Notebook entry on the 5th of August 2006: Another dream

In the backseat of the car again, moving this time, 600 km from Untersteinach in Germany to Namur in Belgium.

I had a dream one night this week:
My aunt and I went on a trip to some French speaking country. We were going to stay with some friends, but when we got there they had no room for us. We had to sleep in the courtyard. At some point a man opened his window and started talking to us in French.
I did learn French in school, but that’s 15 years ago now and not having used it much I have forgotten most of it.
I could not understand what the man in my dream was saying, only a few words, and I kept repeating: “Je ne parle pas Français”.
In the days since this dream I have been wondering: did the man in the dream actually speak French? I remember I was quite good at French at some point and all I have learnt must be stored somewhere in my brain. So perhaps when I dream, my unconsciousness knows how to access this stored knowledge and I really am capable of dreaming in French – and not understanding it?