Bonjour à tous! Today was a fun, lazy finish to this weekend. It was lazy because I didn't do a lot, and it was fun because what I did do was go to Germany! The weather was beautiful; there was plenty of sun, few clouds, and a subtly cool breeze making it the best day we've had in a while.
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The bridge in the Jardin
des Deux Rives. |
This afternoon my roommate and I biked to the Jardin des Deux Rives which is seated along the Rhin river that separates France and Germany. We locked up our bikes in France and walked across the bridge, switching countries. It was as simple as that. No one was checking passports or anything.
It was a pretty abrupt change when we got to Germany. We went from hearing French, to German. Even the surrounding houses looked very different. We found a patch of grass in the sun and sat for an hour or so, doing homework, knitting, or enjoying the rays. Hunger overtook us and we decided to walk around look for a restaurant that was open. As we searched, we realized that we were in Germany. People speak German in Germany, not French. Or even English for that matter! Uh oh. I don't know about you, but I don't even know how to say "I can't speak German" in German. We've been use to finding our limits with French and being able to ask (in French) if someone could speak English, but looking for a French speaker seemed a little counterintuitive.
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| A German street. |
Luckily, we found a sandwich shop that was open which had a sigh out front reading "ici, on parle francais" (here we speak French). We could not have been more excited to know that someone could speak the language we've been struggling with everyday. Our food was yummy, and not too different from the sandwiches we've often had for lunch, and we made our way back into France and on our way home. It was funny heading back. The way to the park seemed mostly uphill so we were excited to have an easier way home. Sadly, going down slight declines into the wind isn't as gratifying as one would expect. But we made it home only slightly winded and were able to mirror our lazy mornings.
T'was a good 10.10.10! À plus!
2 comments:
Riding downhill into the wind is almost like going uphill both ways! :) Had to laugh, as well, at the thought of being excited to find a place that speaks your second language. Oh, the trials and tribulations of the casual foreign tourist. Not quite the same going from country to country as it is going from state to state!
How amazing to bike/walk across a bridge and be in a whole different culture. I laughed when I read how comforting it was to find someone who speaks French. :)
How cool that you've been to two of the four of your heritage countries. With France and Germany checked off the list, just England and Italy to go!!
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