I spent two weeks discovering most of the things tourists do --Le Tour Eiffel...
Notre Dame...
Montmartre...
La Boulangerie...
And some they miss, like a Vivaldi concert in Ste. Chappele.
My friend Jerry has invited Rick and me to return. It will be Rick's first trip to Paris and with or without him, I'm going. So I want to be prepared.
This is my French class.
For the past ten weeks, I've been learning conversational French with these folks. I can't say a lot (and if anyone speaks at a normal rate of speed, I'm in trouble!), but I can do the basics -- more than hello, goodbye, please and thank you.The best part of our class was the presentations everyone does each week. I've learned about artists, filmmakers, places in France, historical spots, good books about Paris, food, Christmas in France and about countries where French is spoken, like Mauritius, St. Maarten, Ghana and others. I did mine n shopping and flea markets.
Our final evening was quite the gala with five presentations, including one close to my heart: French wine! (for my other wine posts, see the label column under "wine" or "Cork Poppers.")
We learned about the region's wine, which grapes are from where, and tasted for French wines, along with treats provided by our teacher, Sandhya.
I didn't taste the white, but the others were good and of the three, the Perrin Cote du Rhone was my favorite.
I've had other Perrin wines before and they're always quite good.
The others were a white -- Goisot Bourgogne Aligot (this is the one I didn't try)... I should have. Wine Advocate gave it 99 points (it was $16.50)
Rene Couly Rose Chinon was a nice Rose at $16.50 and 88 Wine Spectator Points.
I also enjoyed the Chateau de la Taille Bordeaux 2009. I think this was in the $16 range, too, but I forgot to copy it down!
We laughed a lot and watched the film "Grand Illusion" by Jean Renoir, son of the famed Impressionist painter. Set during WWI in a German prison camp it was pretty funny and clever. But we didn't have time to see the whole thing, so there may be a catch-your-heart end.
I'll my ma classe francais et mes amis as much as I miss Paris. Although I probably mutilated that sentence!NOTE: Just posted at Chopsticks and String: Stephen Sondheim's "Finishing the Hat."
