Diaries Magazine

PARIS You Are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but Not “MY” FRENCH Language Skills

By Lynne @lynneknowlton

If I had a third leg, I would kick myself with it.

 I can not BELIEVE I have been back in Canada for three months now, and literally only written four words about Paris in the blog.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

 IMAGINE THAT?!

Just threw my entire life in Paris for 2 years, and then BAMMMmmm, not a word outta me about the CITY OF LIGHT.

Hey, I am a designer.  I love to write about design.

 There is life in between :) after all, and I like to celebrate it.

It is all about designing the life we want to live, isn’t it?

Life is never about ONE thaaang.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Fontainebleau France...not technically Paris, but I still love this pic :)

For Paris, it is one of those cities that can make something look pretty even when it is in the “not so puuuurty” stage of reno.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Just for kicks, I thought I would take a trip down memory lane.

~ PARIS ~

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

It is after all, the CITY OF …..

Vin Rouge

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

A glass of red wine will set you back for less moola than a glass of cola.

No kiddin’.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

And the city of

DELICIOUS-NESS

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Why, oh why, have I not said 4 words about Paris since my return ?!!!

Because I am convinced that I am still dancing for joy that I can now write and speak in ENGLISH.

 It may be ‘Lynne-ified English’, but hey, I am cool with that.

 Making up my own words ~ and all.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Don’t ever let anyone convince you that the small things in life can’t bring INTENSE HAPPINESS.

Because they can.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Like speaking a language that you can ACTUALLY SPEAK, and understand, on a daily basis.

That, my friends, is

~ INTENSE HAPPINESS ~

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

After all…..

Holy %*&#@*  !!!!  (Mom, that was not really a BAD WORD…)

It is hard to learn French !!!!

I had moments like this

*Screaming in my head*

“I would like to buy this bread!!”

But do you think a word came out of my mouth ?! NOT !

I settled for drooling. Damn it.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

My iPhone saved my life on a regular basis.  No exaggeration there :).

When push came to shove, and I was REALLY STUCK for words, I used my app called Translator.

Imagine that, I typed my sentence in English, and it translated it to French.  I simply held my phone up to the french guy with the perplexed look on his face….

and suddenly our worlds made sense.

 He understood me.

*bliss*

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

My version of a happy dance.

Eventually, the words came to me.

I reached a point where I could actually KINDA speak french and actually order food, wine and yummy

de-lish-ous-ness.

Muffin top does not appear from NOWHERE my friends.  It is earned.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

All kidding aside (yes, that is hard for me to do),  COFFEE BREAK FRENCH saved me in Paris. They have free podcasts. They also have a paid version with PDF’s and I was happy to hand over my first-born child if it meant I could learn french.  I paid for the upgraded version.  Worth its weight in gold.  Loved it.

Coffee Break French was my Parisian game changer.

It made me believe I could SPEAK FRENCH.  I DID IT.

I could even shop the retail stores.  Just for friends, of course.

Ahhmmmmhh, I know you are reading this oh lovely budget guy husband Michael. xo

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

IT WAS LOVE AT FIRST SIGHT.

Well, truth be told, first I fell in love with the Eiffel Tower.

 Confession : It is seriously so pretty.  You really won’t care what language you speak.  It is worth just standing there and staring at it.

 A “pinch me moment“…..you will have.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

I took every chance I could to just go and STARE at the Eiffel.

I did a lot of staring.  Little talking. Very social, huh?

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

My camera became my friend.  I could deal with that.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

I was still a bumbling idiot in so many respects, but at least the Parisians could finally (sort of) understand me.

Well at least they pretended to understand me.  Surely to shut me up.  I loved Paris in so many ways but you are not going to get the warm and fuzzies from most Parisian people.  Just sayin’.

Your odds of getting a ‘warm and fuzzy’ reaction from a Parisian go up about a trillion percent if you just try to tweak out a word or two in French.

Any attempt will do.

 I promise.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

When I managed to blurt out full sentences in French….

~ I felt so proud of myself ~

~HAPPY DANCE~

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Yes, I know I look like a goof ball :)

See, I could even fly mid-air, cape on, and not drop my iPhone (my child).

Do you suppose other bloggers post pics of themselves looking like an idiot ?

Couldn’t help myself.

PARIS you are PUUURTY ~ I MISS YOUR MUG ~ but not “MY” FRENCH language skills

Image courtesy of Fresh Minds Matter

Ok, all that WAS more than four words about Paris, but seriously~

THE CITY OF LIGHT IS EYE CANDY

Almost as sweet as looking at George Clooney.

Just sayin’.


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