Je voudrais une billet à Lévis

My first sentence

Yesterday, at the tender age of 51, and after seven years of long-forgotten French in high school and college, I constructed and uttered my first complete sentence in a French-speaking country:

• "Je voudrais une billet à Lévis."

In English, that would be:

• "I would like one ticket to Lévis."

I had just walked from our apartment to the ferry and needed to buy a ticket to Lévis, just across the St. Lawrence River. The 10-minute walk gave me an opportunity to construct, review and practice this momentous sentence in my head.

​The ticket person immediately replied "Aller-simple ou aller-retour?" to which I responded with a blank stare. He then motioned with his arms elaborately: "one way, or there and back?" I motioned in return: "there and back".

Lévis

Once on the other side, I met Alison and The Johnson Family, our neighbors from Lexington, who happen to be vacationing in the area also. A small, Canadian world. They are staying in a small, waterfront cabin right on the St. Lawrence. Earlier in the day, they had met us in Old Town for lunch and then Alison spent the afternoon with them. Here are some photos from the day.