Frolicking with French Friends

Le Château de Fontainebleau.

After I had been in Montmorency for a month, Tante Suzanne and Oncle Louie invited me to extend my stay and spend an entire year.  They felt that if I really wanted to learn French, I needed to spend more time.  I was ecstatic!  Oddly enough, I didn’t seem to be worried about missing my family or my friends back home!  This astounds me because I was close to my parents and we got along well. I wasn’t on some teenage jailbreak. I was having a fabulous time. 

I wrote a letter to my parents.  The cost of a phone call would have been prohibitive.  After some back and forth, it was decided that I could stay in France for a full year and then Luce would come to Washington for a year.  

Every week I wrote my parents a letter.  Usually I wrote a little each day so they could share in my experiences.  Back then the most affordable way to send a letter was by using an aerogram which was a self-stamped, light-weight piece of paper that cleverly folded up to form an envelope. Airmail was the way to go from Europe, a regular letter could take a month or more by boat!

I can't remember the names of these kids...or what we were doing!

From day one, I had a wonderful teenage time.  We hung out with a gang of kids.  Reading my journal, it seems that everyday we did something fun.  There were trips into Paris to do some sightseeing; everything from the Eiffel Tower to the Louvre.  On other days we went into Paris to the movies or to the swimming pool. Luce and I were usually joined by other boys and girls.

Outside the Château de Versailles.

During the first week, we planned a surprise-party, which was a dance party.  It was to celebrate the end of the school year. With other kids, we spent several days sweeping out the main room of the château and stringing up lights.  While we prepared the locale, we played records and danced.  I must have been quite the show-off.  I taught everyone the Jitterbug and the Charleston. They taught me to dance the paso doble.  We listened to French singers as well as American groups.

Sitting on a Deux Chevaux (two horses)

The Citroën 2CV (Deux Chevaux) was a simple, cheap car that could run forever on one tank of gas.

That summer I played tennis just about everyday with different kids.  We also spent time at a nearby volleyball court.

During the year we made day trips to Fontainebleau and Versailles.  One time we did a bicycle-rally to Chantilly which is about 20 miles away.

Le Château de Chantilly

In my journal, I write of family times with relatives of the Orsonis.  These festivities entailed a special meal and maybe some champagne. I remember once we girls were doing the dishes after a family dinner, we finished off the dregs of wine at the bottom of the glasses. This made the washing-up a giggly affair.  Speaking of alcohol, I must say, I do not remember wine or spirits being part of all the teenage parties and get-togethers.  At meals, we normally drank water.

Doing our nails out on the patio with neighbors.

We also spent a lot of time just talking.  French young people enjoy discussing politics as much as their parents.  Kids were very aware of current news events.  There was much friendly banter which was probably partially fueled by flirtation. I don’t remember any pairing-off or dating. We just had fun in a big group.

During that year, I remember the song "Petite Fleur" by Sydney Bechet:  See if you remember the song.  Here you go .