Speaking French In South East Texas

I am learning French.  I am learning it, but afraid to actually speak it.  I, like all my brothers and sisters here in South East Texas tend to "twang" it.

By trade, I sell wine, cheese, and the hard stuff.  The scariest department of any wine store is the French section.  Somehow this wine seems more mysterious, more difficult to understand...a little like the French themselves seem to be. 

But, I persist.  Twang and all, the French love to hear you at least try to speak the language they love so much.  The most fun we had in Paris on vacation was trying to communicate with very patient shopkeepers, bar tenders, and wait staff.  When one bemused waiter realized we wanted the menu "carte" (I think), and my husband kept asking for the "chat" (cat), he literally threw his head back laughing and then launched into more perfect english than we speak.

I will be ready for the next trip to Paris we are planning, and then Provence, and then Normandy...I will be able to read and talk like a local.  I love dreaming, don't you?