Okay, Linda... you got me. Your post with the meme, "French Husband" was very timely, as I added a discussion topic to my Facebook Fan Page to talk about what it's like to be married to a Frenchman and was wondering what to post there as an opener. Problem solved!
So of course, I had to do the meme. Here goes (and apologies in advance to Georges since I'm doing this on the fly and haven't actually read the whole thing yet!) and let's hope I get the important stuff right:
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1. He’s sitting in front of the TV, what is on the screen?
Nothing... he doesn't watch TV. Once in a great while, he'll turn on a football (that's soccer to you Americans) match if France is playing, but otherwise he'd rather do other things. He reads a great deal. I do know there is one French program he likes, though, a political satire show that uses large puppets made up as French political figures (I'm sure there's a Sarko puppet in there), and he might watch that on his computer sometimes.
2. You’re out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad?
If we're in France, you don't normally "choose" a salad dressing in a restaurant; the salad comes with whatever house vinaigrette the chef has made (or bought). If we're in America he'd probably also choose whatever is closest to a "normal" vinaigrette or a simple vinegar and oil if nothing else appeals to him. At home, we don't keep bottled dressing; #1 it's really not very good and the selection is poor, and #2, Georges makes a delicious "vinaigrette moutarde" so that's what we have.
3. What’s one food he doesn’t like?
Ha! That's easy: PEANUT BUTTER. Won't go near it. That's fine; more for me. As far as typical French fare and most other "foreign" foods, he eats pretty much anything. He did tell me that he never ate cheese until he was 30, though; just didn't develop a taste for it until then and even now doesn't eat massive amounts of it. Not your typical Frenchie in that respect!
4. You go out to eat and have a drink. What does he order?
In France, he'll choose some kind of beef, perhaps steak tartare or something cooked but very rare, probably with a "blonde" (that's a pale amber beer, not a girl) or a Corona if they've got it on the menu. In the U.S. he will also often order beef, but it's now a joke between us that he'll probably never get it anything close to rare as it's "rare" to find that nowadays... we're always warned to cook meet medium to well done in the U.S. Yet I don't notice outbreaks of food poisoning in France from undercooked beef. Hmmm...
5. Where did he go to high school?
I don't know the name of the lycée but he pointed it out to me; it's near the Parc Monceau. An all-boys school, too, I think.
6. What size shoe does he wear?
I admit I had to peek at a pair of shoes he's not wearing, but American men's size 9. I think that's a 43 in the European sizes.
7. If he was to collect anything, what would it be?
Comic books; not the paperback kind but the hard-cover ones. Our (his) library is already full of them and I am looking at a stack of them right now on our bedroom table.
8. What is his favorite type of sandwich?
I'm not sure he has a favorite type of sandwich, although he'll eat a baguette with ham and cheese or maybe chicken. He loves kebab though, so perhaps a "grec" which is like a sandwich with kebab meat.
9. What would this person eat every day if he could?
Jelly Bellies. Or other types of "bon-bons" which are what the French call all varieties of candies like licorice, gummy bears and on. It's a family trait: the sweet-tooth... and I sure married into the right family in that case!
10. What is his favorite cereal?
Never eats cereal, hot or cold. His favorite breakfast right now is when I toast him an English-style muffin, which he'll have with butter and cherry preserves, and dunk in his morning coffee. He's a dunker. Also likes some OJ with that.
11. What would he never wear?
A dark suit. Says it makes him look like a banker. He did look good in the suit he picked out for our wedding... but even that, he hasn't worn again. He prefers to wear black pants with a more colorful jacket, tie and shirt combination. The man loves color!
12. What is his favorite sports team?
Since he's not big on sports, I'd have to say just that he'll support the French team in football or rugby if they're playing. Otherwise it's a non-issue. I recently learned that he is a Trekkie, but at least I am not a sport-widow!
13. Who did he vote for?
I can feel my Republican family and maybe even certain friends back home cringing as I write this, but he votes Socialist (or he might vote Centrist if the candidate was good). In American, people often mistake "Socialist" for "Communist" even though they're not at all the same thing. Here in France, the Socialist party is the largest of the more liberal parties, closest probably to our Democratic party in the U.S. And since I no longer swing to the right politically (although I was a Reagan girl in my youth), we have no political conflict (or any other conflict, for that matter) in our marriage.
14. Who is his best friend?
Gilbert, a friend he's had since his University years.
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn’t do?
Hmmm, something I do that he wishes I wouldn't... probably talking to him in English when he's trying to listen to the radio in French. I'm learning to ask him if he's really concentrating on the radio before diving into a one-sided conversation.
16. What is his heritage?
To me, his heritage is very interesting. He is French on his mother's side; she was from the Lorraine region. His father was a Russian-Moldavian emigré who came to France from Saint Petersburg as a young man during the Russian Revolution; his father's parents wanted him to avoid the conflict and be safe. So he came to France, and then years later had to survive WWII. Georges' Moldavian last name (which is now my legal last name but which I don't publish here to give Georges and the kids their privacy) is not at all difficult to pronounce (no "dev" or "ski" or too many consonants together) but it really confuses the hell out of the French for some reason, and they constantly mis-spell or mis-pronounce it. They do the same with my maiden name, too, so together we create twice the confusion and we think it's hilarious.
17. You bake him a cake for his birthday; what kind of cake?
He loves the killer chocolate brownies I made last year. I'll probably do it again this year, too. (Winking at Georges)
18. Did he play sports in high school?
Not so much, although I'm sure like all French kids he got in some physical activity every week, but the French don't do school-sponsored sports teams and it's not a big thing here as it is in the States. I don't think he specialized in any one sport; he was more academic in his interests.
19. What could he spend hours doing?
Playing the piano; playing a few favorite computer games (he's also invented a computer game or two); and reading... a lot of reading, now mainly on his iPod where he downloads his favorite classics as well as new things (he's currently reading the "Twilight" books -- in English -- that have been come so popular. I'm about to read the first one of those myself, in paperback).
20. What is one unique talent he has?
I can't pick just one. Part of how I fell in love with him was the first time he played the piano for me (he's much better at it than I am). He also was the one who helped me recover all my computer files when my hard-drive crashed -- even though it was a PC and he's a die-hard Mac user; he's very good with computer and internet things, even more so than I am, and I used to be in the corporate I.T. world for years and by training. He just comes by it more naturally, I think. He is an exceptionally kind, gentle, patient and unconditionally loving man,
both with me and with his children, so I'd call that a gift as well as
a "talent".
If your husband's not French, you can still do this meme. It's universal! (An aside to Georges: How'd I do, sweetie?)
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Hmmm, I wonder... if I can use this meme as part of my documentation for the préfecture de police in a few months, when we have to prove we've got a real marriage as part of my carte de séjour renewal?
