Oh how I’ve come to adore that wonderful of most wonderful things called the Vide Grenier. Somewhere along the line the French got the hang of how fun a garage sale would be, only they took it a step further and made it “a day in the life of the village”.
I have serious issues with the passé simple and the passé du conditionnel amongst others, but the one that gets me every time is the subjunctive (le subjonctif). I don’t even get why it exist! What’s more, the rules behind using it are so complicated! How in the world do the French ever get this one down?
After moving to France and living in the city my whole life, I started to gravitate toward the countryside when deciding to buy my first home in Provence. The hustle and bustle of everyday life was not for me anymore. I never had any peace and quiet, there were too many cars on the road (French people don’t walk as much as the used to), I was surround all the time by neighbors, I had no yard or garden and the city was not very clean. Life had changed me and I wanted a piece of the old, quiet, French life that I saw in the movies. That’s what I wanted and that is what I found. Was I becoming an old fogey?!
I’m a nut case, I tell you. I majored in International Business and French Language and Culture Studies at the California State University in San Bernardino. Despite being a stay-at-home mom and not knowing a word of French, it sounded like the perfect degree for me!
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