The Kitchen Story

Relocating to France was full of adventures. The first big hindrance, I didn’t speak French and the Bordelais don’t want to speak English. I found my house with the help of a concierge but there was a problem, it didn’t have a kitchen. We arrived with a young child, 200 boxes and no kitchen. Priority number one after the movers left… find a kitchen.

My husband agreed that flying my Mom in was probably cheaper than a nervous breakdown and in came my Mom. My Mom, Carli (pacifier in mouth) and I left the house with a map, some addresses and a dictionary. I walked into store number one and said, “Parlez vous anglais?” (Do you speak English?) The answer was, “non!” (no) I promptly said, ”au revoir” (good bye) and left. This happened about 5 times more and then a man said, “wait!” He went and got a young man who spoke very limited English but it was enough. I explained the situation and he came with me to the house. Within 2 hours a kitchen was ordered and men were installing a fridge and a stove to hold me over until mine came. My husband’s secretary was calling me crazy on the phone for not bargaining more but the man who could speak English sold the kitchen. Four and one half years later I sold this kitchen when I left the house. We lost no money, my husband was thrilled and we had a kitchen in a short amount of time. I learned one of my favorite french words, “d’accord” (okay). As I talked he kept saying “d’accord”. After awhile, I asked does that word mean okay? Yes, I am in accord, d’accord means okay!