Ceinture de Sécurité (sen-tur) noun, feminine seat belt In the historic town of St. Maximin, where visitors from all over the world come to see the relics of Mary Magdalene (behind thick glass in the town's basilica) I prepare for a short périple.* The tree-lined parking lot in front of our centuries-old village home is complet,* all 14 parking spaces have been claimed. I … Continue reading ceinture
La cabane de Fontouse in the French Alps at Queyras la cabane (ka-ban) noun, feminine 1. hut, cabin, fort; shed 2. jail, clink, slammer …………Listen:Hear my son Max pronounce the word cabane Download cabane2.wav ……………Expression:en cabane = in the slammer/clink (jail) Also:la cabane perchée = tree-housela cabane en rondins = log cabinla cabane à outils = … Continue reading cabane
A chalet in the French Alps at Queyras Allumer (a-lew-may) to light In a rustic hamlet nestled into the French Alps at Queyras, we drank café-au-lait from gigantic ceramic bowls, slathered homemade confiture de mûres over thick slices of buttered bread, and talked about what a good night's sleep we had just had. The French were fibbing, … Continue reading allumer
Queyras, the French Alps (where even French scarecrows know how to tie a scarf). un épouvantail (ay-poo-vahn-teye) noun, masculine 1. scarecrow 2. fright verb: épouvanter = to terrify, scare (someone) Also:épouvantable = dreadful, frightfulépouvantablement = dreadfully, frightfully; appallingly ……………….Listen:Hear the word épouvantail pronounced Download epouvantail2.wav ………………Expression:être habillé comme un épouvantail = to be dressed sloppily ……………………..Citation du Jour:Jouis toujours du présent avec discernement, ainsi … Continue reading épouvantail
The sleepy French village of Comps sur Artuby
congé (kohn-zhay) noun, masculine
1. vacation (British: holiday); leave
2. discharge, dismissal
3. authorization, permit
Hear the word congé pronounced: Download conge.wav
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Expressions:
congé sans solde = unpaid leave
congé (de) maternité = maternity leave
congé de maladie = sick leave
en congé = on vacation (British: on holiday)
congés scolaires = school vacation
French Proverb:
Il y a un temps pour s’en aller et prendre congé.
There is a time to go away and to take a break.
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French-inspired food memories from an American childhood
On Wednesday I received an email from Jacqueline, the French blogger behind the website Cuisine et Compagnie. Touché!–she has tagged me to participate in a questionnaire or "meme". The famous question, one which began in English, was translated to French and is now making the rounds among many a food blog–both French and English–is:
"Citez cinq aliments, plats ou autres, qui ont fait partie de votre enfance, et qui vous manquent, parfois, quand la nostalgie vous prend…"
"Name five foods, dishes or otherwise, that were a part of your childhood, and that you sometimes miss when nostalgia gets to you…"
Allez–j’y vais! Here goes!:
1. Bologna sandwiches:
I loved the way the soft, bleached bread stuck to the roof of my mouth. I miss the crunch of iceberg lettuce (something I cannot find in France). Mostly, I miss that my sister used to make them for me. She still makes me sandwiches when I visit, only the bread’s now brown and the bologna’s been bumped (for smoked ham or turkey).
2. Soft shell tacos:
Mom would dice tomatoes and avocados, slice green onions and black olives, grate cheddar cheese and put out a tub of sour cream and a jar of picante sauce. Next she would sizzle the corn tortillas in vegetable oil to soften the shells after frying the spicy ground round. We built our tacos with the chopped, sliced and sizzled ingredients until they became foldable as an over-packed valise.
3. Red Vines: those cherry-flavored licorice twists
Hidden under a pile of blankets on the floorboard of my mom’s ’68 Camaro, I’d hold my breath as we motored past the cashier, tires crunching over the gravel parking lot on our way to find a parking space before the giant outdoor screen. Next, mom would throw a blanket across the Chevy’s hood and my sister and I would hoist ourselves up and begin passing red vines back and forth while chewing to the likes of the seventies blockbuster, Jaws.
4. My mom’s carrot cake:
…for the one-inch thick cream-cheese-based icing with pecans atop the moist, carrot-flecked spicy cake. I’ll never be able to reconstruct this childhood favorite as cream cheese (of the Philadelphia sort) is impossible to find here in the Var.
5. Shirley Temple:
Perhaps the first clue that my future would be French: the grenadine syrup in my favorite childhood drink. I can still feel the firm maraschino cherry between my back teeth–crush! Ahhh… This last childhood favorite is the bridge between past and present, between America and France, in that its ingredients are only a hop, skip and slurp away.
When the French get bored… Parc Asterix un ennui (ah-new-ee) noun, masculine 1. boredom, tedium 2. worry, problem, trouble …………………ListenHear "ennui" pronounced: Download ennui.wav …………………Expressions:Quel ennui! = What a nuisance! (Also, "What a bore!")les petits ennuis = little annoyancesavoir des ennuis = to have problems, to be in troublecréer … Continue reading ennui
Papa Poule in full tourist mode (Italy, 2003) une rallonge (rah-lonzh) noun, feminine 1. an extension cord 2. a leaf (to extend a table) 3. an extension arm, piece …………ListenHear pronounciation of "rallonge": Download rallongejm.wav …………Also:une table à rallonge(s) = an extendable tableune rallonge d’argent = some extra moneyune histoire … Continue reading rallonge
