A barrique of French flowers for you today… from the wine-making town of Rasteau. barrique (ba-rheek) noun, feminine : barrel, cask (wine-making) Three Tempting Reasons to join Cinéma Vérité today: 1. 15 feel-good photos of Giens, the peninsula & postcard village near Hyères2. a short, stinging, slice-of-life scene from this morning, here at the wine farm3. nudity*. * Then again, if you would rather … Continue reading barrique
My fourteen-year-old fiston* on the beach in Giens. He's eating "un sandwich baguette". Learn about another kind of baguette (en bois*), in today's story column. mauvais perdant (moh-vay pair-dahn) : sore loser (feminine: une mauvaise perdante [moh-vayz pair-dahnt) Audio File & Example Sentence:Listen to my daughter, Jackie, pronounce the following French words:Download MP3 or Download Mauvais perdantBattu, il fut aussi mauvais perdant que ses … Continue reading Giens, France and the words mauvais perdant, fiston, allez, chiche!, poignée, tas, and deranger in French
Everyone needs affection. Read on, in today's story column. (photo taken at Le Salinas restaurant, located along La Plage des Estagnets along the presqu'île, or peninsula of Giens, near Hyères (Var). dorloter (dor-lo-tay) verb : to pamper synonyms: bichonner (to cosset), pouponner (to coddle), gâter (to spoil) Audio File & Verb Conjugation:Download Wav file or Download MP3je dorlote, tu dorlotes, il dorlote, nous dorlotons, … Continue reading Plage des Estagnets and the French words dorloter, bichonner, pouponner, and gâter, chipie, grincement
Is there a difference between un goéland & une mouette (French words for seagull)? Photo taken at the old port in Giens, the peninsula near Hyères. détente (day-tant) noun, feminine : relaxation, easing synonym: relâchement (loosening, slackening)Audio file & Example Sentence: Download MP3 or Download Wav File La sieste consiste essentiellement en un repos du cerveau. Elle suppose une relaxation mentale suite à une … Continue reading French words goéland, muette, profiter, detente, marais, nommer & Giens Peninsula
French art and a classic car along the port in St. Tropez la toile (twal)noun, femininecanvas Françoise has not changed much in the three years since Mom and I have frequented her art shop. She still has her ballerina-thin figure and still paints cherry-red streaks through her chocolate-brown hair; the contrast is as stark as her customers' paintings, which line the store's entrance hall and … Continue reading Canvas: Toile, carte bancaire, papeterie and belle époque in French
One of my favorite things about going to the grocery store in Camaret-sur-Aigues is seeing the line-up of vélos out front. Question: do French bikes have more character than others? Are the bicycles in your area as authentic? What makes them so? * * * Today we will need to pedal quickly, what with another mise en bouteille* here at Domaine Rouge-Bleu. For this reason … Continue reading chambre à part
"Neighbors" (Les Voisins) Read about neighborliness, or les rapports de bon voisinage, in today's story column, written by one of my favorite in-laws, Tante Marie-Françoise. Enjoy! Book recommendation: Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a CountNote: if the book's delightful sub-title didn't win you over, then how about the enthusiastic response of both … Continue reading bonhomie
No, these are not nids-de-poules, just overgrown pebbles. Given the choice between featuring an unsightly pothole… and a scenic paysage, well — the latter won out! What do you call a French linguist get-together in which idioms and & expressions flow like beer… and take on a bit of farmyard flair? Answer (hint: say it with a French accent): l'Animal House (lah-nee-mal hoos) OK, so … Continue reading nid-de-poule
The clock reads une heure dix-sept. Three minutes till take-off! Read about our promenade pédestre in today's story column. tituber (tee-too-bay) verb : to stagger, to totter tituber de fatigue = to stumble along French Verb Conjugation:je titube, tu titubes, il titube, nous titubons, vous titubez, ils titubent (pp = titubé) Audio File: listen to today's word & verb conjugation: Download Wave or Download … Continue reading tituber
That's my husband, laboring ploughing the earth. Jules took this photo (by the way, Mom made it safely home and is now on a mission to find a scooter… and motor up to the Mexican hills, yonder, in search of new friends: preferably old, preferably wrinkled, preferably wild-at-heart). nuage (noo-ahzh) noun, masculine : cloudTerms & Expressions:un nuage de fumée = a cloud of smokeun … Continue reading nuage
