This is my first blog post and I am looking forward to reaching out to a public who is interested in France and all things French. I really desire communication with you all, so please comment, and add your input to the discussion.

Going back in history, I would like to mention my parents, good people, intelligent and interested in politics and current affairs. They did not have any higher education, but early on bought sets of books, perhaps for themselves, or perhaps to inspire and inform their only child, little Geraldyne. There were the works of Dickens, Mark Twain, Edgar Allen Poe, and surprisingly the works of Guy de Maupassant. In my early years I leafed through the pages of these volumes and one day saw some strange words in italics. Something about these words captivated and intrigued me. I went to my mother and asked her what the words meant. Amazingly, since she had never studied a foreign language, she responded, “That’s French.” And I said at that moment, “When I grow up, I am going to learn that language so I know what these words mean.” And so began a life-long love affair with the French language.