!
The French Firefighters
or the Importance of Knowing the Language of the Country
where you are going to go to.
We were coming back to France. One more time we were crossing the English Channel. One more time we could see the white rocks of England and a beautiful French coast. A lot of sea-gulls were whirling above a deck of the ferry, accompanying us. The picture was very nice and romantic. Then we left Calais for the town N. We did not know that town well, but we had no drop of anxiety, because Pierre had to meet our car on the way.||
But ... something was wrong. Pierre's mobile did not answer. The situation was not good, but it was not completely bad, because we had Maria's landline phone and her address. Oh! That number did not answer either... We were near the strange town.||
It was getting dark. We had to look for the street where Maria lived, but we had not a map of the town. There were very few people outside, but they did not speak English and I did not understand French. "Bonjour" and "Merci beaucoup" - it was my French vocabulary. It was simply awful! ||
Suddenly we saw a man in the uniform. "It is a policeman! He will help us"- I thought. Fortunately he spoke English and he was a firefighter. We were close to the fire station. After the short conversation they took a fire engine and said: "Follow us". Can you imagine the picture: a fire engine is at Maria's house?! But she was not at home! Her kind neighbour said that she had gone to her daughter Lydia's house and gave us an address. The firemen escorted us to Lydia's house.||
Some minutes later ... Pierre appeared… without us. (It was a silent scene for a moment and then – the burst of laughter!) His telephone did not work! ||
Our friends waited for us. They made a big supper. We had a nice time in that evening and there was a lot of laughter because of the situation with a fire engine, which accompanied us.||
I have a photograph with two handsome French firemen. This photograph is very dear to my heart, because those people were very kind to us! ||
At present I study ... French.||
Thank you very much for reading and correcting.
or the Importance of Knowing the Language of the Country
where you are going to go to.
We were coming back to France. One more time we were crossing the English Channel. One more time we could see the white rocks of England and a beautiful French coast. A lot of sea-gulls were whirling above a deck of the ferry, accompanying us. The picture was very nice and romantic. Then we left Calais for the town N. We did not know that town well, but we had no drop of anxiety, because Pierre had to meet our car on the way.||
But ... something was wrong. Pierre's mobile did not answer. The situation was not good, but it was not completely bad, because we had Maria's landline phone and her address. Oh! That number did not answer either... We were near the strange town.||
It was getting dark. We had to look for the street where Maria lived, but we had not a map of the town. There were very few people outside, but they did not speak English and I did not understand French. "Bonjour" and "Merci beaucoup" - it was my French vocabulary. It was simply awful! ||
Suddenly we saw a man in the uniform. "It is a policeman! He will help us"- I thought. Fortunately he spoke English and he was a firefighter. We were close to the fire station. After the short conversation they took a fire engine and said: "Follow us". Can you imagine the picture: a fire engine is at Maria's house?! But she was not at home! Her kind neighbour said that she had gone to her daughter Lydia's house and gave us an address. The firemen escorted us to Lydia's house.||
Some minutes later ... Pierre appeared… without us. (It was a silent scene for a moment and then – the burst of laughter!) His telephone did not work! ||
Our friends waited for us. They made a big supper. We had a nice time in that evening and there was a lot of laughter because of the situation with a fire engine, which accompanied us.||
I have a photograph with two handsome French firemen. This photograph is very dear to my heart, because those people were very kind to us! ||
At present I study ... French.||
Thank you very much for reading and correcting.
Have you ever had to call the emergency services? Why?