Yesterday was the last day of the term, and Monday starts anew. It’ll still be level B1, but the new term is going to introduce B2 material before the month ends.

We worked in class on Friday with two future tenses: futur proche and future simple.

Sorry if I’m repeating myself here, but I signed up for a French conversation class, which starts next Saturday morning en ligne. My professor was disappointed that I had to do this online (me too), but I assured her I was going to sign up for in-person classes the following month.

At this point she came over to me and said she was determined to help me fulfill my dream. She said, “I really want you to speak French, and I’m going to come up with a way to help you.” I don’t know why she’s taking such a personal interest, but I’m beyond grateful. We later exchanged cell phone numbers, and I can only say that I am just truly delighted to have this woman in my corner.

At the end of class, she wrote her room number on the board for Monday. Oh no. Every day, I walk up those 3 flights of stairs (really 6!) and for our class, it’s actually 3.5 because when you reach the 3rd floor, you turn right and have to go up another half flight to reach our room. Anyway, we do this at least twice a day, and every single day I look at the floor #3 sign and say to myself, well, thank God, we’re not on the fourth floor. You guessed it, the new room is #416.

Now, I say that, but sadly, I’m not quite sure I’ll have the same teacher next month. She’s working to prepare students for the DELF Language Exam, which is a month-long course, so I don’t know if I’ll have her for the full month. My schedule now lists “Caroline” as my teacher, so wish me luck, because Professor Annie has been a dream! (At least I know we’ll be meeting privately for tutor/conversation sessions.)

I had taken ill the night before – nothing serious – but I needed some medicine. I was able to secure an online doctor appointment and get the medication I needed all for about $30. I’m now in the system, at least, so it’ll be even easier next time — there is a next time. Also, so many of my classmates offered assistance, one of whom is a surgeon, so I feel very supported — more so than I thought possible — especially in a foreign country.

After class we had a cultural event that had been rescheduled because of the Metro strike. We were going to be visiting the Pinault art collection at the Bourse de Commerce. Irene and I were going and Ruchi was going to meet us there. We stopped for lunch at a local café and we both opted for hamburgers! Delicious! After a quick coffee, we continued our lengthy walk (36 minutes) to le beau bâtiment where we had a tour featuring the works of American artist, Charles Ray.

Afterwards I was tired, because I’d had a bad night’s sleep. I was not really up for the return walk home. Our tour was over, but I asked the docent if I could visit one of the other galleries, as there were a few other pieces I wanted to see. Yes, she said, I should feel free to visit the other galleries. I was fatigued, but had to see the work by David Hammons, and in particular, his untitled piece featuring a bejeweled basketball net and backboard. I wanted to take a photo of it for mon beau-fils, Matt.

Then, Ruchi showed me the way to the Metro and I bought 10 tickets for future use. This particular station was huge, but we found our way to Metro #4, after stoping at un magasin au chocolats (Leonidas) for some treats. My sweet Ruchi rode out of her way, just to accompany me to my stop to make sure I was comfortable since this was only me second ride. Irene, for her part, told us, “Oh, it’s just three quarters of an hour for me to walk home from here, I’m fine.” I just shook my head in astonishment! This woman comes from different stock, this Basquian friend of mine is tireless. She has been in Paris for quite awhile, and has never ridden the Metro.

The three of us have been enjoying all the wonderful (free) cultural events offered at Alliance Française this month. We were asked to submit to an interview after the screening of the Yves St. Laurent film earlier this week, giving our opinions. Bon courge! We didn’t want to do it (in French, of course), but we did. And all three of us had participated in the question/answer session after the movie with the visiting film expert, so they kinda’ flagged us.

I rested today, and did some laundry. Tomorrow might be a good day to visit le musée d’Orsay. We’ll see.

We were told to remove our masks on the count of 3 and smile!