The weather here in Paris changes rapidly. I didn’t expect that. Gray one minute, brilliant sunshine the next. A wind gust, and suddenly there’s a spritz of rain, followed by plus de soleil. Don’t bother to check weather apps on your phone because they’re always wrong.

So far, I’m really enjoying Level B1. There’s more discussions, and actual usage of the spoken language, which differs from written French. Today was the first day I can say I understood every word the professor said. That’s important to note, because that was certainly not the case on Day One — especially when I accidentally spent 90 minutes in the B-2 Level. This morning, we were all so engaged in the French history lesson we were learning, that we almost missed break time. There was only an hour left of class when we returned, and that flew by! Before I knew it, homework was being assigned and everyone was closing their books and packing up.

My teammate was so kind and generous of spirit today, I immediately felt bad for thinking of him as a mansplainer yesterday. Clearly, it’s a language barrier thing. My bad. Because we had a lot of fun today as a team, and laughed at each other and ourselves. At one point, he shared with me that he’s been here for 3 years. Wow. Mon dieu! I said, I’m only in my 3rd week! He couldn’t believe it. He asked me twice. Semaines?Oui. C’est ma troisième semaine. He then asked, but how did you learn to speak so well in only 3 weeks? LOL! First of all, Merci beaucoup. I told him I’d been studying French for many years, using many different methods — but all in the United States — starting when I was 13. He asked if I’d ever been to France before. No. I mean 3 – 4 days for my honeymoon decades ago (!) is all. I explained en français bien sûr, how I haven’t traveled very much in my life, and how the United States is such a large country, that I could travel thousands of miles and still be in the United States surrounded by people who only speak English. He laughed. That’s just not the case in Europe! My classmates are ALL well-traveled and many speak several languages. Quite the cultured group!

Then we played a guessing game in class. Each “team” secretly chose a famous French person. We described this person, and our descriptions were handed out to other teams, with each team trying to guess who was being described. They were all fairly easy, but the game was fun. My partner, now ever the gentilhomme, let me choose for us. Here’s what I wrote:

Il était un peintre français au dix-neuf siècle. Il était célèbre pour ses peintures en pastel, et plus que demi de ses peintures étaient des danseurs qui étaient sûr scène.

Not difficult for anyone who knows me to guess that I was describing the famous Edgar Degas and his pastel work, which le professeur added : … et que le monde entier aime beaucoup.

I knew right away that the person we were were given to guess was le président, Emmanuel Macron!

Then after class today, I stopped by my café préféré – en dehors – to enjoy un petit goûter and watch the Parisians go by on scooters, Vespas, bikes, et à pied, and I counted my many blessings.

Last night was the Bordeaux wine tasting « cultural event. » We sampled four wines — deux blancs, et deux rouges. Not all were delicious. In fact, the last wine (blanc) avait trop de sucre pour moi! Peut-être après dîner ou avant diner, mais pas avec la nourriture. How fun though, to have wine tasting in school after hours! Of course, everyone was less shy by the fourth sample.