that I might be brave enough to make some phone calls (in French) that I've been putting off... maybe.
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