Thank You, Madame Lippe!

From what I remember, I pretty much slept through high school, so you can imagine my surprise when I was in Paris, and realized that I was managing to understand and to make myself understood with my high school French!

I'd heard the usual stories of how cold the French were to tourists, and how they would sneer if you tried to speak French.

I'm happy to report that I had the exact opposite experience. No matter where I went, people were friendly and helpful. No sneers came my way, only smiles.

I found myself reading menus and ordering without a problem, asking for directions, and even making small talk- all in French. There were even a couple of times when people asked me for directions! (For that, I need to thank (with a chuckle) my hairdresser, Avi, who has many French clients. He told me that he was going to give me a hairstyle that would make the French think I was French!)

So a big thanks to my high school French teacher, Madame Lippe. I guess that even when my head was down on my desk I was paying attention, afterall!

[Kudos, as well, to the inspiration I get from my husband, who is fluent in three languages, fairly conversant in another, and with the phrases and words he's picked up in a couple of others, never hesitates to try to communicate.]