In the early 1990s I borrowed a book of women's short stories from the library. In it there was a story of a young woman who decided to move abroad on a whim either to France or French-speaking Canada. She spoke no French but she got a job in a bar and the story ends with her sitting at a table at the end of a shift, a little tipsy, and suddenly realising she could understand all the conversations.
I was so inspired by this story that within a year or two I had moved to France and ended up living there for ten years. I would love to find it so I could a) read it again b) get a young relative to read it to inspire her about travel and languagea and c) potentially thank the author.
I have been thinking about this for years but stupidly it only recently occurred to me to check with the library. They destroyed all their paper records 2 years ago. I have tried a couple of forums but it is tricky because I am not looking for a book but a story in a book. So I thought I would post here on the offchance it rang any bells. It would give me such a boost over lockdown to reread it. I know there isn't much to go on (my memory is shocking) but it's worth a shot....