Testing my resolve I often look back over the day and imagine how it would have been if I had been restricted to speaking and understanding French. For the most part I am confident that most casual interactions would be no problem - despite the SW accent which we need to tune in to every visit. We have been successful already in finding wonderful French workers to install a roof window, clear drains, fell trees, repair our generator and mend the boiler. We visit our French bank, the mairie and have reported a burglary to the gendarmerie. On the other hand...
Today I went to my wonderful dentist who has patiently (and expensively) kept me eating solid food for probably 25 years. Now this aspect of relocation really does scare me - I have visions of leaving my first visite chez le dentiste sans dents! I always feel I can understand quite well what people are getting at but it is all too easy to get quite the wrong message and a dental misunderstanding could leave me unsmiling. My hairdresser ( now that's another thing - French person with scissors getting the wrong idea) may well take me up on free holidays for a hairdo - perhaps the dentist would like to try a mobile service!
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