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French Word of the Day:
le haut-le-coeur (oh-leuh-ker) noun, masculine
: (avoir un haut-le-coeur) = to retch, to heave
"Haut-le-coeur" means, literally, "high heart"… and isn't that a prettier image than the words' "repulsive" meaning… one relating to a feeling of nausea that comes from foul food preparation, motion-sickness, pregnancy, and more….
Audio File & Example Sentence:
…had a bit of difficulty pronouncing at least one of these words… listen, at your own risk: Download Wav or Download MP3
À force de tergiverser et d'avoir des haut-le-cœur à chaque soubresaut, nous regardons les trains passés en Afrique. After a lot of shilly-shallying and after the nausea following each jolt, we watched the trains pass in Africa. -from Le Figaro
A Day in a M O R O C C A N Life…
by Kristin Espinasse
By the last day of our Moroccan (mis)adventure, our family of seven were almost recovered from what the natives deemed "soft-stomach syndrome". But were our unaccustomed appetites really to blame? Could the finger fairly be pointed at our "fussy" French foies*?
Non! my husband argues, it was hotel hygiene! My sister-in-law, ever diplomatic, chalked it off to a bad case of gastro. As for me, I wonder if all those freshly-fished huîtres* and clams… might've caused our stomaches' sensational grand slam?
Then again, the signs in our hotel room bathroom read: "FORBIDDEN TO DRINK THE WATER." I wondered if that meant that we couldn't so much as wet our toothbrushes with it either? As a security precaution, I poured a bit of bottled water over my brosse à dents* (never mind that the last several brushings were with the woeful water).
While blue-faced in bed, I passed the time wondering about the origin of our collective stomach upset. After so much surmising, I eventually became bored with the guessing games — and decided to delete all of the seafood and coquillages*-related photos from my camera… which brought some relief. Next, to keep my mind off misery, I turned my attention to words which, as always, lifted my spirits. Coming up with a title to today's story amused me to no end:
Dining Disasters
Supper Sufferings
Feast Foibles
Appetite Angst
Palate Punishment
Snack Scoldings
Picnic Penalties
Kibble Kauchemars*…
***
Mom and I agree: comments are the best part of French Word-A-Day! Thank you for sharing yours here, in the comments box! Speaking of parents, delight my Dad by pointing out from which city you are writing. And please tell us what the November skies, just outside your window, are looking like today… (is it sunny T-shirt weather, as it is here today in the Vaucluse?)
le foie (m) = liver; une huître (f) = oyster; brosse (f) à dents = toothbrush; le coquillage (m) = shellfish; le cauchemar (m) = nightmare
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"Les Retrouvailles" (homecoming). Click to enlarge this jubilant image! Our dogs returned, supercharged and satisfied, from "Camp Sully" in Vaison-La-Romaine. Witness here Smokey and Chef Grape… and their joyful reunion! Mille mercis to Mark and Ellen for taking such good care of Smokey and Braise!
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Bonjour Kristin,
The French-word-a-day emails are always a bright spot in my day. What a gift you have for capturing a moment or an emotion. I was a French major in college but somehow found myself practicing law. Your emails are such a nice break from all of the legal-ese in my day! I studied in Montpellier for a semester and– living in France was one of the best experiences of my life. I am trying to re-learn some of the phrases I have lost after falling out of practice for so many years and your emails have been a fabulous tool to get me started. I will be visiting Bourdeilles which is near Brantome next June so I am trying to get myself back up to speed again. Merci a vous! Also, I am a huge dog lover so hearing about the adventures of Braise and Smokey always makes me smile.
It is a beautiful sunny day in Atlanta, Georgia. 67 degrees and loving it..
–Melanie
Oh dear…..I remember having “haut-le-coeur” after a trip to Acapulco, Mexico. We forgot about the ice cubes and paid the price the next few days. Not a fun way to spend your vacation. I hope all are well on their way to recovery.
I’ll bet the doggies were very excited to see you all again. Smokey looks like he’s getting stronger everyday, the poor little fellow.
Tell Dad it’s a beautiful, sunny 81˚F (27˚C) in Northridge, California (a suburb of Los Angeles). Shorts and t-shirts this week.
Welcome home and thanks for all of your lovely posts!
I love receiving your posts, and I really love seeing your doggies. Sorry to hear about your stomach-turning trip to Morocco! Ugh.
I am writing to you from Corvallis, Oregon, USA. Today the sun is out!!! Can’t wait to get home to play with ma chienne, Charlie!
Leonora
How wonderful to have fans all over the world!
I’ve never been to Morocco, but I have been sick from Moroccan food and I can attest that it’s miserable.
Greetings from Yarmouth Maine, sunny 45 F, perfect late fall day.
Hello Kristin and (a Smokey style) welcome back.
