souris (Italy, part 2)

An Italian cat eyeing a desert ~~souris~~ rat

Little_house "Little House: An Architectural Seduction" — is a forgotten masterpiece of 18th-century literature that has become an underground classic among architects.

la souris (soo-ree) noun, feminine
1. mouse

Jamais la souris ne confie sa destinée à un seul trou.
A mouse never entrusts its destiny to just one hole. –Plautus

A Day in a French Life…
Feeling small as a mouse before the towering cathedral in la Piazza Rubini, I listen to the Italians call up and down from their tiny balcons* and wonder if the town of Ceriana has anything in common with the word "serenade." After all, this is just what the Ligurians are engaged in as the cloche* in the belfry strikes twelve–only it isn’t a moonlit midnight, it’s midi,* and the villagers aren’t singing about love, but lunch.

Jean-Marc and I are in Ceriana, on the Riviera of Flowers,* for both lunch and love. Love, because a mystic Roman village hidden in Italy’s emerald-green hinterland makes for an enchanting place to celebrate twelve years of living in common, and lunch because, tout simplement,* where love is, hunger follows.

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For past chapters in this story, visit:

Italy, Introduction :: Part One :: Part Two :: Part Three :: Part Four

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References: le balcon (m) = balcony; la cloche (f) = bell; le midi (m) = midday, noon; Riviera of Flowers (in Italian: "Riviera dei Fiori," so-named for the flower industry in this part of Italy); tout simplement = quite simply

In Magazines:

Printed in French, Cuisine Et Vins De France features dozens of recipes in each issue along with articles on wine, cheese, appetizers, table decorations, and more.

Listen to Jean-Marc recite today’s quote: Download souris2.wav
(Note: the file skips… play it twice to hear all the complete sentence.)
Jamais la souris ne confie sa destinée à un seul trou.
A mouse never entrusts its destiny to just one hole. –Plautus

Related Terms & Expressions:
la souris grise = house mouse
La Petite Souris = the tooth fairy (In France, a mouse, not a fairy, is in charge of payment.)

…and while some of us would like to be "a fly on the wall," the French would prefer "to be a little mouse" in order to spy! (From the expression "être une petite souris".)

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