Click here for a closer look at the individual labels. More than eighty of the loveliest, most tranquil, and sometimes hidden places in Paris are celebrated in the charming guidebook "Quiet Corners of Paris". un embarras (om-bah-rah) noun, masculin  1. a difficulty, worry; a predicament; an uncertainty  2. an embarrassment La nécessité nous délivre de l'embarras du choix.Necessity delivers us from the difficulty of choice. … Continue reading embarras

Why post a photo of bugs when we can look at this escapist image instead? Far from the plague… read on in today’s story, below. Photo taken in Collioures, France. Retiring in France: A Survival Handbook Wine label update: check out Jean-Marc’s blog to see all of the wine labels for Monday’s Wine Label Poll le moucheron (moosh-uh-rowhn) noun, masculine  midge, gnat; fruit fly  kid … Continue reading moucheron

Swiped my mom’s hat (while she swiped my camera for this photo). Le Nouveau Petit Robert 2008 : it’s worth the wait essouffler (eh-soo-flay) verb  to make breathless, to wind My son Max’s example sentence (hear sentence in "Audio file" section):     J’ai couru et maintenant je suis essoufflé.     I ran and now I am out of breath.. Some choices, like whether to eat … Continue reading essouffler

French laundry & geese near the town of Camaret. My mom snapped this photo. French Demystified…simple enough for a beginner but challenging enough for a more advanced student… Check out the book, here. revanche (ruh-vahnsh) noun, feminine  revenge Don’t get mad, get even!Ne te mets pas en colère, prends ta revanche!. "The last few times I saw you…you were…harboring a grudge against your fate…often in … Continue reading revanche

The sign on the back of the old truck says "(ride) in complete security…with Michelin tires".  sans plomb (sahn plom) noun     : unleaded Example Sentence (see "Audio File" at the end of this edition) L’essence sans plomb 98 est plus détergente que l’essence sans plomb 95 et se révèle plus corrosive, en particulier pour les pièces en élastomères (caoutchoucs). Ces deux carburants contiennent de … Continue reading sans plomb

A tree-lined lane in our village where horses stopped traffic over the weekend. From "The Ultimate French Review and Practice":Review + Practice = Confident Communication in French! More here. arbre (ar-bre) noun, masculine  tree L’arbre devient solide sous le vent.The tree becomes strong beneath the wind. –Seneca. On Saturday morning, hours after the grapes had shed their morning dew tears and been carted off in … Continue reading arbre

Couldn’t get a photo of our rock star harvesters as they would like to remain unseen. Here are some rock star bees for you. Looks like they’d rather go incognito like the others… Eazyspeak French teaches 800 vocabulary words; quickly extends conversational skills un embranchement (ahn-brahnsh-mahn) noun, masculine  junction; side road. I’ve been meaning to write about our grape pickers but sense that they might … Continue reading embranchement

I realized later that we had vegetarians at the table… Live and learn. Infuse your soul (and studious self) with French music: Les Nubians la bombance (bon-bahns) noun, feminine  feast; carousing Ou je me trompe fort, ou quelque joyeuse bombance est dans l’air aujourd’hui.Either I am greatly mistaken, or there is to be some jolly merry-making today. –from the book "On ne badine pas avec … Continue reading bombance