Perhaps it was the sight of those poor long-suffering donkeys in Morocco which made you feel unwell. My memories are from 25 years ago – so hopefully their lot has improved. It certainly turned my stomach then seeing them so skinny and overloaded and then being whipped.
Here in Brisbane, Queensland, it’s sunny and 28.9 degrees already at 8.30am, with a storm predicted for later in the day.
Greetings Kristen from a pretty fall day in Amherst, MA. The days are shorter and winter is not far away, but the fall is lovely.
I always love your posts. I started reading them while living in France, but after four years in paradise landed back here in the States. Your posts give me a taste of my other home.
Colleen
Love, love the photo. Sorry to hear about the stomach troubles. Glad everyone is fine now. Can’t wait to see the rest of the photos.
Cloudy but record temps here in Phoenix, AZ 94 degrees!
Bonjour from Sydney Australia where it is a bit cloudy and maybe some showers, but warm! We are heading into summer and temperature in mid 20 C. Next week should be even hotter, up to the mid 30’s and the best time of year here. I love your postings, as the new parent of a Welsh Springer Spaniel I love hearing about your beautiful dogs and was so sorry about Smokey’s accident. He certainly looks happy now. Hope you are all feeling better after the kibble cauchmar.
Writing from Florence, Alabama. Gorgeous warm day with bright blue sky and gold and yellow maples. The reward from an extremely wet summer. Off tomorrow to a job interview in yes-I-know-it’s-cold-there Pennsylvania. Must go where God calls–except Texas. That’s the deal.
Love your blog. You finally wore me down with the tragic tale of mal de Morocco, and I’m now a proud subscriber.
Bonjour from England, the north east, an ordinary town by name CHESTER LE STREET IN COUNTY DURHAM; lying between Newcastle (it has one on the beginning of the Roman wall which stretches from coast to coast, even now.) Weather today changeable, sunny and blue skies then a heavy shower involving me rushing out and unpegging my daughter’s washing from the line in her yard next door ( yard here is not a garden but a paved area to the rear of the house);temp 10C. Rita
Non-potable bathroom water means equip yourselves with bottled water and avoid any fruit that has been handled, bananas and oranges have a skin acting as protection from germs. Avoid salad stuffs, too.Human ordure is used as fertiliser! Shellfish are a danger especially in a hot climate! This is how we avoided Pharoah’s Revenge in Egypt until the last few days. It was so prevalent that there were pills available on request at Reception! Bonne chance, Rita
Hi Sarah,
It’s Jules, Kristi’s mom…welcome to the club. I noticed too that my shy little Kristi’s marketing skills have improved greatly…
XOXO
JULES – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico
Hi Kirstin! I cracked up at Randy’s post about brushing teeth with rum! This brought to mind our own honeymoon disaster story ~ Rick and I drank some infamous “Aruba-Riba” cocktails upon our arrival; don’t remember much about that night but we woke up on the beach the next morning, wearing our bathing suits and aqua-shoes, sunburnt like lobsters and covered from forehead to ankles in sand flea bites! :O
Here in Michigan we have gorgeous fall colors, the sugar maples are luminous pink, orange and magenta, and the smell of woodsmoke permeates the air.
We LOVE your blog!
At least your malaise was not long….and not the “couchon flu”….mon dieu I hope that is right! Someone out there correct me if it is not. That little Smokey is winning my heart as I am sure he is yours. There seems to be a disticnt personality there. Carmel, Ca…..Indian Summer….70’s and beautiful rose and blue sunsets over the ocean….If I cannot be in Provence, this is not a bad place to reside!
Jules
You paint such a vivid image of your photographic épisode in le quartier marocain! J’y étais avec toi.
Kristin
Cela me fait mal au coeur, tous ces hauts-de-coeur. When you get better, do listen to this cute song about couscous:
It’s called “Fais-moi du couscous, chérie” (misspelled on this clip, but what-the-heck, it’s a great, easily understood version).
Now to the spellcheck:
1/ on regardais les trains passer (not passés)
2/ Palette should be Palate Punishment
Great story, and, dare I ask: Did you bring back any recipes?…
Regards from sultry Brisbane (im)patiently waiting for the promised thunderstorm, 31 degrees Celsius.
Haut-le coeur…yes I think most travellers have had this experience…our last was when we took five teenagers to Bali and I also think the forgotten ice in drinks was our undoing as we were all ill with the “Bali Rumbles” the next day. However, the worst affliction was travelling through France during spring when there were endlessly golden fields of sunflowers and we all came down with the worst case of hayfever you could imagine. Trying to communicate with a country pharmacist in pantomine language and a single word “le fleur” had the whole chemist laughing at my antics although they were very helpful in the end! I smile when you refer to the “les tournesols” in your posts!
Happy homecomings!
