Hablo Ingles?

[hypatia42]

I'm going to France. Paris in fact. Its way more sudden than my last international trip... any international trip I've had. The Honey is a trooper and has taken it all in stride. I guess that's what comes of going where the company tells you to. He's even gotten good at saying no if he feels the request in unreasonable. But this is a project that we both agreed would be the opportunity of a lifetime and don't want to give it up.

That said, I have never been to France, never dreamed of going there, know nothing of the language, or what to do while there. I'm getting a lot of false sympathy about my nervousness but I'm dealing ok. A million tiny violins can break a string... all at once... WHAT? It could happen.

So I bought a book. Even though this book is printed in English I'm not understanding most of what is says so far. I'm hoping that the background on the places that they are talking about will come eventually or I am going to have to sit in front of the computer with the book and start looking things up. I don't know what blah place is compared to blaah place compared to blaan(which apparently in French still sounds like blah because they don't pronounce the last consonant) so its hard to keep track.

There will be coping and it will be fine. I'm a little off center from all the uncertainty going on in my life right now. I'm sure I will have a lovely time.

And yes I know that the subject line is in Spanish not French. I know *some* Spanish.

Comments

[castalusoria.livejournal.com]

From a "seeing things" perspective-- many museums are closed on either Mondays or Tuesdays. Now that France is on the Euro, some of the challenges I had there will be diminished, which is good!

How long do you expect to be there? A good friend of mine lived in Paris for a while, teaching English as a Second Language, I'd be happy to put you in touch with her.

[castalusoria.livejournal.com]

Oh-- I second the vote for "Amelie." Besides the delightful cuteness of the movie, there are a lot of "living in Paris" elements. There's a whole lot filmed in and around the Montmartre neighborhoods, including the gardens on the hillside that lead up to Sacre-Coeur. (BTW, I loved Sacre-Coeur-- it was the most peaceful and moving I've ever felt in a Christian site, and I've been to many many; considering I'm a non-Christian, I thought that was significant. If, late in life, I head in a Christian direction and wanted to retire as a non, I'd want to do it at Sacre-Coeur.) Note: parts of the neighborhoods near Sacre-Coeur are considered unsafe after dark. I was there in early November, and dark was a consideration.

Here's a link to some of what's in Amelie:
http://www.ehow.com/how_4546527_enjoy-amelies-paris.html

[castalusoria.livejournal.com]

Oy, this is going to get long.

Some of the best images I shot in Paris were in Cimitiere Pere-Lachaise. Gorgeous statuary; I wandered for hours in there.

http://www.pere-lachaise.com/perelachaise.php?lang=en

Ideas for getting rail passes for day trips out of the city upon request-- they're cheaper if you buy multi-day passes, IIRC.