Resting on one's laurels. (Note: I didn't have a picture of a laurel, so how about anemones instead? Let's rephrase things now to "easing up on one's anemones"
se reposer sur ses lauriers
: to rest on one's laurels
A Day in a French Life… by Kristin Espinasse
I did not bring my husband his cup of kawa this morning. Instead, I crept up the spiral staircase with its dusty red tommettes, made a swift kro-shay at the top of the cage d'escalier, and ran like a thief on a twilight getaway.
There, at the end of the hall, in a spring-cleaned office, I sat down at a tidy desk and willed myself to cast out culpability and put all guilt to rest. I looked around at my treasure, this room of one's own, and let myself get lost in the bliss of Alone.
Leave me ALONE! Isn't that what we so often yearn to say at the end of any given day? But there is no room for selfishness in a world full of need. So we try our best to put Ego aside and say "Yes" to others and dedicate ourselves to deed after good deed.
But in the early hours of the morning… before anyone else is awake, a peaceful parcel is ours for the taking, and there we claim our moment of calm and drive in our victory stake.
…Only sometimes we linger too long on our lauriers…
He can get his own coffee this morning! I decide, allowing my meditative moment to meander on and on… Nursing my coffee like Nefertiti, I sit back in my office chair and click open my calendar…
Monday, March 29th… !!!
Double-quick dare-dare, I ditch Nefertiti—and any other newfangled notions about nursing time—and hightail my hide back to the coffee machine in time to make my husband his café with cream. Next, I climb the stairs in rhythm with the French words of Joyeux Anniversaire!
:: Le Coin Commentaires ::
Will you help me to wish Jean-Marc Joyeux Anniversaire? Thanks for leaving him a message here.
Happy Birthday Chief Grape. We love you.
French Vocabulary and Audio File
(check back this afternoon, via this link, for the audio file.)
le kawa = (synonyme for) coffee
la tommette = red (often hexagonal) floor tile
kro-shay (pronunciation for "le crochet") = sudden swerve, detour
la cage d'escalier = stairwell
les lauriers (mpl) = laurels
dare-dare = double-quick
joyeux anniversaire! = happy birthday!
French Demystified…simple enough for a beginner but challenging enough for a more advanced student.
The bible of French home cooking, Je Sais Cuisiner, has sold over 6 million copies since it was first published in 1932. It is a household must-have, and a well-thumbed copy can be found in kitchens throughout France. Its author, Ginette Mathiot, published more than 30 recipe books in her lifetime, and this is her magnum opus. It's now available for the first time in English as I Know How to Cook. With more than 1,400 easy-to-follow recipes for every occasion, it is an authoritative compendium of every classic French dish, from croque monsieur to cassoulet.
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Jean Marc: Happy Birthday and many returns of the day. Also happy Easter from Shreveport, Louisiana. Jean
Joyeux Anniversaire!!! Nous some Beliers!!! Mon anniversaire est le 21 mars!
Joyeux, joyeux, joyeux!!!!!
Un cocktail d’anniversaire pour vos …. ans. Melangez tous ces ingredients at passez un super anniversaire! A votre sante
Bonne Anniversaire from one Aries to another-my birthday is March 31!
Saying hello to Krisin from our home in Tucson AZ to yours in FRANCE!
Love the site!
Joyeux Anniversaire Jean-Marc from sunny Southern California. It is beautiful here today, but that does not mean that we would
not enjoy being in France with you to celebrate your birthday! In fact, a trip to France would be on my list of Birthday wishes-
what did you wish for?
A votre sant!
Janna
joyeux anniversaire Jean-Marc from New Zealand
Joyeux Anniversaire Jean-Marc!! Have a wonderful day and an excellent year to come!
Best Wishes
Christine
We enjoy reading about your lovely life and how your daily activities go. Thank you for sharing . Happy Birthday , Jean Marc… Mary Bartholow from Dallas Tx
Joyeux Anniversaire, Jean-Marc!
Salem, Peter et petite Tai
Huntington Street Café
Shelton, CT
Cheers from Baltimore, Maryland USA Jean-Marc! Hope your birthday was a great one. I am just getting started with this wonderful blog, so look forward to learning more about you and your wonderful family, and also about my favorite language in the world- French.
so many comments- ypu must feel so special and you should! Kristen seems to be such an awesome person- would love to meet you both!
maybe one day…
Johnette
Best wishes for a wonderful birthday!
Happy Birthday, Jean-Marc, and yes, you do deserve all these amazing birthday greetings. May God bless you abundantly this year!
Kristin, I love how you get him his coffee in the morning, that is very sweet, and a small ritual that I’ll bet brings J-M comfort. I’m trying my best to create small practices like that in my home; they have a way of bringing a subtle sense of security and love.
Happy anniversary,and i am happy that your wife got you your coffee.
Yvonne Silvera.
Hackensack,
Nj.
Happy Birthday, Jean-Marc.
And a kiss to Smokey and Braise so sweetly sleeping.
Happy Birthday, Jean-Marc! May you have a joyfilled and prosperous year. A year full of love and laughter and adventure. May all of your dreams and visions unfold with delightful and surprising timing.