From the edge of the Pacific Ocean in Sydney where it is a little overcast and about 20 deg celcius….a lovely relief after 39 deg celcius the other day!
Joie….I think that you will find the name to be «La grippe porcine» for «swine flu», but we certainly understood what you meant! I’m sure it is miserable, no matter which language is describing it!
I am the queen of intestinal stuff and am a big believer of probiotics. If you eat some great yogurt without sugar a few times a day and even a big tablespoonful of sauerkraut twice a day you will get some of the good bugs that will soon destroy the bad bugs. Remember to not eat sugar as the bad bugs feed off of it. Good luck.
Robin
Lisa, I, too, cracked up at Randy’s rum-brushing post, and now your “Aruba-Riba” response — quelle image!
Leslie — I hope you are feeling much better after that awful flu. Have you tried thyme tea? Boil thyme in water, add honey if you like…
Jacqueline : I brought back no recipes, but I did lug back a tagine in which to cook! (I notice there is a tagine in the couscous video. Thanks for that link).
Thank you, all, for such interesting and helpful comments. Great to know where you are writing in from.
Gretel — taking 5 teens to Bali only to suffer the Bali Rumbles… you are stoic!
Bye for now from Ste Cécile, where the new sun is pouring liquid gold over the vines in the field outside.
Hi Kristin
Signed up to the French word a day because the last I did French was in high school – eons ago! On top of the word I have found a delightful little price of France with family. Your life sounds glorious! I live in a city of South Africa called Port Elizabeth – it is on the south east coast. We are known as the windy city and with good reason – it has been blowing like a gale for days (no weeks)in this windy season. Otherwise our weather is superb – rather Mediterannean. Enjoy the rest of your Moroccan holiday. Regards Michele
Hi Kristin
Glad you are all back safe and well – well almost well. The dogs seem to have had a great time.
Hi Kristin’s dad I am in Edinburgh Scotland and the weather here is what the locals call dreich which translates into grey and damp around 10 degrees.
Just love the blog
Jacqueline,
I thought it should be ‘regarder les trains passer’ too, but the quote came from Figaro, and I went to the link Kristin provided to the original article, where it does say ‘les trains passés’. Je ne saurais pas donner une explication, but there must be one. It’s grey and cool, mid 40’s), very typical for time of year, here in the Boston suburbs today.
Kristen ……..
Thanks for viewing my photo site, it’s such fun to share these experiences with others around the world !
Most often the camera is a Sigma DP-2 . It is one of the first pocket size cameras to hav a full size sensor as the pro cameras have, this allows us to carry a camera of pro quality ability [ depending on the user ] when we travel .
Check out the new Panasonic GF-1 or the Olympus EP-1 , they also have the large sensor but, the Sigma has something special, the Foveon sensor , you may want to look it up . It makes a dimensional look no other camera has .
When you view my site, look under the photo in question and click the info button for the details . Just ask me for more info. as well I just love to discuss this topic ! I will be back in the Loire in May for more Photos !
thanks again Kristen .
Ken Boyd
Napa Ca.
I just discovered it’s easy to leave comments! I heard vodka is a great and cheap disinfectant.
Love your stories and your beautiful pictures.
Wondering if anyone knows of a clean, well-located hotel in Paris, not overly expensive?
I was referred to a very quirky one en face de Notre Dame but am not sure if that’s for me. I’ll be visiting for a few days in March 2010. Maybe I’ll even get to see you??
Sky looks ice blue/white and almost blends with the ocean, which I see from my window. It’s cold for us in Los Angeles but people in other states would be out wearing shorts.
Kristen,
I spent two weeks in Morocco in 1982, including several days with three nice French people. Beautiful country, very exotic, fascinating people and customs. The French people and I shared a rental car for about a week, and eventually each one of us was sick with a sort of Moroccan version of “Montezuma’s revenge”. I thought it was from eating food from the vendors in the souks? in the Place of the Dead in Marrakech. It took me quite a long time to get rid of it. The local remedy was a granulated charcoal type “medicament”, but that didn’t seem to do much, and I didn’t get rid of it until I got hold of some antibiotics in Ireland. I wish you the best.
Kevin
Walnut Creek, California
I always managed to get a bad stomach when I left England for a hotter clime. I even managed it in California when I lived there. I came to the conclusion that it was the heat. I was fine in the winter regardless of where I went.
Here in St Nicolas du Pelem in the heart of Brittany it is overcast and chilly but dry about 11c. Just right for the Armistice day parade .
Hi Kristen’s Dad! Am just leaving a little message to say that here in Montreal, Quebec, Canada it is horribly foggy like it is in Hong Kong and I wonder if it’s due to global warming or pollution .. :\
We don’t get many sunny days here. Toronto has much better weather. I can’t wait to move back next year.