Adventures in France: Happy Valentine's Day

Day Thirteen

Woke up, worked out, devotional, and then met up with Amelia for lunch. We went to Brioche Dorée, kind of like a "boulangerie chain" (bakery). Got a fresh sandwich, dessert, and drink for 8 euros. Then I had class with my second professor, Dominique (go by first names here). She was very sweet but the first part of class was lagging in enthusiasm. We were given a paragraph by E. Zola in French and it was pretty dense, describing a pressing boutique way back in the day. There was a lot of vocabulary I didn't understand and when she explained the words, I couldn't understand the French she was using to explain the definition! I was a little overwhelmed and the comprehension questions were difficult as well. That got me pretty frazzled, so we'll see if I even stay in this group next week. I know next Tuesday our professors are going to meet and evaluate if we were placed in the right group level. I'm in group 12 which corresponds to level B1/B1+. However, I'm pretty sure I'm the lowest in my class just because everyone else seems to have the ability to flow when they speak French and I have to think a lot before I say anything. After our break we discussed the different levels of formality in French starting from the most elegant (reserved mostly for literary French), formal, familiar, slang (spoken French), and vulgar. It was pretty interesting. There's slang to where some words are inversed in French. For example, when referring to a bisou (kiss), one would say a zoubi. Or for the métro, one would say the tromé. Haha, I had never heard of this before! Also, spoken French is really hard to follow!! The French literally start speaking in ungrammatically (sp??) correct French when it comes to day-to-day conversation. For example, instead of saying "Je ne sais pas" (I don't know), one says "Chu-ai pas". They blend everything together to the point where it's unrecognizable sometimes! Ou lala!

After class I went to a crêperie (crepe restaurant) with Amelia and it was pretty good. Although I know next time, I'm ordering nutella instead of dark chocolate. But, you can never go wrong with chocolate! Tonight the student association for the French language immersion program set up a French movie night. It was called "Hollywood" and was a hilarious comedy of a French voice-over actress who comes to Hollywood to get the actress she voices over to remain a TV actress. Because if she quits, the French woman no longer has a job. You could definitely tell it was a foreign film because the American actors weren't the greatest and the humor was a little different, but it was still a fun time. I saw some of my Japanese friends from the scavenger hunt yesterday, so it was nice to see them! After that, went to dinner at a really great restaurant in Vieux Lyon called Le François Villon. It was really tiny and cozy and we thought we'd need a reservation but we didn't because there was more room than we'd assumed--in the stone basement! It was a really great setting and for 16 euros I got a great meal. Had my first glass of wine here, a nice glass of white wine! Had saucisson brioché fort the first course and for the second course, I don't even know what it was called! But it had sausage, potatoes, mushrooms, and cheese in a cream sauce that was really amazing and cooked in a stone pan. I also had a chocolate cake with fruit. Great way to end the day!