After surviving a harrowing drive into
town and a bit of a goose chase in trying to make contact with our
landlord to get into our apartment since we had no phone or internet
to reach him, we eventually managed to get in, drop our stuff, and
get out to look around.
Language lesson – French:
In response to saying merci (thank you)
people will respond, in no particular order, with one of the following:
- Je vous en prie. (Literally: I pray of you or I beg of you. I don't get it either... yet.)
- Ce n'est pas de quoi (More or less means “It's nothing.”)
- C'n'est pas (an abbreviated version of the previous phrase.)
- De rien (“It's nothing” or “no problem” it's a more casual version of the previous two.)
What you will NOT hear in response to merci is “bienvenue” which directly translated means welcome. I had occasion to chat with a local and that came up. He seemed
to find it a rather funny and odd idea to answer merci with
bienvenue.
While I would love to regale you with
tales of sumptuous multi-course menus from chic french bistros, we
were exhausted, famished, and the littles were fussy so we frequented
the Monoprix around the block instead. It's sort of a Loblaws type
store with groceries and some home goods as well as clothing, make
up, and accessories. There, we studied the aisles to scavenge for
supper and scout out future eat-in meals. Easing in to our new
environs, we went home with a carton of gaspacho, ham, boursin
cheese, baguette, wine, vanilla yogurt, and peaches. Honestly, it was
a perfectly lovely meal, if a lot on the safe side.
To keep us conscious until a more bedtime-like hour, we went sightseeing after dinner.
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