He he he

Walking to the beach I had several conversations with neighbours, all in French. Then as I passed the gendarmerie, a woman asked me if there was another in town. I said their used to be. She was meeting a friend whom she feared had gone to the old one. We discussed the pros and cons of staying where she was since the old one was obviously being used for other services.

Walking on, I continued to enjoy the day, do some writing in my head, as I often do on walks, and only about 15 minutes later did I realise that I was thinking in French.

I wanted to sing and shout…I know I’ve dreamed in French after watching a French movie or after spending an evening only talking in French, but to be head-writing in French is a new step. We won’t discuss how good or bad the head-writing was.

I am NOT gifted in languages. In fact learning French has been the hardest thing I have ever done intellectually. My accent, although I've been told is improving – I suspect people are merely getting used to it – and I can read it easily, I still make too many grammatical mistakes. But I will take whatever progress I can get. And no I will not submit any French writing to publishers.