I am stupid French

The following is a description of (probably) the best thing that's happened to me in France, so far:

I was in a yarn shop the other day, trying to buy yarn and needles of a certain size, and the store was going out of business, so everything was on sale. I made friendly conversation with the shop owner as I looked around. The selection was a bit sparse, as it had already been combed over, and I ended up buying yarn for a different project. I told the owner that I was ready to buy, and she was very disappointed that I was buying so little (as it was a liquidation sale).

This is when I began to explain that I was looking for yarn for a certain size of needle, but she thought I was looking for needles (which, by the way, is a particularly difficult word in French), and directed me to them. I explained again, and she looked at me blankly. After at least two full seconds of staring, she said (in French), “Oh, but you have said such stupid things! I don’t even know what you just said!” But this is the best part: I swear, she said this as though my accent was convincing enough, but that I was just dumb! She just thought I was a really stupid French person! Amazing.

Anyhow, an old woman who was sitting in the shop knitting seemed to understand me well enough (and perhaps pity me in my mentally deficient state), and she explained what I had said to the shop owner. I successfully made my purchase and left. I was initially offended at how blatantly the woman had called me out for being stupid, but then I started to think about it more, and just laughed to myself in the street (further supporting the theory of my craziness/stupidity).