Connaissez-vous Mme Milcent?

Posted by Rosie

Which for those of you who do not speak French translates as "Do you know Mrs Milcent?"

I went to order some wood on Friday and having agreed to buy some, I then had the unenviable task of trying to direct the wood seller to our house, in French and made worse by the fact he was coming the cross-country route and .... well .... being as it was evening time he had already had a couple of glasses of his favourite tipple. Still, I struggled on and got the directions so far when I had an idea. "Connaissez-vous Mme Milcent?" I enquired. "Ah oui, bien sur," he replied. "In that case it's easy," I replied, with a sigh of relief, "we live next door."

Mme Milcent is our wonderful neighbour. She has been a godsend, helping us out with all manner of things and is like a surrogate grandma to the boys. Mind you, sometimes you have difficulty seeing her as she is so often out and about with friends or has guests visiting. She is one of those people who knows everyone and welcomes everyone to her home. So for a couple of English ex-pats who don't know their left from their right in English, let alone French, having her as a neighbour has been a life-saver, more than a few times!