dmsgrl

Off to study at Ecole Accord for a week! I’ve been deliberately NOT doing any studying so that I can kind of be a blank slate. Hoping for the best! Here I am having a champagne cocktail at Hotel Costes on my last visit in June. Soon I’ll have another!

Now on September 23, yes in just a few weeks!, I leave for Paris for a week to study at an immersion school. Sometimes when I am around my French friends, I get so frustrated. It is such a difficult language! But, I have to remind myself that my goal is not to be fluent…that cannot happen if you start study as an adult, not with French…but just to be able to communicate. So…I prepare for the trip.

Hello! I’m out here still working on my French. I am leaving for Paris today as a matter of fact for just a few days.
rubabecious asked me for some advice for a quick trip so here’s my thoughts. When it comes to dining, I always recommend getting away from the main tourist areas. Any little bistro on a square will be good, cheaper and much more authetic. The tourist shopping areas such as Les Halles are best avoided. Did you go to the flea market with your family? If not, you MUST go! Go to Les Puces Saint-Ouen. You can take the metro there. When you arrive, there are a lot of stalls selling knock-offs before you get to the flea market. They can be very aggressive. Ignore them. Here is a link for Les Puces:
http://www.parispuces.com/en/historique/Default.htm
If you have also not already done so, go to Pere LaChese. Everyone goes to see Jim Morrison’s grave which is actually not very impressive compared to the many other beautiful ones. Just wander the avenues and be amazed. There are vendors selling maps outside the entrances and it is worth it to buy one. Oscar Wilde’s grave is worth seeing. It is covered with lipstick kisses which is a tradition of gay men. Hope this helps!

On another note, I have signed up for a week at an immersion language school in Paris this September. The school is Accord http://www.languagestudy.com/paris.htm
I think the price is very reasonable. I am not doing a home stay as I am staying in a friends apartment. Everyone tells me that doing an immersion really really advances your language skills so hooray! I’m excited!

I’ve been terrible about listening to the French Podcast BUT I have subscribed to a magazine “Bien Dire” (well said) which is written very simply for those learning French. http://www.biendire.com/ It comes with an audio CD of each article. I have found it very helpful to muddle through an article and then listen to it.

Finally, I had a Parisian gentleman contact me through my membership in Alliance Francaise http://www.afusa.org/ and ask if I could entertain his daughter during the day for a week while he attended a university conference. I did so last week. Claire is 16 as is my own daughter (who studies French). What a sweetheart she is! We had a nice time. I just took her about with me. Her english improved tremendously. Here is a photo of the three of us (Claire, my daughter Becky and me).

So, off to Paris today but just for three nights!

A bien tot!

Tess