His father had prepared two different batters so we could have galettes (crêpes salés) pour dîner and crêpes sucrés pour dessert. Beforehand, we were discussing the special sausage that would be used. Their eyes were filled with immense pride as I took my first bite. It was as if they were watching a beloved child take its first steps. Fortunately, I’ve had enough training in tasting awful things to play it cool. On the outside I was smiles and sounds of satisfaction while my tête was searching to recall this putrid taste. Oh yes! Intestines, but with the strongest taste known to my palette. I really need to work on graceful declines because I barely managed to choke this down before a second was placed in front of me.
With my first bite of the second galette my body gently refused with a gag of warning. As soon as the father turned around, I pulled out the sausage and handed it off to my beau. We soon moved onto dessert. It was a charming night with a successful escape.
The embarrassing part comes later. As I mentioned, my french communication was still entrain de developer. So when asking my petit ami about this I said something along the lines of "What is the name of that strange sausage that lives with your dad?" In case you are interested in the name so you can avoid intestines on your next visit to France, it’s called "andouille de guéméné."
Let me present to you two truths.
1. It’s impossible to remember a word you have only heard once sans reading. I, therefore, continued to refer to it as, "la saucisse qui habite avec ton pere." Hey, it worked. If somethin’s not broken, don’t fix it!
2. This expression is actually a commonly used french insult which has the same meaning as calling someone’s girlfriend a disgusting pig.
Okay. I had no idea I was saying something insulting. Also, I had never met the father’s girlfriend. How was I to know that he was telling his family this and having a good laugh at my expense? He claims that he told people about this because it was just so cute how I was innocently saying something so rude and vulgar. Let’s fastforward to 3 months later.
Dîner chez grand-mère. It’s my first time to meet the grandma. There were six of us around the table. His mom, dad, brother, him, and myself. He decides it would be super cute to tell this story to his grandma. I’m also learning for the first time as his grandma is looking at me as if I am a horrible person. Of course he better explained it later and she’s welcomed me in her home after. Nothing like a good first impression!
