Bilateral CI adventures in France

Later this month I depart on another bilateral CI adventure: we are going to France for a week! We went several years ago, but that was when I was still wearing two hearing aids. The joke then was that I can speak (some) French, but I can't hear. My husband can hear, but he can't speak French!

That time, we went on a tour boat down the River Seine. I found that I caught some things (but not all) as she said each bit in French, then I caught other things (but not all) when she repeated it in English. My husband told me he didn't catch much of the English either. So we found I got more than he did, getting it twice.

Soooooo.... Will it be different this time? You betcha! I've been listening to some "teach yourself French" CDs over the past month, working to train my brain to hear the nuances of the French language. I can sense improvement! I'm still very, very far from "fluent," but I should be able to enjoy a few conversations, anyway.

I've also heard that many places in Europe are wired with loops, that I can access with my t-coil settings. I'm very interested to see (hear) how that works.

As bits and pieces come back to my memory, I'm starting to talk to my self in French. That counts for something, doesn't it??