Bonjour tout le monde all the way from Provence, France
This post has been delayed due to long haul travel with kids, jetlag and sickness. Possibly the perfect storm to ensure a rocky start to any holiday...
Somewhere between Singapore and France I ended up with a viral throat infection, and by the time the family got to Avignon in the South of France I wasn't in a good way. One way of saying that in French would be "Je ne me sens pas très bien", more literally "I don't feel very well". Being sick was unfortunate in more ways than one, not only was it making a mess of the holiday, but we had a French wedding to attend!
While I managed to haul myself out of bed to get to the actual wedding ceremony I didn't last much past the speeches. This was a considerable shame as the French know how to celebrate and have a good time. In fact by 530am there were only French left going at what was a very multi-national wedding. The French are very good at pacing themselves through to the early hours of the morning (I think the trick is to have a glass of water between wines!).
By the next day I was still not any better and had to bring out another useful phrase; "Est-ce qu'il y a un docteur dans la ville ?", which roughly translates to "Is there a doctor in the town?". Luckily the French health system is excellent and there seems to be a doctor in just about any reasonable sized town, even some unreasonably small towns! It wasn't long before some French medicine got me back on track, and at a reasonable price.
While I wouldn't wish being sick onto anyone it was a useful experience to extend my knowledge of French in an unusual situation.
Do you have any travel misadventures to share? Any phrases that came in handy or would have been handy to know? Feel free to share!
This post has been delayed due to long haul travel with kids, jetlag and sickness. Possibly the perfect storm to ensure a rocky start to any holiday...
Somewhere between Singapore and France I ended up with a viral throat infection, and by the time the family got to Avignon in the South of France I wasn't in a good way. One way of saying that in French would be "Je ne me sens pas très bien", more literally "I don't feel very well". Being sick was unfortunate in more ways than one, not only was it making a mess of the holiday, but we had a French wedding to attend!
While I managed to haul myself out of bed to get to the actual wedding ceremony I didn't last much past the speeches. This was a considerable shame as the French know how to celebrate and have a good time. In fact by 530am there were only French left going at what was a very multi-national wedding. The French are very good at pacing themselves through to the early hours of the morning (I think the trick is to have a glass of water between wines!).
By the next day I was still not any better and had to bring out another useful phrase; "Est-ce qu'il y a un docteur dans la ville ?", which roughly translates to "Is there a doctor in the town?". Luckily the French health system is excellent and there seems to be a doctor in just about any reasonable sized town, even some unreasonably small towns! It wasn't long before some French medicine got me back on track, and at a reasonable price.
While I wouldn't wish being sick onto anyone it was a useful experience to extend my knowledge of French in an unusual situation.
Do you have any travel misadventures to share? Any phrases that came in handy or would have been handy to know? Feel free to share!
