In France for the fourth consecutive September.<\/p>\n
Today is day 1 of 23 of what is the year’s big vacation.<\/p>\n
I’ll do three nights in Paris, six nights in Nantes and the rest of it in Toulouse and parts nearby.<\/p>\n
As this trip grew closer on the calendar, I naturally got excited about returning to see friends made here thanks largely to introductions facilitated by Jacques in Toulouse. I look forward to seeing and experiencing Nantes, a city I’ve never visited. And as the last couple weeks went by, I have really looked forward to the notion of a good stretch of time away from the job.<\/p>\n
The mad scrum to get on the packed Q70 bus to LaGuardia every day was starting to get on my nerves. I stand back and watch people push their way on – and then hope there’s room left at the end. If not, I wait for the next one.<\/p>\n
Needless drama in my work orbit is also nice to leave behind for the solid chunk of time I’ll be gone.<\/p>\n
My French language skills have advanced a little, not much. I took another seven-week session at Idlewild with a group of classmates I really enjoyed early in the calendar year. I did a five-month run of daily Duolingo sessions and I listen to about a half-hour of France Info each night after work on the bus ride home.<\/p>\n
I also got hooked on Aline Pailler’s weekly half-hour radio show on France Culture. Pailler is a sixty-something left winger who does a Sunday morning interview program emphasizing literature, music and theatre with a special interest in arts geared toward children.<\/p>\n
Pailler has a soothing, raspy voice. She speaks just slow enough that I can kinda understand her. And even when I can’t, I like listening to her – hoping her words are somehow being absorbed.<\/p>\n
In early July, Pailler signed off her program for what I thought would be a typical French holiday. On each of the last three or four Sunday mornings (1230 AM New York time) – I tuned in thinking she’d be back on the air. No such luck. I miss her voice.<\/p>\n
But now here I am surrounded by French voices. For three and a half weeks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In France for the fourth consecutive September. Today is day 1 of 23 of what is the year’s big vacation. I’ll do three nights in Paris, six nights in Nantes and the rest of it in Toulouse and parts nearby. … Continue reading