With love from the Mendocino Coast,
Ahulani
joyeux anniversaire! I am a new subscriber so only my third visit. What a lovely site it is so welcome you are beginning to feel like family I feel so at home reading the very detailed article. It is a privilege to know such lovely people. ‘quel àgé avez vous! chow avec apéritif! beaucoup plus anniversaires .
Joyeux Anniversaire, Jean-Marc! Moi, mon anniversaire et early Avril! Fellow Aries! (I believe.)
I am always amazed to find there are a great many of my acquaintances who celebrate at this time of year.
Chicago area is in the 40s F, and soon to be in the 70s F. I live west of the city.
Susan
Well, thank you all again and again…
As Kristi said, I spent part of my afternoon planting another 100 vines in our new parcel, which was quite symbolic on my BD.
Like last week after the big planting day, today is pouring rain and this is why I actually waited yesterday to finish. Our vines get the best start…but soon, we will have to deal with the weeds (which can make the baby vines die as they are not yet enough rooted down).
But as we say in France :
“On ne peut avoir le beurre et l’argent du beurre !”
Joyeux Anniversaire, Jean-Marc!! Un jour en retard….. J’espère que tu as passé une bonne journée.
Joyeux anniversaire un peu en retard
Kristen early morning is aglow…when I had young ones I used to get up at 5 am and hed for the marche while the vendors were setting up and return home before school…it became a golden time for me…
Please relate a memorable birthday to your husband…What a glorioous boouquet of messages….well honored and derserved
May yoou lie amidst the anenomies…………red,lilac and white
pamela pamela singer
Joyeux Anniversaire, Jean-Marc from Manitoba, Canada! I’m sure you have a good life in France and you certainly have a clever wife whose columns I really enjoy.
Happy Happy Birthday Jean-Marc – a little late. From the Minnesotan who recently met you both – now visiting friends in Arizona! Sorry Kristin – I meant to email you before we left! We are actually going to Mesa today – thinking of your sister!! Bonne journee!
Jean-Marc, meilleurs voeux. Je vous souhaite une annee parfaite. Vous le meritez pour votre travail intense avec les vignes. Comme le vin, il faut se rappeler que les etres humains, eux aussi, s’ameliorent avec le passage de temps. Et qu’on a toujours vingt ans dans quelque coin du coeur!
Karen in Phoenix, can you tell me about your book? I’m interested in organizing.
Jeanne Pierre, when I stayed with a family in France in 1972, and a son had a birthday, they put candles on a piece of French bread for him, which he blew out. And they sang “Happy Birthday” to him in English. I think the song has become international.
Joyous Birthday Jean-Marc! Wishing you a lovely day and happy spring! Enjoy in great health and contented heart! Thank you for sharing your wonderful wines with the world. XOXO!
Joyeux Anniversaire from Santa Fe, Jean-Marc! My wishes are a day late ’cause I was at Rhône Rangers in San Francisco this past week with my Chief Grape.
What a treat it was to meet you and Kristin at Shakespeare & Co March 1st – on my birthday trip!
Wishing you a very, very happy belated birthday Jean Marc! May there be many more coffees in bed!
A little coffee story….
We went to France for 7 weeks when our children were about 9 and 10. Having spent a week exploring Paris we headed out in our rented car to begin our Bed and Breakfast stays wherever we could find them. Our first stay was at a lovely farmhouse in Alencon. On our first morning we found a beautifully laid out table with bowls, plates, toast, jams, coffee and hot chocolate. We all sat up and no one made a move…” I think they forgot the cereal” whispered my son…”where are the mugs… how do we drink our hot chocolate?” whispered my daughter…” I don’t know” I whispered back “I’ll just go and ask”. So into the kitchen I went and with hand gestures indicating a drinking motion from holding a mug I tried to explain it was a beautiful breakfast but if we could possibly have some mugs so we could drink our coffee. Our hostess was most apologetic and ran back out into the kitchen. She came back into the breakfast room with a sieve and poured our coffee into the bowls and used the sieve to drain the skim off the hot milk. You can imagine our surprise and the giggles….she must have thought we were the most fussy visitors!
Joyeuse anniversaire, Jean-Marc, un jour en retard mais avec les meilleurs voeux pour beaucoup plus!
Rick et Marilyn en Caroline du Nord
Joyeux anniversaire Jean-Marc! Hope you are now celebrating both your birthday and the planting of the many new vines! Kerry Ann in rainy, cold Pennsylvania!
Gretel, Your story about the bowls (and where are the coffee cups?) is a classic! Loved it! What a picture you paint. Merci, mon amie 🙂
Joyeux anniversaire Jean-Marc. que cette annee vous apporte bonheur, bonne sante, amour et tout ce que vous desirez. Janine
Kristin, I too cherish those blissfully quiet early morning moments. I have always felt like I was getting something especially good that the rest of the world was missing. I also find it a wonderful time to write or photograph nearly anything.
Happy birthday belatedly to Jean-Marc!
Joyeux anniversaire, Jean-Marc! And many more. By the way, if “anniversaire” is birthday, what does one say to a happy couple celebrating x years of married bliss?