My French Oasis

Because I am getting over still in the midst off a sinus infection that makes me want to sleep 15 hours a day and every time I cough the front of my head threatens to explode, I decided to skip my French lesson today. The antibiotics haven't entirely kicked in yet, so I figure by tomorrow I'll feel a bit more human.

I hate missing my weekly French class, in part because I've already paid for it, but mainly because it is like my 90-minute "island" of total French-ness in a life that has the other 166.5 hours per week filled with my usual American routine of work-work-work. I have to drive 45-50 minutes to get to the class. Then for a hour and a half I struggle to comprehend what others are saying and struggle to find the right words to express my own thoughts. Then 5-10 minutes of après-classe chat with my fellow students as we make our way out to our cars. Then 45-50 minutes to drive home, unless I stop for lunch on the way home. With driving and class time, it takes up my entire Wednesday morning. It's like a little French oasis smack-dab in the middle of my week.

Of course this week, I was lazy and didn't do the homework assignment, so in a way it was a relief not to have to admit that to Madame Martine (again!) But to make up for it, I'm trying to finish the book French Women Don't Get Fat, which I have been reading off and on for about six months. The book was featured on yesterday's Oprah and was a great reminder of how important it is for me to learn to enjoy my food instead of seeing it as "the enemy", particularly now that I am making a concerted effort to lose a great deal of weight through some significant lifestyle changes.

So, as a substitute for my French class today, here are the new words and tips I picked up from French Women Don't Get Fat:

• une petite goutte - a tiny sip. The way French women drink wine and champagne; they don't guzzle it.
• A recipe for Chicken au Champagne that only takes 30 minutes and which might inspire me to actually cook. Especially because I can have some of the leftover champagne with the meal!
• You can drink champagne with practically everything--the author says it even goes wonderfully with pizza!--except: foods with spicy sauces or heavy cream sauces, artichokes, asparagus, and chocolate, all of which neutralize the flavor of the champagne. Since the author is the president and CEO of Cliquot, Inc., I think we can take her word on this.
• bien-être - wellness. What French women strive for.
• eating en cachette - eating in private. What most fat people end up doing often. The French don't - they eat in public, at a table, and thoroughly enjoy themselves whether they are eating alone or with others.
• menu plaisirs - little pleasures. Like having chocolate, but par petites doses (in small doses). It means you can eat what you like but not in huge quantities and not all the time.
• Je raffole de chocolat - basically means "I am a chocoholic". Yes, me too! I'm learning to keep a small quantity of the extra dark stuff around for when I need a fix, because I just will not gorge on it the way I would with milk chocolate.

Whether you are overweight or not, if you are someone who has a love-hate or hate-hate relationship with food or with your own body image, I strongly recommend you read this book to change your perspective. If nothing else you might find you feel a whole lot more comfortable in your own skin. (There's a French expression for that, but I forget what it is!)