I have in my possession, 3 pairs of lovely sneaker socks (you know the kind….the ones that mold around the foot in the sneakers, fit snugly below the ankles and just peek out from the top of the shoe in a band around your foot.) It will be hard to part with them, but I am willing to give these socks away FOR FREE to the first person that inquires.
Why, you ask, would I want to give away some perfectly good sneaker socks? Well…….today was laundry day. I laundered (for the second time) the new fluffy dark blue towel I bought here. Because the washing machine was so big, and I didn’t have enough for two machines, I put everything in together.
BIG MISTAKE!
I now have 3 pairs of sneaker socks that were once white, but are now a lovely bird’s egg blue.
Any takers?
I thought you might get a kick out of this. I did!! HA!
Laundry here is quite an interesting experience. I have a washing machine in my apartment, but no dryer. The French, at least the ones who live in this apartment, hang their clothes to dry either outside or inside on a rack. I have no problem with this for my underwear, jeans, and delicate tops. But, the sheets, towels, and socks don’t really dry well this way. And, they become kind of hard and crunchy. They are perfectly clean, just not soft.
So, I have been taking the items that, in my opinion, require the dryer to the “laverie” down the street for washing. This is where the mishap with my socks occurred. Oh well…….it makes for a great story!
Here’s another great story…….I think my head….and my stomach are going to explode……really…I’m not kidding! You may get a call from my kind hostess, Monique, saying that there is some splatter in the apartment and asking some questions about the security deposit!
After my fun and relaxing weekend, I jumped back in to more French lessons….conjugating verbs, forming questions, and retrieving the French words that will best express what I am trying to say. WHEW! EXHAUSTING! My head is quite full of information right now. I’d like to find an empty space in there where I can hide for awhile in peace!
But, I’m glad that I decided to go back to the school without taking a break in between. The continuity of the lessons and the intensity of the private lesson I signed up for have been instrumental in my progress. I’m happy to say that I have had random, but increasing success!
In the last two days, I had a lovely conversation with a couple sitting next to me at my luncheon restaurant; talked to the manager of said restaurant and got the name of a wine expert in town with whom I can study local wines (already been in touch with him); had a coherent conversation with Monique; and gave instruction on how to start the washing machines to an old man at the “laverie”. This last little conversation was very special as it was compounded by what I think might have been a little bit of dementia (on the man’s part, not mine…I know what you’re thinking!) And, the icing on the cake was when the woman who helped me with a private lesson said, “Vous parlez bien.” (You speak well.) I’ll take that as an “I’m making progress.” I bet I’ll be fluent by next week! HA!
A new group of knowledge-thirsty students started at the school this week. So, there was a little bit of jockeying around for class level between them and the students from the last weeks. I ended up at the same level, which was a little bit disappointing. But, my competitive self has decided to be OK with it. In the last weeks, I have found that my treasured Rosetta Stone did not teach me some of the basics that are important in speaking the French language. So, it’s better to stay back and get these pieces before forging ahead.
There are some verb tenses with which I wasn’t familiar and as a result, some conjugations that I was missing as well. Also, I was (and still am) somewhat baffled by something called the reflexive verb. This very special group of verbs always has a pronoun reference back to the subject. So, even if you get the tense right and the positive and negative reference right, you could get it wrong if you don’t add the pronoun reference. Blah…..blah…..blah……Are you beginning to see why my head is so full of stuff?!
It’s been quite a busy week. So much so that I treated myself to a few lunches sans (without) the group at the school so that I could clear my head! So, in addition to my full head, my tummy is a little fuller this week, too, with a wider variety of food. These French know how to eat. WOW!
I’d like to tell you how many restaurants are here in Aix, but I really don’t know. All I can tell you is that there are a lot of them! And, I am going to do my best to try them all! I made a very small dent this week.
Several of my fellow students and I have been going for lunch each day to a very tiny local restaurant run by two elderly women. My friend from Brazil found this spot and I tagged along on the first day. Now, the women know us and reserve a table for us. The “plat du jour” is always interesting, hearty and homemade…..and cheap. It’s 8.50 Euro, no matter what it is. Two days this week I had quiche and a salad for 4.50 Euro. You really can’t beat it!
The two days I went on my own were also quite good, but different. They are both more upscale, and correspondingly more expensive…..but, quite tasty. You may be interested to know that I had Asian influenced dishes at both places. France is branching out!
The restaurant where I had the conversation about the wine expert is a famous restaurant in Aix en Provence. They keep their bottles of rose chilled in a fountain that is situated in the middle of their outside seating. I had a glass of rose from the “Brangelina” winery, Mirabal, and a great Asian-oriented salad with shrimp and chicken. I also had a Calaisson, a special provencal cookie. YUM!
The other restaurant is one that I have been to before. It’s in the middle of one of the squares in town. I find it relaxing and a good spot for people watching. They make “tartines” of all types for lunch. They are like little open-faced sandwiches. Today, I had one that reminded me of curried chicken salad.
Both restaurants were just great!
I am skipping dinner today. I was going to go out, but I’m just too full to eat more and, I have an early morning. I am going on a tour of the “Gorge de Verdon” with the school. I guess our guide, Georges, has recovered from his weekend in Barcelona with the Italian high school students I talked about in another post. The gorge is supposed to be a very pretty site here in the area. I’ll let you know.
I’m going to sign off for now. But, before I do, I want to wish everyone a Happy Halloween from Aix en Provence! They don’t do much about Halloween here, but I did meet this little fellow at lunch and thought he added a lot to the image of Halloween. So, here’s my contribution!
Enjoy!
Travel With Betsy 
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