12/06/23 08:06

“Bonjour monsieur, un pain suisse, du thé et jus d’orange, s’il vous plaît.  Et pour ici, merci.”  Yes, I’m in a boulangerie, again.  And it happens to be my favourite one outside the periphique.  It has an authentic ‘locals’ feel to it.  It’s simplistic, convenient, friendly and relaxed.  Whilst I feel at home in Paris, with her different arrondissements and villages within those arrondissements, Gentilly (well, the walk from the periphique, past église du Sacré-Cœur de Gentilly and Jo&Joe) has me embracing a more genteel feel to the already laid-back vibe of my Paris.

I don’t recall a pain suisse being cut in half before.  But this one feels more like a brioche than a chocolatine with raisins.  Which reminds me, I mustn’t forget Nev’s croissant this time.

I’ve just had my first bonjour from a local that wasn’t staff.  He walked into the boulangerie, saw me take a bite of my pain suisse and caught me looking at him.  The obligation from his part must’ve been unreal.  And yet, for me, an East Londoner, I felt like I’d arrived.  Or more to the point, returned.  I’ll never be a café allongé drinker.  Maybe a tea at the bar, but never a coffee.

I’m sat at a table with 3 chairs around it.  Aside from my one, none of the seats can be sat on owing to the layout of the table and the walls.  The six monsieurs , all with their coffee, have no place to sit with me here.  The remaining two tables and 3 chairs beside me provide no place for them.  Instead, still standing, they finish their drinks and stay standing for another two minutes or so, chatting away, before leaving together en masse.

My French is actually very slowly improving.  I can see how a submerged lifestyle, study guides and Google Translate would all combine to assist my learnings.  I know what I have to do now.  Learn the basic conjugations of the regular verbs.  Also, get the most-used irregular verbs.  Learn the past tense that is easiest and do the same with the easiest future one.  All whilst this is happening, I need to focus on everyday nouns and adjectives.  Reading French isn’t such an issue for me; I can grasp context from etymology.  The pronunciation of French – masculine and feminine, aside – isn’t a problem for me, either.  However, listening to French and trying to prepare for a response, well, that’s quite possibly the most difficult part of this learning process.  With more practice, I know I’ll get it.  However, priorities provide problems.