Well, it’s March, and for my husband and me, that means our annual trip to France. Each year during spring break we spend a week in France. We chose a different destination, but always stop to visit friends in Normandy.
A few years ago, we decided that our destination would be the abbey of Conques. I was taking a medieval art class for my master’s degree, and we had studied the saint whose relics were kept at the abbey as well as some of the architectural features of the abbey. It was a place that I desperately wanted to see.
Whenever we travel in France, we always rent a car to get around. Yes, the trains in Europe are highly efficient and convenient to use, but they don’t stop wherever I want to, which is not convenient for me! For this particular trip, we flew to Nice. We were driving north to visit Conques and then on to Normandy to visit with our friends. My husband is always the driver, and I am always in charge of the road atlas. He’s the pilot and I’m the navigator.
Well, on this particular occasion, my husband insisted the navigator had made a mistake. “We’re lost,” he announced. “You need to ask someone for directions.” Whenever we’re in France, I’m the speaker. My husband can say “bonjour” and “ma femme est très jalousie”-my wife is very jealous, but that’s about the extent of his ability to speak in French.
So we pulled over in a small town to ask how to get to Conques. Now mind you, we were in southern France. I asked a gentleman about the road to Conques, and he didn’t seem to understand my question. So I asked it again, and still no comprehension. After about the fifth time of repeating myself, I decided to spell the name of the town C-O-N-Q-U-E-S.
“Ah,” he said, “ConquAH!” Even in the south of France there is a southern accent and I had not perfected mine. “Yes,” I replied, “ConquAH.”
He then proceeded to provide us with very precise directions to Conques. We toured the abbey and the town, saw the treasure of the abbey, and had a wonderful meal in a lovely restaurant.
As we have had the opportunity to travel more in the south of France, I have continued to experience the French southern accent and the region’s southern hospitality. We continue our adventures in a car, and I will always be the navigator and the translator! I wonder what surprises this year’s trip will bring us, but it’s sure to be a bon voyage!
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