D'où êtes-vous?

D'où êtes-vous?

I was stumped.  We were finishing breakfast at La Brioche Lyonnais in the Latin Quarter of Montreal, QC.  I managed, thanks to a  friendly and very patient waitress, to order my breakfast in French.  When she asked what I wanted on my sandwich, and what salad dressing I wanted, I was able to answer her questions. I explained to my wife how to ask for some more water. I was actually conversing passably in French.

But now I was stumped.  After 4 years of French in high school and college, I should have been able to answer her question. "Nous habitons a Nouveau Hampshire" would have been a great response. But it's been a long time since I studied French, and processing language at the speed of normal conversion is much trickier that reading it or slowly replying to questions. 

This is one of those experiences that made me think about this blog's topic: things we've learned but lost over time.  

The experience also reminded me that we loose knowledge over generations.  My French great-grandmother would easily have answered the question that stumped me.

Another example: friends who are taking up permaculture are re-learning skills that their grandparents and great-grandparents took for granted:  how to raise chickens, how to keep bees, how to grow vegetables and fend off the deer,  how to run the tractor, how to build fences and farm buildings.

And another: a local auto repair shop that specializes in vintage cars was working on a  1966 Ford Mustang with dealer tags.  The young mechanics at the Ford dealership, all trained to work on modern computer-controlled cars, couldn't figure out why the Mustang wouldn't start.  The problem: bad points, a six-dollar tune-up part and the first thing most old-school mechanics would check. 

Ending on an upbeat note:  if you visit Montreal, I  recommend  La Brioche Lyonnaise.  The smoked salmon was great, and the crêpes were everything you'd want a crêpe to be. Bon appétit!
  
btw... on this side of the border, Cafe Papillon in Rehobeth Beach, Delaware is a good bet.