That’s right, even after a 5 hour delay at Newark and trying to find our way around Charles-de-Gaulle, the 9 kids and 2 chaperones have arrived in Marseille. I’m with my family now, and they’ve been extremely kind to me, even after I discovered that I’d left the key to my bag on ny desk at home (whoops)! Anyway, I just wanted everyone to know that I arrived safely and that I’m having a wonderful time, just like everyone predicted. Tomorrow, the rest of the family is coming over to have a BBQ… I have a beautiful view of the city from my room, and they even have indoor plumbing. 
Talk to everyone when I get back… I don’t think I’ll get to spend TOO much time on here, seeing as I didn’t actually come just so I could type messages at 10 WPM (thanks to the French keyboard layout) to you. I’m rather tired now, so I think I’ll get some sleep. I bet I won’t even be able to understand what I wrote when I get home.
à demain!
Alors, vous parlez Francais?? Bon. Enjoy your time there!!
??? How are you here and in France?
Do they have phones now there?
Sani, I’m so happy to know you arrived safely. I hope you have a wonderful, fabulous time there. Take lots of pictures and tell us all about it when you get back. And if you happen by any chance to meet any nice, Jewish Frenchmen while you’re there, tell them about me, k?
I heard that when Sanibelman landed at Chas. de Gaulle Airport in Paris, France surrendered.
Sanibel, what? No “Win a Post Card from Paris” thread? Hmpfffff.
You’re off an adventure, Sani! Have fun, and keep in touch when you can.
It’d be great if you could send us periodic notes here, kind of like a journal. (Sort of along the lines that Chief Scott does.) Just on your impressions, how you’re doing, what you see and learn, people you meet…
Lawsamussy, we could use the culture and it’d be a nice “as it happened” journal for you to look back on.
Though experiencing it comes first; we’ll pump the details outta you later no matter what.
All the best to you, Sani!
Veb
Happy trails, pal!
And, while you’re there soak up some culture and bring it back. We do so need some on the board.
Don’t forget the pictures!
Glad to hear you made it safely, Sani. Have a great time over there, and keep us updated like Veb suggested, please. Wish I was there with you, rusty though my french is.
{{{{{{SanibelMan}}}}}}
Tres bien mon ami.
Est que tu informe des police locale?
I have no idea what I just said. But it sounds French.
Have a great trip!Neither do I, smug, and I’m a francophone. It could either mean “Have you enquired about local police?” or “Are you a local police informant?”
But you’re right: it does, somewhat, in a vague way, sound like something resembling French…
Thanks, Sani. I just won a bet with MoosieGirl. See, I told her French keyboards have a different layout. She’s a stubborn French Canuck, and a translator to boot, and assured me I was mistaken. Hah!
That’ll be 2 cases of Murphy’s Irih Stout, to be shipped to Amsterdam. Woohoo 
Oh, and have a good time Sani. France is beautiful. For the true Eueopean experience: make sure to watch some Euro 2000 matches in crowded bars! You might even see the Dutch team: they’re the orange guys
Have a blast Sani. Visit a nude beach for the rest of us.
I am still having a problem wrapping my brain around the idea of French BBQ.
[Clutching heart and staggering] I’m comin’ to join ya, Sani, I’m comin’ to join ya!
Our flight arrives this Friday, 6/17, in Charles de Gaulle, and we’ll stay near Beaune. We’ve rented a villa attached to a vintner’s!
Sani, I’ve never “met” you on this board before, but I’m glad to salute another Francophile. I’m jealous! Is Marseille as rough-and-tumble as I’ve heard? Oh, for some boullabaise!
Smug, I believe you said was “Have you informed the local police”?
Hey Sani, don’t forget our postcards and French pasties (or is that pastries?)!
Hmm, maybe it’s panties… No, you’re right, it’s pastries.
It’s been a hectic couple of days here. The barbecue was good, and we had chicken, sausage, and… duck. Along with a rice and eggs and olive salad kinda thing. I also went bowling with Benjamin (my correspondant), and another student and the guy he’s staying with. We ate at Quick, the French (and Dutch too, I know, Coldfire) fast food chain, where you can buy a pasta salad, called an Inventive Bimbo. Really.
Yesterday, we went shopping in Marseille… It’s a nice city, just like any other big city, and I think they’ve cleaned it up alot in the last few years. Today we visited the Senaque abbey and the Pont du Gard, and I got a beautiful picture of the aquaduct. We’re going to the cinema tonight and tomorrow we’ll visit the Chateau d’If. I’ll have another report in a couple of days; talk to y’all then!
Myself, I would be more than happy to eat an Inventive Bimbo. Could you score one for me and send her instead of the postcard? Just drill holes in the box.
Sani, I am insanely jealous. I want to travel! Send me a postcard, or a cheap little trinket! I’ll be your bestest friend!
Sanibel Man,
As someone who took two years of French, remember that all important question: “Where’s the Bathroom?”, is, in French:
“Voulez-vous coucher avec moi?”
I hope you’re still having a wonderful time. Aren’t you going to go to Paris in the next few days? I know you’ll love it, be sure to stop into the Rodin Museum if you’re not to busy.
BTW, are you going to be doing any exploring in Alsace? I’m a little biased, but I must say I think it’s one of the prettiest regions in France. Strasbourg is a little gem of a city!
Coldfire:
Moosiegirl may be part right. I’m typing on a bilingual Canadian keyboard right now. Right now, Windows is set to English keys, so I can type in English without my apostrophes turning into accents-aigus or some such. But I can switch it into French, no problem. (Of course, since I have the ascii codes for the most common accented letters memorized, and since Word lets me type accented characters very swiftly, I usually don’t, although my francophone roommate does.) It has both keypatterns laid out on it, with the French characters beside the English ones (e.g. my / key looks like this:
_____
|? É|
|/ é|
|___|
So, in a certain way she’s right, in that anglophone and francophone Quebecers use the same keyboard.