A few weeks ago, Jackie and Vin had a run in with some nonchalant thieves. Don’t miss the story.

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TODAY’S WORD: Scène de ménage : a domestic scene—often dramatic, heated, or theatrical

PRONUNCIATION: [sen duh meh-nahzh]

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STOP, THIEF! By Jacqueline Espinasse

It was a peaceful weeknight. Vin and I were getting ready for bed when, tout à coup, a loud noise came through our window…

So Vinny has a bike, and her name is Surly. She had been living comfortably in her Brooklyn Heights apartment for half a decade, until one day, Surly’s world turned upside down. Her owner met a girl. She moved in quickly, and just like that, “I was out on the street, locked to a fence.”

Yes, Surly was parked right outside our living room window, where we could keep an eye on her at all times. She felt the fall leaves settling gently onto her little front pannier. During snowstorms, she blended perfectly into the white, turning into a work of art, fascinating enough that strangers would stop to take pictures of her, sometimes even with her. One afternoon, I watched someone pick her up and reposition her against the fence after she had slumped over slightly. Frankly, life outside suited her perfectly, until that fateful evening,  seven months later.

It was a Tuesday night, around nine p.m. Vinny and I were ready for bed, the fan running for its brown-noise sleeping benefits.

“I think the AC is making a weird sound,” Vinny began.

“It sounds more like construction,” I said.

“At nine p.m.? That’s illegal. No one’s allowed to make noise past five.”

Then it hit us.

“THE BIKE!!!”

À moitié nue, we ran to the living room window—and there they were. Two junkies. One of them was using a grinder, cutting through Surly’s lock, sparks lighting up the whole block and nearly blinding us.

For context, our window is five feet from the bike. Five. Feet.

At that moment, I felt completely powerless, standing there behind the glass, so close to Surly—and yet unable to help. What if these robbers were dangerous?

“Stay right where you are, Jackie,” Vin said, already rushing to the bedroom to grab a shirt.

He came back, banged hard on the window, threw it open, and leaned out as far as he could—barely two feet from them.

“What are you doing?!”

One of them didn’t even flinch. Cigarette hanging from his mouth, completely nonchalant.

“It’s my girlfriend’s bike. She lost the keys.”

“It’s my bike, you idiot—get away from it!” Vin shot back. Non mais quel culot.

With his strong, low voice, Vin scared them off like a pitbull—to the point where one ran south, the other north.

Surly was rescued, and we welcomed her back into our humble abode.

We got such a kick out of the whole episode that we couldn’t stop talking about it.

“They’re the worst robbers,” I said. “Making that much racket on a Tuesday night, on a busy street?”

“Yeah,” Vin replied. “Bad robbers.”

As for Surly, she was so cozy and safe back in the house, she seemed to purr. Or maybe that was our noisy fan?

Either way, after our unexpected scène de ménage, we all fell sound asleep. Outside, snowflakes gently landed, quietly filling Surly’s old spot.

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EDITS WELCOME
If you spot a typo, mistake, or ambiguity, thank you for letting me know at Kristin.espinasse@gmail.com

FRENCH VOCABULARY

la scène de ménage = domestic argument or dramatic scene

tout à coup = suddenly

à moitié nue = half naked

non mais quel culot = what nerve! / the audacity

REMERCIEMENTS
Thank you to the following readers for your donation this past week to this journal!

Jackie C.

Douglas R.

Maureen M.

Whether you’ve been reading for years or just stumbled upon this little corner of France, thank you for being here. These stories continue thanks to reader encouragement. If you’d like to help maintain this journal, here are a few simple ways:

🌿 Zelle – to Kristin.espinasse@gmail.com
🌿 PayPal – Click here
🌿 Credit card – Click here

Gift the book A Year in a French Life to a friend. It’s packed with colorful photos and vocabulary.

Scenes from New York, Jackie’s adopted home for the past year.

We hope you enjoyed Jackie’s story. Our daughter is back here in France at the moment, visiting family and friends. We are all excited to see her, especially Grandma! Enjoy your weekend and à très bientôt.