I must have mastered the correct look for a trusted person in France. Yesterday while I was standing in line at the grocery store, sometimes these waits can be 10-20 minutes, the woman behind me began speaking to me about her fromage (cheese) and after I politely nodded and agreed with what she was saying she asked me to watch her cart, no big deal but the cart also came with her enfant (child).

So as I slowly advanced in the line I pushed my cart forward and pulled hers behind me. I smiled and said hello to the little girl but she didn’t seem to interested in carrying on a conversation with this weird guy that her mom just left her with. I was pretty surprised that this person was so trusting with her child or was it that she really didn’t want to lose her place in the line? Thankfully the woman came back and after we exchanged a few words about the correct cheese she thanked me for watching her child. Yet another lesson I needed to learn about the French – children are not permitted to speak or make noise in a store but they may be used for saving your spot in the check-out line.