(The following is an excerpt from our book, Just a Nutter Road Trip Western USA: 20 States and 14 National Parks in 27 Days. It describes the night we spent a few hours talking to a French family who did not speak English. The following encounter is one of the most memorable experiences in all of our travels and a night my children still remember vividly. One of the things we love most about traveling is the people we meet – that’s why we created a section here on our website called exactly that. The night below is the inspiration for this section of our site.)
Day Eleven Part II (July 23, 2015)
Even though I already posted for Day Eleven, I really wanted to take the time to write about our wonderful experience last night! (Which is ironic, because in my post from yesterday, I ended saying that it would be an uneventful evening!)
Hubby was outside our RV filling the water tank, when a young girl in her twenties came over and asked if he could help her family with their RV. She was the only one in the family that spoke English, so he conversed through her, and she translated everything to her parents. They were in a Class A rental and having trouble getting the slide out and some other minor things. So, he figured out the issue and told them how to do what needed to be done to make it work. He learned that they were French and here traveling to different sites in the US for their holiday. He came back to our RV and told me the story and I commented on how many good deeds he does for others a day – he’s just a good guy like that. Later on in the evening (after we swam in the pool, fixed dinner, did laundry and cleaned the RV), I was walking out of the shower house with wet hair and in my pajamas after my shower, and hubby was standing there with a six pack of Corona (which we don’t normally drink) – so I was a little curious as to what was up. He said, “Hurry up and get ready, we’re going to drink a beer with the French people.”
Okaaayyyy. Apparently, he was walking by their site again, and the girl told him to wait as she called to her Papa. He came out with a six pack of Corona and asked if my hubby liked beer. (Uh, duh!) So hubby said, that yes, he loves beer, but it’s no big deal and he doesn’t need to give him beer. The guy insisted on giving him the beer, so hubby said he’d only drink it if they could drink it together. He said he was going to get me and we’d be back to drink with them.
I towel dried my hair and figured, what the heck? – he and I can go drink a beer with some French people. Then the kids both said they wanted to go too. So all four of us trekked on over to the French people’s campsite. We met the girl, Julie, the brother Pierre, and mother Betty, and the father Michel. The father was a 26-year retired military officer, so hubby congratulated him and thanked him for his service (through his daughter’s interpretation). We learned that the siblings were in college, the girl appeared to be a bit older and was in Law School, and the boy just said he was in college. When he learned that hubby was a high school math teacher, they all laughed and rolled their eyes as if he struggled with math.
They asked about where we were from and what we did, and I used as much French as I could remember from high school. They offered the kids drinks, but they politely declined, so then Betty nearly forced them to eat from a bowl of cherries on the table, and with a little prodding from me, my daughter responded with a smile and a “Merci” and they all seemed overjoyed that she responded in their language. They clapped for her and said “Trés Bon!” We sat and talked with them for about an hour and a half or so. They were headed to Vegas and asked us about winning lots of money at the casinos. We said they may not win a lot of money, but they’d likely see a lot of girls – the son smiled. I asked if they liked the Beatles, and they did not understand at all – even the daughter didn’t know what I meant, so I sang a little, “She loves you, yeah, yeah, yeah” and they all said “Oui! Les Beatles!” So I told them to think about seeing the Cirque d’ Soleil show, “Love” there.
They told us about their recent trip to New York City and how moved they were at ground zero and they wanted us to know that 9/11 affected them too, even though they weren’t American. Michel spoke for quite a while without being interrupted by his daughter’s translation. As he finished, he was pointing at himself with both thumbs. When we turned to Julie, she spoke his words again in English – essentially that their family stood with us, with America. They considered us friends, allies. They said they loved how Americans are proud of our heritage and fly our flag everywhere. He said that in a way, 9/11 was defining moment, and as he pointed both thumbs at himself, he was saying “We were ALL Americans that day.”
We learned that they were not really from France, but from a tiny French island territory off the coast of Africa near Madagascar. Overall, it was a spectacular night and left quite an impression on our children. We took photos together before we left and exchanged email addresses. As we were leaving, the father, Michel told us through his daughter that he was so impressed with how well-mannered and polite our children were. The kids participated in the conversation and gave their opinions in well-spoken ways. It was a nice compliment to hear that from such a man.
Soooo, that was our “uneventful” night that ended up being quite eventful! It was such a memorable experience! Now we are on our way from Barstow to Sequoia through Bakersfield. More later!
. . . and that was the night we met our “French friends.”
