So once Natasha got to a certain point in her french lessons I started being of less and less use to her. I can do business, navigate around, order food and talk you through setting up your modem, but most of the poetic subtleties of the french language go over my head. It occurred to me, too, that I never use the french language skills I do have for anything fun.

It would be clever of me to kill two birds with one stone, then:  learn some new french vocabulary and grammar -and- do something enjoyable. I cast around for some cool french book recommendations that would be around my reading level, and even my french friends didn’t have a lot of suggestions.

That’s when I had a brainstorm – I should track down some awesome french comic books! The first on my list was a storyline featuring Pelisse, a character I fell in love with looking through the poster bin at a french comic shop when I was younger. I can’t quite put my finger on what about her may have caught my eye as an 18-year old…

It was pretty difficult to track her down. Her storyline’s been out of print since the late 80s. I even went as far as Amazon France to try to order a set of the books, when they suddenly turned up in the Ottawa Public Library. So awesome! So now I’m reading through “Quête de l’oiseau du temps“, getting the dual benefit of some really amazing french artwork mixed with a fairly adult-level storyline and vocabulary. (the comic book scene is a little more mature in France than in North America) So far the books have been really amazing – lots of attention to detail and some really neat french styling and subject matter I don’t often see in American books.

Admittedly, most of the vocabulary I’m learning has to do with medieval fantasy worlds and scantily clad witch princesses, but it’s probably a bit more enjoyable than a comic based on filling out government of Canada paperwork or losing your bags at Charles de Gaulle airport.