Last night I had my first true French immersion experience on the chemin. I was the only English speaker of the 12 of us at dinner. At times someone would ask me a question and 12 pairs of eyes would stare at me as I tried to answer the best that I could. No pressure! Turns out that the mother /daughter duo from Montreal spoke English well but kept speaking French at the meal because everyone else was. My brain was tired from thinking in French but I did fairly well for the most part. Actually, the French generally seem fairly impressed with my attempts at speaking French. I think it is because most Americans can't speak it at all. I'm understanding half to two thirds of what people are saying when they are just chatting. A bit more if we are doing a transaction.
My three French roommates last night have stayed in the same gites as me for a couple of days. They have been to SF and one woman was using a water bottle that she had bought in Yosemite. Many of the people that I have met have had extraordinary adventures all over the world. A very interesting group of people walk the Camino!
It seems as though getting wifi is quite a challenge here. Lots of little villages don't have it at all. So, I will write everyday but will only be able to post when I get a wifi connection. C'est la vie.
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