A missed catch: loop (+ screen) + cat = unloopable cat louper (loo pay) verb  1. to miss  2. to mess up, to flunk ("louper" is used in informal conversation)   Il ne faut pas louper le coche,* mes amis!  We musn't miss our chance, my friends! –Henriette Chardak     *coach, barge; rater le coche = to miss the boat. A Day in a French … Continue reading louper

The French voted yesterday…and we have a new French president! le scrutin (skroo-tuhn) noun, masculine   ballot; poll …ce scrutin marquera l’accession au pouvoir d’une nouvelle génération, après les 12 années de présidence de Jacques Chirac… …this ballot will mark the accession to power of a new generation, after twelve years of presidency for Jacques Chirac… –Radio Suisse Romande.                     … Continue reading le scrutin

A village home near the medieval quarter of Les Arcs-sur-Argens. remonter (ruh-mohn-tay) verb  to go, take up again; to climb up again                         *     *     *Pour remonter à la source, il faut nager à contre-courant.To reach the source, one has to swim upstream. –Stanislaw Jerzy Lec Along the main drag in Les Arcs-sur-Argens, prude iron fences … Continue reading remonter

Shelter for a cart on its last leg. un abri (ah-bree) noun, masculine  shelter, cover; screen Je répète…celui qui aime et qui est aimé est à l’abri des coups du sort!I repeat…he who loves and who is loved is sheltered from fateful blows! –Alfred de Musset. At the end of a swaying line of yellow irises, their green feet tickled by a slow moving rivulet, … Continue reading abri

A little lifetime ago: my daughter when she was two. Taken in Morhiban, Brittany. sur-le-champ (sur-luh-shom) adverbial phrase  immediately, right away, without delay, directly Si le soleil et la lune se mettaient à douter, ils s’éteindraient sur-le-champ.If the Sun and Moon should ever doubt, they’d immediately go out.                                                     … Continue reading sur-le-champ

  On Sunday the French voted in mairies/town halls across the Héxagone. un isoloir (eezo-lwahr) noun, masculine  curtained voting, polling booth A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse (April 24, 2007) I am in Sainte Cécile for the week visiting my husband who has been holding down the French fort—a fragmented one at that, what with with ceilings coming uncemented and doors dropping … Continue reading isoloir

At the end of today’s story, I landed here in Paris. In addition to my writing voice, I am working on my reading voice which, I realize, is a bit formal (read: stiff as a day-old baguette). I hope to slow the voice down, relax a bit. Even so, I’m afraid I’ll never talk like Nancy Sinatra (or how I imagine she might talk after … Continue reading échapper