One habit I hope to "take home" with me...

 

Speaking of tables full of chatter and laughter...I must say I love the "way" the French dine. I have yet to see a cell phone at any table in any restaurant fancy or plain, inside or out! Not even sitting on the table. Not even teenagers. I have seen dozens of people on the metro or walking the street or sitting on park benches blabbing away but when it comes time to sit down at the table with friends and family...NO phones! It's wonderful! David and I have been in the middle of this hum of voices and laughter several times now and have noticed that when the French family and friends sit down at the table it is as if there is no one else in the place...they are lost in each other! I have yet to see anyone at any table NOT talking or looking around the room bored or tired or waiting for the check (which you almost always have to ask for because the wait staff is not rushing you out to fill the table again) The people come alive at the table and take h o u r s to eat! They have drinks and foods that are only consumed before the meal  called...apéritifs. An apéritif is an alcoholic beverage and a snack like, crackers, cheese, pate or olives served before a meal to stimulate the appetite. Then there is the main course and then there is dessert and then there is coffee (cafe) but never a creamy coffee like cafe au lait which is reserved for breakfast or before lunch. THEN there is something called a "digestif" Which are alcoholic beverages served after a meal, to aid digestion. So as you can see this all takes a long time and the French revel in it and it is a glorious thing! I don't know if it is necessary to have all those courses but I love the idea and habit of putting the world on pause and just lolling in the luxury of family food and love. We sat next to a mother and her middle aged daughter tonight and they hardly broke eye contact as tho they hadn't see each other for days but I could tell from the packages at their feet the had probably been together the whole afternoon!

horseburgers or hamburgers

Toulouse is full of "Places" which are pronounced plahzes and really mean squares. They usually have some sort of park or fountain or such and usually have at least one restaurant on them. So last night we went to Place Saint-Georges which is a big square containing a fountain, a playground and several restaurants.

Not sure when this picture was taken (I downloaded it from the web) because I have never seen it so empty.

The restaurants are so close together you can only tell them apart for outside dining by the different furniture. We have eaten at St George 3 times. And all 3 times, a Monday night, a Friday night and A Saturday night, the outside tables are packed with chattering laughing and eating. Twice we have eaten at the same Italian place that we might make a weekly Saturday night date and once at a burger "joint" That's where we ate last night. The hamburgers we wOOONDerful as is every bite of food I have had since I arrived in Toulouse! The beef taste so much better here as does every bite of food I have had since I arrived in Toulouse. (is there an echo in here) Anyway they were yummy, and as most French plates we have had, beautiful. The only 2 differences is that DQ had red wine with his (a first) and we ate them like everyone else in the courtyard....with our forks and knives. The French use their hands for very few foods I have noticed. We did eat the fries with our fingers (after seeing the locals do it)French fries are actually Belgian and they are called frites here (which also means fried) It was awkward at first but after a while it seemed quite natural.

I have even mastered the fork in the left hand and the knife in the right cutting and pushing food on the upside down fork. I am wondering how "weird" we will be when we return to our homeland. Anyway it was tres délicieux and we may make it a weekly Friday night date. But we will be sure to stay away from the last burger on the menu.

 

cheval=horse meat

Here's what else I know....

 

 

I have yet to see anyone carrying around a cafe (coffee) to go. I did see a Starbucks in Paris but everyone I saw there had real cafe cups and were seated in and outside the cafe. I have not seen any paper Starbucks cups in France. Not many people are in a hurry here. as a matter of fact here in Toulouse they have a saying "quart d'heure Toulousain" translation:the Toulousain 15, meaning if I say I will be there in 15 minutes I really mean 30...or something like that.

 

No one in Toulouse even rushes onto the metro...if you miss it there will be another right behind it. We have been the 1st one there to every meeting in Toulouse. Those of you who know me know that this is new feeling for me. Now I am the one waiting. Which to tell you the truth I haven't minded one bit. Maybe I was Toulousain all along. 

 

It is not uncommon for the same public bathroom to be for both men and women. It will have several stalls with doors that lock but a shared sink area. It still makes my heart skip a beat to leave the stall and see a man standing at the sink because I am thinking I am in the mens bathroom by mistake.

 

I have not seen this myself...and I hope I never do...but DQ tells me that its not uncommon for urinals to be without a stalls or walls...meaning on your way to the ladies room or your own stall you may get more than eye full. Altho after a carafe d'eau (carafe of water)or a few glasses of wine your need for privacy goes down quite a bit!

