Now as we all know, a biscuit, in French, is pronounced bis-kwee. No, I didn’t call my cat bis-kwee; he was Bis-Kit, pronounced, biscuit, just as it sounds. My friend, Curt (who, to my knowledge, speaks nary a word of French) does a terrific Jacques Cousteau imitation, complete with the incredibly perfect accent. Curt’s best Cousteau-imitated phrase, in response to almost any question posed by the late oceanographer, is, “we can only speculate.” So Curt would say of Bis-Kit, in that fabulous accent: “Little bis-kwee, the shrimp of the sea. Where does he go to? We can only speculate.”

Insert Cousteau-French accent and work with me here. “Why do these delightful creatures risk their lives to protect their young? . . . we can only speculate.” For many years, my family and friends have oft’ had occasion to mimic Curt’s Cousteau-phrase: we can only speculate. And when it came time to name my blog of a SSA PC journey to a Francophone country, the choice was obvious -- We can only speculate. There you have it. Lost a bit of its mystique, hasn’t it?