I decided to take a French class before my summer trip. I'm doing my homework now, and I am now learning such useful things as:

Bonjour, je suis Bip Blop.
Je suis martien.
Je suis astronaute.

Later:
Il est martien.
Il est petit.
Il est vert.
Il est amusant.
Il est trés intelligent.

Maybe it will come in handy.
Actually I'm enjoying the class a fair bit.

yous sound a lot like Kermit, small, gree, amusing and intelligent!

Handy if you;re going to a French Star Trek convention.

I like the book we're using for this course. It has nothing but French in it, which is different from most foreign-language textbooks I have seen. But it's surprisingly easy to follow.

http://www.amazon.fr/exec/obidos/ASI...qid=1083140507

Just so as not give a wrong impression of my gender, I probably should have used this example instead:

Bonjour, je suis Zaza Blop.
Je suis martienne. ...

My personal impression is that French is more difficult than Spanish, Italian, and Latin, but maybe that's because I studied Spanish first starting as a kid. However, French is easier than Russian.

The French silent letters are frustrating me! When I listen to French, everything sounds so slurred together that I despair of making sense of it. I wish people walked around with subtitle bubbles like in comic books.

WillTravel,
It sounds like great fun!

I'm starting my class tomorrow. Although I read and understand quite a bit of French, I have little speaking experience. And I'm going to join an already existing class, so it's a bit scary, but I'm quite sure it'll turn out fine.
I feel that when I'm able to speak better, it's going to be so much easier to get around in France. And I won't be scared to go and ask for a train ticket!
I have about 4.5 months before I go to Paris for 12 days and I can't wait. Taking this class will certainly ease the pain of anticipation.