posted by Charles H. Russo on Aug 18
August 18th 2007
So on the way home from the hospital this morning (more on that in the next blog entry) we stopped at a boulangerie (bakery). I went in and did the polite bonjour and then asked for deux bagettes s’il vous pla?t (two baguettes please).
I’m not sure how to translate baguette, it’s the basic bread here that is long and skinny. I remember the first time I bought one when I arrived in France. I was very disappointed when the next morning I went to eat some of it for breakfast and it was soft and chewey. Yuk! What happened? Well it doesn’t conserve long at all. Which means you must buy them fresh, sometimes twice a day.
Ok so what’s two bagettes have to do with George Bush? So the baker, hearing my petit accent asks me if I’m from American (which is very good because 90% of the French think I’m British) and I say yes I’m from the US. And then she looks at her coworker and they say “Ahh George Bush”. I said Je suis venu en France pour ?chapper George Bush (I came to France to escape from George Bush). That really made them laugh. I paid my 2 Euros (about $2.75) and we said goodbye, still smiling and laughing.
It’s funny how many times George Bush comes up in a conversation immediately after me saying that I’m American. It’s like some kind of test. I have to say I’m against Bush to be accepted. Now this is easy because I’m not a fan of George Bush. But do the French really think every American is behind Bush? The polls in the US show otherwise. And his support is dropping. I need a pin that says “I do not support Bush”. I’m sure I’d get applause from people in public that I don’t even know. It’d be a fun experiment.
I wonder what they’ll be saying in 2009 when I say I’m American. At least it won’t be George Bush.
everydayfrance.com
Leave a Reply