It’s after midnight, so I guess it’s technically Wednesday, 07 août.

Lying in bed here with the window open (Luigi is tucked safely away!). I’m enjoying the fresh air – and I also have a fan blowing on me – as I type.

I started the morning by meeting my fellow student, Matthias, for breakfast near Notre Dame. He is scheduled to leave Paris later, after coming here for 3 days to enjoy some of the Olympic Games.

After le petit-déjeuner, we walked around the 5ème for a bit before I had to leave him, and dash to my tutor lesson.

I suddenly realized it’s going to be a week of good-byes for me. <sob> Last night, Dr. Dave and I said good-bye. This afternoon, Matthias. And late tonight, it was Hélène, after spending the whole evening together. We were both near tears.

There have been so many hellos and good-byes this trip! Old and new.

In between Matthias and Hélène, I met my tutor, Blandine. As you know by now, we converse nonstop for 90 minutes, and I just really enjoy it. Not easy – but I’m not here for easy – I am giving it my all, and she is just wonderful, and exactly what I need at this point.

I’ve found myself speaking French to Nathalie and her husband, not even realizing I was speaking French, if that makes sense. I actually stopped mid-conversation because I was so stunned at what I was doing. So there has definitely been some progress.

At dinner last night, my friend Dr. David and I were each given menus on a clipboard. (Remember, he has not only an MD, but two PhD’s, one of which is in linguistics. He speaks multiple languages with ease.) Ok, so there were two menu sheets. I lifted the top sheet and read the second. After a few minutes, I looked up and said, “Why did they give us two sheets of the same menu?” He nonchalantly replied, “Well, one is in English, and one is in French.” Wait, what? Really? Mine, too? I looked again. Omg, I didn’t even notice. He was right. I was so confused. I had just read them both and saw no difference at all, till he said that. He explained what was happening in my brain, but I was too stunned and happy to take note.

I’ve had a lot of compliments from French people (!) on my French at this point, but I’ve stopped mentioning it because it’s getting silly. I’m beyond happy about it. Tonight, when it happened again, I was with Hélène in a store. She chimed in with the saleswomen who was truly astonished. They are just – so – honored (and a little shocked) when a foreigner can speak their language. And this is how Hélène and I met a year or two ago. She had said, back then, and continues to say, that she has never met another “foreigner” (especially American) who so understands the phonetics of French. Hélène is a tutor/teacher of English, ironically, and her English is British. We are quite a duo!

Our tour guide yesterday, Charles, said something similar to me. He and David made me speak only in French for that 5-hour tour.

Some photos from the tour, below. Forgive me if they are repeats.

This was my dream, and now it’s my dream come true.