BRIVE-LA-GAILLARDE 2015

My host mom’s parents live in Brive so after we left Tours, we stayed there for a few days. The house I stayed in was actually the house she grew up in. It felt like family, warmth, and memories. There was petit point and children’s drawings covering the walls, the windows all had wooden shutters and the floors squeaked, and family photos were tucked in every corner. You could see there was a lot of love here.

The grandmother was full of energy and spunk! While Anaïs was eating a crêpe, she grabbed the bottom of it and threw it on the table as a joke. At one point, she had me laughing hysterically as she tickle-attacked me saying “Tu moque de moi!” (you’re making fun of me). She was very caring and quickly made me feel like I was welcomed there, like an additional grandchild she picked up along the way. She was constantly flitting about, cooking, cleaning, or creating something out of fabric. She’s a professional seamstress so she loves to keep busy with a project.

The grandfather who was a short man with a push-broom mustache spoke French with an accent that, at first, was difficult for me to understand. He also speaks Patois, an older language from that region not widely spoken. I learned a little bit from him: “cake” in Patois sounds like “boo-lee-goo”, “summer” is “ee-stee-oo” and “à demain” is “à dee-moh”. He was really laid back and let his grandchildren climb all over him. Louis played with what little hair he had on top of his head and gave him a mohawk.

This week was a little challenging for me with all of the new people, rapid fire conversations, different accents and dialects. I am proud to say I adapted well and only had a few moments of mental fatigue. However, I did have another funny moment where I said “Je veux vraiment un trone, avec un camera” I meant to say “drone” but my “d” came out a little harder than I expected it to. “Trone” is the french word for “throne” and also slang for “toilet”. Needless to say- I said I wanted a toilet with a camera. But who doesn’t want a toilet with a camera?