 

 

 

 



The birds and water fowl being sold at the market (this picture is from the Victor Hugo market which we visited today) commonly have their heads still attached to their carcass so it can proved whether it is duck or turkey or chicken or rooster you are buying.

I also saw more than I ever wanted to see of whole skinned rabbits and HUGE beef tongues and many other internal animal organs that I think are INside the animal for a reason.

Ok thats all I know today...I'm sure I'll know more tomorrow.

À la prochaine.

 

also...

The dogs and children here are very well behaved! Of course I haven't been to a Walmart here yet (and hope I won't ever have to...blek)but I have yet to see any child being slapped yanked or yelled at...or seen any that need it. And I have seen tons of dogs walking right thru the city with their owners w/out leashes and have yet to see any crotch sniffing or jumping on people or barking!? Hmmmmm...

On the tip of my tongue...

 O my goodness when I think of all I have to blog to fill you in it rattles my brain and I shut down and don't blog or write anything.

Alors a new approach.(Alors means 'so' but when the French use it to begin a sentence it is more like the American...*ok* as in "ok this is what I want to say or oh yes I see") Whatever I want to write at the moment...in other words whatever is bubbling to the top and sloshing over...is what i will write that moment and go back with day to day details when I have more time. Ca va?

A smidge of what I have learned to date:

• Coffee is called cafe which is also the word for the small restaurant.
• Cafe au lait is only served at breakfast because it has milk but beaucoup of other cafes are served after a meal.
• Butter (beurre) is also only served at breakfast. We don't butter our bread any other time here.
• There are no bread plates at your table setting. You put your piece of bread directly on the table and crumbs are to be expected.
• And bread is not bitten off the slice (which is in fact torn from the loaf and seldom sliced) but torn and then put into the mouth.
• My Aunt Pat and Uncle Toby (who have scalding hot black coffee with every meal) will be very disappointed to learn that coffee is always enjoyed after the meal and not during. Except breakfast.
• My friend Susan will be pained to know that we do not keep our hands in our laps while we eat here as we have so painstakingly taught our children in America. Both hands are kept on the table.
• My friend Terri will be pleased (as I am) that I have seen beaucoup chipped nail polish. You were right I am chic(er) than I thought!

Whew that felt good! I have been carrying all that around on the tip of my tongue for a while!!

             À tout à l'heure

And So It Begins or Nothing To Be Nervous About...You Are Here.

We arrived at the Huntsville airport Saturday the 29th to and kissed many of our sweet loved ones au revoir. (Pictures to follow in later post)

Our flight was delayed which left us not more than 30 minutes to run across the Atlanta airport and catch our Airfrance flight. Of course our arriving gate and out departure gates were on the opposite ends of the airport in different terminals. Apparently they had been calling our names and had just made the last call when we arrived in a huff at the gate. And so we made it! David had a tangle with the bag coming down the isle but he arose (literally) triumphant and showed that bag who was boss by cramming it in the overhead compartment for 7 hours! 

We were the ;ast ones on the plane but we WERE ONthe plane!

 

 



I could not sleep as hard as I tried. So I watched 12 Years A Slave in English and several Friends episodes in French (I know them by heart anyway)

 Aaaaaaaaat last (#ettajameswannabe) we are in France. We arrived in Paris on Sunday March 3oth. I of course am worn to a frazzle because I have not slept in 2 days and just traveled half way across the earth. But we are here! We stop to use the bathroom before we meet the driver that has been sent for us.

 

 

What follows is my first conversation

 with a pretty French girl applying her

make up in the airport bathroom:

 

me: It's hot in here. (flapping my shirt open and closed in what I meant to be French sign language for I am boiling why do you have a sweater on?)

her: No I'm cold. (pulling her sweater tighter across her chest and making shivering motions)

me: Maybe I'm just nervous? (as I apply a fresh dose of deo)

her: Are you catching a connecting flight?

me: No.

her: Then there is nothing to be nervous about...you are here.

*Not a bad 1st conversation. Altho I didn't need to speak at all. Just seemed like an intimate situation... applying deodorant and brushing our teeth together...after sleepover activities. Friendly conversation among friends no?

post script

 I don't have time right now to go into all the details of the past week and post all the pictures. But I wanted to let everyone know that we are having a splendid time. All the good far outweighs any bad and any unhappy feelings I've had are just common, I think, with relocating permanently or should I say semi permanently to a different culture and language. We are really hoping to be in a flat by the end of the month. I think when that happens all will be well but all is pretty darn good right now. Later tonight or perhaps by Monday I will be loading this thing with beuacoup pictures and funny stories of our time here so far.