Here I am again, in Paris.
Paris is pretty much as I remembered it. Cool, maybe downright chilly today, but majestic, somewhat standoffish on first glance. I arrived at chez mon ami Didier who so generously offered to host me in his apartment for my entire trip. He must be crazy or not know me very well. In any case, he lives in Le Marais, which is in the third district of Paris (le 3e arrondissement).
It seems like only last month that I was here. For lunch we went across the street to a wonderful Italian restaurant called Little Italy. And for dinner we enjoyed traditional French cuisine in Le Quartier Latin (le 6e arrondissement) called Café de la Tourelle.
Didier and I went out to dinner with his friends Alim, Lionel, and Christophe. Did you think that a typical French dinner in Paris would consist of heavy sauces and escargot? Well, there was escargot, but heavy sauces were nowhere to be seen on any table. It was simple food with great flavors. In France, the menu is called "la carte." A pre-set menu, typically consisting of three items, is called "le menu." The three items are l'entrée (appetizer), le plat (main course), and le dessert. For l'entrée, I had a delicious terrine de poisson (pâté of fish). For le plat, un confit de canard, and for le dessert, sublime chocolat. Didier and I agreed that it wasn't quite sublime, but it was fairly good. You might be wondering how much all this costs - 25 euros. It's only expensive if you consider the exchange rate.
So there I was, sitting with four Parisians, discussing politics (even Obama versus Hillary), movies, cultures, and sex. Almost the entire conversation was conducted in French. If I concentrated, I understood about 10% of everything, but when they spoke directly to me (simpler and slower), I understood about 75%. Not too shabby for now, but must raise those numbers by the end of two months.
Interestingly, next to our table were four Taiwanese students and a Frenchman. In contrast to us, nearly all their conversation was done in Chinese. Every once in a while, one of the Taiwanese people would translate for the Frenchman. I know exactly how he felt.
Watch out, fais attention
a lesson on "les faux amis" (literally translated as false friends)
une personne = a person
un personnage = a character (in a movie, book)
un caractère = a person's character
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