Gratitude for French

I've spoken French at a decently fluent level for about a year now and somehow I'd already started to take it for granted. I tried to avoid speaking it at the Polyglot Gathering because "that's too easy," and on my recent road trip across France I didn't think twice about my ability to go on French guided tours, or ask questions easily, or have conversations wherever I went...

..until, on one of the last days, I was on a mission in the Dordogne region to both avoid tourist traps and find prehistoric cave paintings, a passion of mine from high school. As I was driving, I found a weathered sign (in French only) advertising a cave with paintings, and pulled over. I read the signs there and followed its instructions to a half-kilometer forested path. There, I happened across a guide, age 80, self-described "vieux paysan" (old peasant), who gave me a private tour of this cave with 15,000 year old paintings just centimeters before my eyes. For an hour and a half he shared his passion for the discoveries that were made, and all what he knew about the ancient people who made the art. His local accent was thick but if I paid close attention I could understand.

After this experience, filled with gratitude, all the memories of the hours I spent studying French came flooding back to me. I'd made it a regular practice, I'd set goals and milestones for myself, and I'd practiced as much as I could. My French didn't appear on its own; it was the result of motivation and study.

Yes, knowing French helped me to integrate into life here in France. Yes, it's allowed me to search for a job. I'm very thankful for these abilities too. But, this once-in-a-lifetime experience of witnessing ancient cave art beside an expert with lifetime of knowledge has made me more grateful than ever that I spent all those hours studying French.

Moral of the story: dedicate yourself to your language learning. You never know when you will run across an awesome old peasant!

(Look up "grotte de bernifal" for pics of the art, though pics don't do justice to the experience of seeing them appear from the rocks right before your eyes)