July 6, 1976
Dear Mom and Dad,
Bonjour! We’re settled nicely into our apartment here. It’s much smaller and less comfortable than our apartment in Annecy but it’s a place to sleep and eat at any rate. We’re in a very French quarter - no tourists at all. I guess that’s why it was fairly cheap. It’s a little on the noisy side but other than that we’re quite pleased with the area. Lots of shops close by so shopping isn’t a problem.
Began our course the other day and are very pleased with college. The atmosphere is relaxed and friendly yet serious...we have classes this Saturday because there is a national holiday next week! They don’t want us to lose any time. Jim and I are both taking the most advanced class and the other students are very interesting people from all over the world - Greece, Holland, U.S., Spain, Poland, Korea, Austria, Austalia, England, Sweden, Germany, Italy, and Canada. Quite a mixture for a class of about 25 students! They are mostly French teachers in their own country.
The course itself promises to be very interesting - it’s a course on French Culture and Civilization. There are a number of different professors and we cover a wide range of topics - French literature, history of the language, linguistics, grammar, philosophy, geography, and history of the Côte d’Azure, etc. Formal classes are from 9-12 and then there are excursions and activities either in the afternoon or evening. When we’re not involved in an activity or class we’ve been reading French novels, looking at TV, or listening to the radio so we’ve been getting lots of French. In fact, as I’m writing this letter I have to think twice about how to spell the occasional word in English!
We enjoyed our time in Annecy very much and are very grateful to Monique for our time there. After Monique left we met a very nice couple about our age with whom we passed two very enjoyable evenings. They insisted on taking us to the railway station and seeing us off when we left. As well, they invited us to come back to Annecy on our way back and spend the week-end with them in their apartment. They want to take us to see Chamonix and Mont Blanc. We were going to rent a car and go with Monique but we didn’t have the time in the end.
I think we’ll take them up on it as we’ll have some time in September before we come back. Also, Monique’s parent have invited us for dinner if we come through Annecy again on the way back. We would enjoy seeing them again as they are fun to be with andvery obliging.
Hope you’re having a good summer - the weather here is so good that I would almost like to see a bit of rain for a change! I don’t know if you’re heard about it in Canada but France is having a very serious dry spell. It’s not really affecting us except that the prices of food may go up in August because of the agricultural problems.
Love to all,
Jim and Janice
P.S.
Dad, sorry about Father’s Day. We completely forgot about it. However, even if I managed to find just the right card here, you wouldn’t understand it!
Happy Father’s Day, after all!
!xxx000!
I liked this picture of Cannes I found on the Internet.
Our college in Cannes and Dorli and her car.
