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| Voila, a doorway to the 1960s! |
It is magical, the things you find when you turn your house upside down and shake it!
In recent weeks, I’ve been experiencing a chaotic journey as I clean up my house and paint the rooms — an elephantine project.
Yesterday I was in the cellar, trying to make room for some of the stuff that had to be moved from the upstairs. And in a pile of books on an artist’s table — my sister Katie left that table behind at our old apartment — a treasure turned up.
I found my old high school French textbook!
Funny, I had just been looking for it a month or so ago. I am trying to learn French so I can talk French to my Parisian friend Daniella. We drive together frequently to St. Louis Church downtown — Daniella says it something like “Sahn Lou-EE” — and I would love to be able to say something beyond “Bonjour” and “Bon soir.”
When I went looking for the book not long ago, I had thought was on this bookshelf in the basement. However it was not. I gave up. How would I have wound up with my high school textbook anyway? I would have had to give it back to Sacred Heart at the end of the year. Maybe I just imagined I had it.
Then yesterday, voila!
Quelle surprise!
I took the textbook up to the kitchen and this morning while I was making breakfast I reviewed Chapter 1. Much better than YouTube videos or AI. What a relief, just to be looking at a book. It’s so much easier.
And the pictures in the book!
I remembered from high school that the artwork was really cool, and sure enough. See the photo gallery up above.
It is like taking French lessons from Michele Legrand! Or Leslie Bricusse.
The drawings have a classic midcentury look. Like the artwork you see in old movies, accompanying the titles.
The photos also look really antique. They were already dated when I was in high school, in the late ‘70s. They already looked like what they are, glimpses of a culture that is pretty much gone. Correct me if I am wrong. I have not been to France in some years. I would like to be wrong.
Even the conversation is dated. I love it. Francoise is a girl. She is blond and petite. Her friend is Louise. Louise is also blond and petite.
Francois et un garcon. Il est blond et fort. He is blond and strong.
The book was stamped property of Williamsville South High School. That was where my father taught English and Latin. That solved the mystery of how I wound up with it. He must have brought it home for me in hopes that I would study more at home. I was no great shakes as a French student at Sacred Heart. None of us was. We were an unruly bunch.
“This is not country club! You are here to learn French.” Poor Sister Pat.
Now I am here to learn French again. Starting from the top. Wish me Bonne Chance.
I wonder what I’ll find next…
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