The colors of Spain in a Madrilène cafe. debout (duh-boo) adverb upright; standing; out of bed L’instinct, c’est l’âme à quatre pattes ; la pensée, c’est l’esprit debout.Instinct is the soul on all fours; thought is the upright spirit. –Victor Hugo. While the Spanish have a reputation … Continue reading debout
Haunting Madrid: traffic (photo of the "Casa de Correos" / Communications Palace) bruyant(e) [brwee-yahn(t)] adjective noisy; resounding; loud; boisterous Les petites peines sont bruyantes et les grandes, muettes.Little sorrows are loud, great ones silent. –Danish Proverb. It didn’t take a Spanish weekend to figure out … Continue reading bruyant
Several soothsaying chaises, looking into the future… in Ste. Maxime. un devin (deh-vuh) noun, masculine diviner; soothsayer, seer; fortune teller Devine, si tu peux, et choisis, si tu l’oses.Guess, if you can, and choose, if you dare. –Pierre Corneille. On ne sait jamais ce que demain sera. We never know what tomorrow will be. I never imagined in … Continue reading devin
…to get words to SCREAM some prefer to use all caps. Photo: an artists' quarter in Marseilles; the sign reads "No to the demolition of my workshop". l'ouïe (wee) noun, feminine 1. hearing 2. ouch! ooh! (spelled "ouïe" or "ouille") A homonym of ouïe (and its plural) is the multi-meaninged "ouïes". Use it when you want to talk about fish gills and other popular topics … Continue reading ouïe
Rummaging through the past: the verb farfouiller in action at an old postcard stand in Antibes. Don't miss the sound clip that accompanies each edition–see the "Audio" section below… TeLL me More French — Used everyday in more than 10,000 academic institutions. farfouiller (far-fooy-ay) verb to feel, fumble about, grope around; to rummage, dig about, search Farfouiller is derived from the word "fouiller" (to search, … Continue reading farfouiller
A santon maker in Marseillesla chandelle (shahn-del) noun, feminine candle French proverb: Le jeu n'en vaut pas la chandelle. The game is not worth the candle. A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse All good things must come to an end and in Provence santons* are no exception. On February 2nd, at Candelmas* (what the French call "Chandeleur") the meticulously arranged crèche is … Continue reading chandelle
Hâte-toi de bien vivre… Make haste to live and consider each day a life… Seneca Envie (ahn-vee) noun, feminine longing . I was staring at the empty branches of our dogwood tree,willing its wooden limbs to quiver and send forth so many rosy blossoms, when I recognized a vague longing coming from within. I stood up and walked over to the north window,threw open the painted … Continue reading envie
