Gazing at the lavender in my garden (slowly refinding growth) I decided I’ll go back to Provence this summer, to the wonderful monastery I was at last July, to the delicious food and wine and sun and red-brown earth and laughing people. I dug out my notes and started practicing le conditionnel: “Si j’etais un homme / Je t’offrirais de beaux bijoux / Une fleur pour ton appartement / Des parfums ‡ vous rendre fous / Et juste ‡ cÙtÈ de Milan / dans une villa qu’on appelle Bergame / Je te ferais construire une ville. / Je suis femme et quand / On est femme on n’achËte pas ces choses-l‡.” A girlfriend of mine once sent roses to her boyfriend when he was at work. He was mortified, utterly embarrassed. She cried as she told me.


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4 thoughts on “le conditionnel

  1. JLR

    Your quote is in fact the lyrics of a french hit ballad song called “Si j’etais un homme” sang by Diane Tell (back in the early eighties). She is from Quebec (Canada).

  2. Jill

    Mm, I know the song (French lessons traditionally consist of old songs, I quite like that) but I didn’t realise she was Canadian. She has a pretty grooved up Flashy website, where you can listen to excerpts of lots of her songs.

  3. JLR

    Diane is still a singer-songwriter-guitarist. Go to her official website:
    http://www.dianetell.com/

  4. Jill

    Yeah, I went, that’s where the link in my comment was to 🙂

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