Dear Friends,
When we are in Villefranche, we try to be as French as possible. There are two metrics that we use to see how successful we are. So far this trip we are doing pretty well.
The first metric is whether or not people we speak to in French respond in French or in English, particularly in a real conversation. It doesn't really count if you just say "bonjour", "ça va?" or respond with "ça va et vous?" So far this trip we have been doing quite well, and today was a super day. Right before we left Minneapolis Jane got a new glasses prescription but did not have time to get new glasses. Today we went to the optical shop in Villefranche. Jane found a pair of frames that she liked, decided on the various add-ons and discussed the prescription in detail with the very nice optician all in French. He only uttered a couple words of English. Although the sign on the door said that he spoke English, he clearly preferred to speak French. I was very proud of Jane.
As an aside, he was a really good optician. Since Jane is an ophthalmologist, she knows when an optician is really good. He asked all the right questions. He showed her in trial frames the difference between her old and new prescriptions, and talked with her about potential changes in the progression based upon how she was reading using the prescription. I should also say that the price was incredible. The new frames and the lens with transition to dark in the sun, etc. totaled 508 euros, and they will be ready in less than a week. So the moral of the story is - if you need new glasses and you want to have them done well for a great price, come to Villefranche. His shop is right on the main street of Villefranche, Avenue du Maréchal Foch.
Jane is not the only one with a success today (although her's was much bigger than mine). I went into a store looking for a hat. It was a tourist store. After exchanging pleasantries with the owner in French, we proceeded to discuss my head size and the fact that the style of hat that I was looking for was too small for me. They never once uttered a word of English. I consider that a victory.
By coincidence, we ran into our French teacher as we were looking for a place to have lunch. She invited us to join her. She was waiting for her partner. Since they are young parents, we were afraid that we were intruding on a nice date that they could have without their children. She assured us that was not the case so we joined them. Her partner is also a French teacher. Needless to say, we spoke French the whole time, and still were able to have a normal conversation. I wanted to do my best because I wanted her partner to see what a good teacher she is. So that was another success.
The second metic is doing things that the French who live here do. In this regard, buying glasses counts as a big victory because it is an everyday, non-touristy thing to do. In addition, we have now received our first packages from Amazon ordered from amazon.fr versus amazon.com and delivered right to our apartment door. How much more French can you be then to have Amazon deliver to your apartment in France (even if it is a rented apartment).
I am afraid that despite these recent victories, we are not really fooling anybody that we are French.
Thanks for reading and please comment,
The Unabashed Liberal
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