I Get By (with a little help from my French)

Pages From Jan's Travel Journal: Wednesday, June 7 2017

I awoke at 7:30, leaving Janey to sleep in. She had not rested well during the night. Desmond was also sleeping late, which was a treat for him. I leisurely sipped my coffee while checking email and messages from home. Craig was still diligently working on his expedited passport renewal, which was a frustrating activity. It seemed he was usually on the phone for hours and often received conflicting information.

Desmond woke at 9:00 and we talked for about an hour before waking Janey for a breakfast of pain au chocolat. It was a type I had never eaten before, made from a tube of refrigerated dough! We had fun assembling the pastries by placing two little logs of dark chocolate onto each rectangle of the buttery dough, and then rolling them gently into shape with our fingers. We enjoyed them fresh from the oven. Janey was still exhausted and soon crawled back into bed. Des left for work while I busied myself with household chores.

I woke Janey again at 1:30, so that we could go shopping. She had earlier expressed concern that we wouldn't be able to do much without Desmond along to translate. Des had assured Janey that her grandma knew enough French to get by quite well, but Janey still had some doubt.

Pain au chocolat from a tube! It was pretty tasty.

The two of us had fun wandering through the stores in and around Halles Chatelet. Janey wanted to purchase some bulk tea, so we went to Duo Thé et Chocolat, a shop that Desmond had recommended. The proprietor was as nice as Des had said, and even though he spoke only a bit of English we were able to communicate quite well. I noticed that he kept looking at Janey, seeming to study her features. At last he hesitantly asked me if she was Asian. When I replied that my granddaughter was half Chinese, the gentleman became quite animated and began searching through photos on his cell phone. Soon he proudly showed us an adorable picture of his own granddaughter, who is also half Chinese. By the time we left the tea shop, I felt that I had made a new friend. As we walked out into the street, Janey exclaimed, "Wow, grandma! You DO know how to speak French."

Janey was becoming tired and hungry, so we headed toward home while looking for a place to have a snack. We chose Garden Ice because it had a nice view of the Loire. After looking at the menu, I realized that there was really nothing snack-sized from which to choose. Janey ordered a plate of pasta carbonara, and we both had a coke. She dug into the pasta with eagerness, while I nibbled on a small piece of the accompanying bread. We were able to take the leftovers with us, which is something that is becoming more common in France.

A "snack" at the Garden Ice Cafe, Orleans.

On the way home, we stopped by the hardware store to purchase a fan. I'm glad the store wasn't far from home, because poor Janey was worn out. She kept apologizing for slowing me down, but I told her not to worry and that this was her vacation, too, and I wanted her to enjoy it. When Desmond returned from work, we relaxed over some cherry beer and nibbled on veggie chips. Janey had a glass of water with a splash of flavored syrup in it, and she really enjoyed those chips. For dinner, we ate the delicious lemon cream chicken that Des prepared. After that wonderful meal, we watched a movie and went to bed rather late. Janey didn't feel well, and cried and said she should have not have come to France. I comforted her as best I could, saying that she was still a bit jet-lagged and reminded her that she was not used to so much walking. Even so, she didn't fall asleep until 3:00. Still, it had been a good day.

Lemon cream chicken
 with spinach and sun-dried tomatoes.