Friday, November 18, 2016

Language, Wine and The French Flag




When I arrived in France I had completed only one year of middle school French.  Consequently, upon arrival, I understood very little.  Luce had many friends and they were friendly and welcoming.  But I remember standing around and finding their conversations very, very long.  In those first few weeks, my head would be spinning at the end of the day.  My Mother had packed my bible in my suitcase. This fact is remarkable in that I don’t think of my mother as particularly religious.  When I queried her about the existence of God, she bought me a copy of The Golden Bough written by Frazer in 1890Let me quote Wikipedia here: “Frazer proposed that mankind progresses from magic through religious belief to scientific thought.”  Nonetheless, I was grateful for the bible in ENGLISH!  I found it relaxed my brain to read The Book of Ruth or the story of Deborah and Barak!



It’s a funny thing about your brain and absorbing language. It happens quite magically.  One day after a couple of months, I woke up and I could understand almost everything.  Comprehension just crept up on me and sprang into action.  On the other hand quasi-self-expression took many more weeks.

I attended classes with Luce for a week or two.  In France, the school year finished at the end of June.  I particularly remember her Italian teacher who took the time to chat with me.  He taught me a phrase that expresses the French as well as the Italian view of wine.  
“Qu’est-ce que c’est le vin?”  - “What is wine?”
“C’est le soleil en bouteille.”  - “It’s sunshine in a bottle.”


I met an English girl who was staying with another family in Montmorency.  One day we decided to go into Paris together to do some shopping.  We wanted to buy gifts to take back home.  I had decided to buy a French flag for my brother, Mark.  I found a shop and bought a large flag. It was wrapped in a long sheet of newsprint.


Here we are walking along. I apologize for these scratchy old pictures.

As we walked along the paper loosened and blew away. The flag unfurled and was whipping around in the breeze.  Before I could wrap it back up again we heard whistles and shouts.  A minute later we were accosted by two gendarmes!  Remember this was the period of the Algerian revolt.  The government was worried about terrorist attacks. They felt that walking down the street with le drapeau tricolore flying could cause unrest and possible reprisals. Eventually they captured the wayward paper and we wrapped up the flag.

Annie and my flag.

Friday, November 11, 2016

Montmorency and a First Supper

Montmorency cherries!  I'll have to admit I never saw a cherry tree while I lived there.
My new French family picked me up at Orly Airport.  We arrived in Montmorency in the late afternoon.  The town is located north of Paris in the hills.


Note Montmorency in orange. It's in the Département de Val-d'Oise.



A view down the hill in Montmorency.

La Place du Marché- Montmorency's market square.
The Orsonis lived in a semi-detached house on the enclosed grounds of a "château."  They had an end unit with a patio behind the house.  There were garden paths meandering between the units.  A wall enclosed the compound.  Up near the main road was the “château” which was more of a dilapidated manor house.  It was empty and residents were able to use the formal rooms for parties.  An open grassy area spread out in front. Among the trees was a tennis court.  In the spring and summer we played a lot of tennis with neighborhood kids.
Here's Annie playing tennis
The Orsoni house contained a kitchen, living and dining room on the first floor with French doors out to the patio.  Upstairs there were three bedrooms, a bathroom and a water closet. The finished attic served as another bedroom.  I was given a nice bedroom with a bed, a desk and an armoire for my belongings.

That first afternoon I walked with the girls to the bakery for a baguette.  In my journal I write: French bread here ...is thinner and 10 times as long."  Later we stood outside and talked with a couple of neighborhood girls.  I remember the time as being very long since I understood little of their conversation. I had only one year of middle school French under my belt.  Undoubtedly I was also exhausted after the 20 hour flight.

Dinner was at 7:30.  The meal began with a green lettuce salad, then fresh peas followed by cheese and oranges.  This was the usual menu for evening supper.  Tante Suzanne was somewhat of a vegetarian.  We ate lots of fresh vegetables and fruit with a small amount of meat.  Since she shopped at the local market, we ate what was in season.  When string beans were flooding the market, we had them every other night.  They were always delicious with a pat of butter and a sprinkle of parsley.  

Often the lettuce was purchased from a nearby farm. It was grown in long greenhouses.  Sometimes I was sent to get it and my memory is of a pleasant walk through hill and dale.

When I see this painting: Red Roofs by Pissarro, I think of the walks I took around Montmorency.

A luscious head of lettuce.

The dressing for the salad was made in advance at the bottom of the bowl.  Then the lettuce was piled on top so it wouldn’t wilt.  The salad was tossed at the table.  The standard dressing was 3 tablespoons of oil to 1 of vinegar, salt, pepper and maybe some French mustard.  This is the dressing I still make today with an added shake of garlic powder.

We often had a Camembert for the cheese course or a piece of Gruyère, or Port Salut. 

A Camembert Cheese
That first night I was asked which bread I preferred.  There was a fresh, crispy baguette that we’d bought at the bakery that afternoon and then there was a VERY dense loaf of whole wheat bread. I picked the baguette and everyone started laughing.  As I learned, the children preferred the baguette but during the week we ate the whole wheat loaf which was undoubtedly better for us!

Bread is an essential of life. When the French discuss the current cost of living, they often reference the price of bread.

A display of bread in the baker's shop.

Friday, November 4, 2016

My French Family

Orly was a small airport back then.  Charles de Gaulle airport did not exist.
When I arrived at Orly Airport, there was no one to greet me.  After a time I went to the visitor's desk to request that they announce my arrival over the loudspeaker system.  A few minutes later my new family appeared.

The Orsoni family included four children: Jean - 23, Pierre - 20, Luce -17 and Annie -13.  I addressed the parents as Oncle Louis and Tante Suzanne.

Here I am with Oncle Louis and Tante Suzanne. This picture was taken several years later when I was 23.
During most of my stay, Jean was absent.  He was completing his military service.  I believe all young men had to serve for 2 years or so.  At that time Algeria was fighting for its independence from France.  In May of that year, there had been a revolt in Algeria and Charles de Gaulle, who had left the government 12 years previously, returned to head the 5th Republic.  Jean served in Algeria for several months.  As I remember he was stationed in a lookout on top of a mountain.  With his fellow soldiers, he conducted surveillance of the desert below. It was a lonely spot.  Tante Suzanne sent him care packages of dried fruit, books and yarn.  He and his buddies spent long hours knitting!

Rugged Algerian mountains.
Pierre, the second son, was in college in Lille.  He attended L’Ecole National d’Arts et Métiers and was studying to be an engineer.  He came home for holidays.  I’ll have to admit I was smitten with him, but then again I was smitten with several French boys and young men at the time.

Me, Oncle Louis, Grand-père, Pierre and Luce. I believe we were attending a wedding. I didn't have a party dress but I did have my white gloves!
Luce and I became close friends.  That year she was studying for her Baccalauréat exam.  This test is taken at the end of one’s high school studies and is the ticket to move on to university. She needed to study assiduously that year but we managed to have a lot of fun.  Luce returned with me to the States the following year.

Luce and I in the gardens of Versailles.


We took a picture of Luce with all the books and dictionaries she used for her baccalauréat with a Latin major.
Annie and I attended classes together although I was a bit older. Due to my rudimentary knowledge of French, I was placed a year behind in school. In spite of this, I seemed closer in maturity to Luce.  Annie was a cheerful, fun-loving girl.

Annie after a snow storm -an exciting and rare occurrence in the Paris area.