How I envy your living in Paris! I checked out the PBS website and found the French in Action series is available, both the original and French in Action II. Each is 7 discs (or units) and each is $250, so you are very fortunate to have taped them, albeit they are not at hand when you need them most. Since I am once again planning a trip to France, I'd love to have them to facilitate learning some basic French but, alas, I'd have to cut my trip short to cover it. So I'll try to take a Conversational French class at the local junior college, as I did before my trip in '99.

I've never experienced a real communication problem on any of my trips to France but, with one exception, I've been with a group. Since the two of us will be getting around on our own and poking into some more out-of-the way places, I'd feel more comfortable with a lot more language skills than I have now. It's such a beautiful language, it is something I wish I'd buckled down to a very long time ago, just for the personal satisfaction.

Thanks for mentioning French in Action. I'm going to check and see if I might luck out and find it at one of the libraries here. It promises to be a very warm, presently overcast, day here in central Texas, but I'm looking at the lake and enjoying the fact that it won't be truly hot - not "Texas hot" anyway.

Bon jour, Lou Matthews in Lakeway, TX