Thursday, January 28, 2016

Entant Cordial



Once again my piece for Friday Fictioneers would be better described as Faction, based as it is on something that actually happened to me when I purchased a large run down house in a small French farming village.

Picture: Chateau-de-Sable. C E Ayr



“Entrez” said I using up one word from my meagre stock of mots François.

“Merci” mumbled Monsieur le Maire tightening the string around his baggy trousers as he climbed from his rusting 2cv.
I was seeking permission to convert the grounds of the dilapidated house from a smallholding to a garden worthy of Capability Brown. 

“Non monsieur, non non non” he spat. Even I as a non-French speaker recognised that his answer was in the negative.
However, a bottle of whisky later he was not only applauding my plans but offering me the services of the village gardener!
Such is l’art de la négociation Française.



My house!
.

13 comments:

  1. Things a bottle of whisky can do, huh? :)

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  2. Belle histoire.
    Et quelle jolie maison!

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  3. Ha.. Love what booze can buy.

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    Replies
    1. It plays an important part in village politics!

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  4. Dear Keith,

    Amazing what a bottle of hooch will do.

    Shalom,

    Rochelle

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  5. What? A continental bureaucrat capable of being 'bought'. Never! :( See how I avoided insulting the French and including the Spanish...

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  6. Good Whisky, and a lot of it, make negotiations go smoothly. Fun story.

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  7. In other words, he entered into the "spirit" of the negotiations (pun intended). Congratulations, Keith. It's a beautiful house. :) --- Suzanne

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