On the train from Barcelona to Marseilles, I talked to a girl in French for a while. Which was pretty interesting, because I don't really know French. She wasn't amazingly hot or anything. She was sitting kitty-corner from us on the train, and after looking at her a couple times, she said something. I didn't understand what she said, so I said "What?" and she said, "Ca va?" After having memories of French class flood back, I said "Ca va bien." :) So we talked on and off over the next hour or so. While I told her I only knew un peu of French, she said she only knew un peu of English, so we talked pretty much in French. I really don't remember how to form questions in French, which was disappointing. We figured out that neither of us know Spanish. We talked about where I was from and where she was from. In Germany I tell people I'm from Michigan, and most people have at least heard of that. She didn't respond to the word Michigan, but she knew Etats-Unis. I told her my girlfriend is in America too. She asked me if I had any sisters or brothers. I frequently didn't understand her and had to say Je ne comprend pas. I think she was from Perpignan. I tried to ask her why she was in Spain, but I couldn't remember the word for why. (I was able to remember it many hours later.) She said she was sad about something, but I didn't understand what. I think she kept saying "regard" before she'd tell me something.

So the French girl was named Audrey. I started talking to her on the train from Barcelona. We had a connection in Cerbere for 60-90 minutes before taking the next train. She was in the same situation as us. First we had a little customs check to go through. When we showed the guy our US passports, he waved us through. However, Audrey had no paper, and the guy gave her a hard time but eventually let her through. After checking the list of departures to make everything was correct, we went to the cafe in the station to have a small meal. Audrey sat with us at the table. After a little bit, she said something like she'd be around or something (she said "moi" and waved her hand in a circle) and left us. She had said earlier that she smokes, so maybe she went out to smoke. She came back a while later and sat down again. We all had been eating our food, but she didn't get anything. She said, in English, "50 cents." This surprised me, because 95% of what she said had been in French. I think I saw her counting her change earlier, so I guessed that she was just short of whatever she wanted to get, so I reached in my pocket and gave her 50 cents. But she didn't go up and get anything for a while. This confused me. Now I think I'm remember this wrong, but I think she did go away again for a while, and we started playing Euchre at our table. She came back a final time. We were in the middle of the game and she was talking to me in French, which made it very hard for me to pay attention to both. I tried to take my turn and then listen to her.... she said something about the train, but I didn't understand the rest. Then she gestured that she was going over there. I think she said "apres" last before she left, which didn't make sense in the context to me. (At the time, I was thinking that apres meant before but it really means after.) And that was the last that we talked. Some of the others saw her on another part of the train when we got on, but I didn't see her nor did I particularly seek her out. So it was fun trying to speak French, but I'm completely baffled about the 50 cents and a little unsure what she was talking about in the end. After remembering Allyn's "How's it going?" comment, I starting wondering if she was trying to say something completely different, such as "I really like the rapper 50 cent." ;) In which case, I would be pretty embarrassed that I actually gave her 50 cents after she said that!