Although my brain can never tell me where the checkbook is, it does a super job of retaining facts of questionable value, such as that people in the U.K. call eggplants "aubergines." They also call zucchinis "vegetable marrows," which makes me even less excited about eating them. But I digress.
On one of our first visits to France, I saw a cheerful roadside sign declaring Auberge de Jeunesse. "Aha," I thought, "I seem to remember that jeune means young, so that must be some kind of restaurant: The Eggplant of Youth. I bet it serves some kind of extremely sincere vegetarian food and has colorful plates."
Then I saw several more such signs, in a variety of settings and formats. Ummm, a chain of restaurants? A sincere chain? Eventually, I was moved to crack a dictionary. Auberge, it turns out, means inn or hostel. So une auberge de jeunesse means, of course, a youth hostel.
This is exactly the sort of ridiculous error that is God's way of telling one to start a blog. So: Bonjour, mes amis. I've got plenty more errors coming your way!
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