Fancy talk

French can be a very formal language. Just as an example, in English you might close a business letter with "yours truly"  or "sincerely", but this is a fairly typical formal closing in French:

Agréez, je vous prie, l'expression de mes sentiments les plus distingués,

Henri Flaubert

Loosely translated, this means "Please accept my humblest and most heart-felt appreciation for your time, and know that I am not worthy to be in the same room with you and breathe your exhaled breath. I would eat day-old mackerel from a gas station toilet seat merely for an opportunity, however remote, to perhaps catch your attention and receive a favorable nod or half-smile. Please walk upon my face and thereby deliver unto me the honor of your contact, Henri Flaubert"

Well, I'm exaggerating a bit. But not much.

Slightly embarrassing French moment

My French teacher's sister was in town last week, and the two spent a fair amount of time going around Paris and just visiting in general.  So I asked her today:

"Est-ce que votre soeur en ville encore?" which means "Is your sister still in town?"

She looked at me kind of aghast and had me repeat it, and then say it in English. Then she looked relieved. Turns out I was off on my pronunciation of "ville".  You really have to put some emphasis on the two Ls or it comes out like "vie" (life) instead.  So I had accidentally asked her "Is your sister still alive?"

Oops.