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Meantime, Kristi says: I know I'm becoming French because….
I'm writing for two French magazines! France Today and, now, French Provincial–Australia's #1 magazine for French style and culture!
Thrilled to be joining the editorial team at French Provincial. This magazine, once only found in stores in Australie, is now available to all of us via digital subscription! You can buy any issue. (To see my back page column, select the issue pictured here :-)
TODAY'S WORD
éternuer (ay-tehr-noo-ay)
: to sneeze, or expirer bruyamment (breathe out loudly)
AUDIO FILE
One way you know you're becoming French is when you answer "à vos souhaits" after somebody sneezes. (Listen to Jean-Marc read the example sentence): Download MP3 or Wav file
Eternuer. Atchoum! Quand on éternue en France, on dit: "A vos souhaits" ou "à tes souhaits."
To sneeze. Achoo! When someone sneezes in France, we say: "Bless you."
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE… by Kristin Espinasse
After telling you to complete the sentence, "You know you are becoming French when (fill in blank)," I began to worry that some of you might not know how to answer.
"But I've never been to France," you might say. "How can I be sure I'm becoming French when I've not been exposed to all the French culture that I'm dying to be exposed to!!
Never Fear! Pas de souci! I've been digging through my photo archives to come up with pictures to jog your mind. Do any of today's photos sing to you?
Here are those pictures, along with possible ways you may be becoming French and not even know it!
1) (Observe photo at opening of this edition: You know you're becoming French when you buy baguettes (even frozen ones) at every chance.
You know you are becoming French when…
2) The sight of French penmanship makes your heart do backflips: flip, flip, flip, flippity-dip!
3) You're an olive eater. Sure, the Greeks are olive eaters too, but you are a French olive eater! (Think little niçoise olives…)
4) You love bleu things, bis things, and boot things (or sabots like that yellow one, with the flowers in it).
To sidetrack a bit, and because you are hungry to learn all things French–I just know you are wondering about significance of "bis" when you see the little word written beside a house number. Well, let me tell you, after 21 years in France I learned this most significant detail last week…. when trying to find Beth and Guillermo's house.
"By the way," Beth had said in a second email, "I live at 9 rue (bla bla bla)."
But when Jean-Marc and I turned up at number 9, and a grand-mère opened the door in her little apron or tablier–a whoosh of pot-au-feu vapors streaming out beside her, I knew we were not chez Beth and Guillermo (who'd promised to make TAGINE!).
"Are you sure your friends aren't at 9 bis?" Grand-mère said….
Turns out they were! And the first thing I said to Beth after kissing her on both cheeks is: YOU ARE at 9 A! Not "9". NINE A!
So, dear readers, let's remember this one together, once and for all:
Bis = "A" when referring to a house number. The photo above, therefore, reads "65 A"
5) You know you are becoming French when you are territorial….
The sign at the bus stop reads: "Chaise à laisser sur place. SVP. Merci" (Don't touch this chair, please. It belongs here. Thanks!")
2007. Cooking for our first harvesters, back at Domaine Rouge-Bleu….
6) You know you are becoming French when your kitchen has little French touches here and there and everywhere
COMMENTS HERE
YOUR TURN! Tell us one way in which you know you're becoming French. Click here and enter to win the book just below.
Thanks go out to these sponsors:
Provence Dreamin'? Maison des Pelerins, Sablet. A Vacation Rental Dream in the heart of the Côte du Rhone.
Provence & French Alps Tours – Two regions of France in one affordable tour. Majestic mountains, Provence colors. Wine tastings, Michelin Star cuisine.
One more way you are becoming French: you love ferronnerie d'art or ironwork of art. Here, in our shopping section, is a cozy kissing bench for the garden. It is also a wonderful conversation piece. I'm looking for one of these in France, meantime, for US readers, you can get one at Amazon!
WINNER UPDATE
Félicitations to Cynthia Lewis who has won the copy of this charming book.
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I know I’m becoming French because I have been to Paris and have fallen in love with anything and everything French – and I love to use French words and expressions – coucou, tres bon, moi? and peche mignon to name a few.
I know I’m becoming French when every single caption on my Pinterest board is written en français.
Sometimes I dream in French.
In my mind, I always translate what someone is saying to me into French
I know I’m becoming French when I wake up and realize I was dreaming in French. Also when my co-workers ask me what something means in French (this was unfortunately the case with the recent Je Suis Charlie headlines).
When quality of life is more important than money you are becoming French!
I know I’m becoming French because I can understand more and more dialogues in French films without looking at the subtitles. And then I try to continue speaking about the film in French after the film has ended.
I know I’m becoming French when I pronounce English words that end in -ion with a nasal sound without even thinking of it. Nation, competition, passion, permission, …
I knew I was becoming French when my neck felt chilly and I found myself wrapping a long scarf around and around it.
I know I’m becoming French because I enjoy wondering around vide grenier’s on Sunday mornings buying up bits of rusty old farm tools for my brother to make into sculptures: see http://villamblardsculptures.blogspot.fr
I know I am becoming French because when I am in Paris native French people treat me as a local. (I.E. They stop to ask me for directions as if I live there and know the language.
I knew I was becoming French after the third day of French class my freshman year. I have been a self-proclaimed Francophile ever since! <3
I know I am becoming French since, after being in Paris for three weeks, I am reducing the portions on my plate and I am losing weight. I am almost the size of a French woman d’un certain age. I try to walk to places as much as possible as well.
I know I am becoming more French when I insist on café au lait au lieu de café latté –Lorraine like the Quiche
I knew I was becoming French when I was having a conversation in French with a tour guide in Chartres and she asked “est-ce que vous etes Francais, o no?” and also when it didn’t seem strange to me that restaurants let dogs sit at the table with their owners.
GOOD QUESTION KRISTI. WELL, I THINK I AM BECOMING FRENCH
BECAUSE, I PLAY FRENCH MUSIC ALL THE TIME,I LISTEN TO MY OLD CHAMPS-ELYSÉES TAPES WHEN DRIVING,YES! TAPES I SAVED THEM LIKE DIAMONDS! I SUBSCRIBED TO TV5MONDE AND WATCH THIS CHANNEL 24/7 IF I CAN,NEWS,COOKING,FILMS ETC,ETC.
I WAS BORN IN BOLIVIA,CAME TO THE US 49 YEARS AGO, AND
MOST OF MY FRIENDS ARE???? FRENCH!! LOVE,LOVE! FRENCH
CUISINE,CELEBRATE WITH FRIENDS FRENCH HOLIDAYS ,MOST
RECENTLY LA FÊTE DU ROI AND…..DO NOT MISS READING THIS
TERRIFIC BLOG BY KRISTI!!
I know I am becoming French when I look at the waves dancing in from the Atlantic Ocean and think, “France is just on the other side!!!”
I know I become French when I translate the French texts for the homepage of my friends in Luxemburg and try to talk to them in French.
KRIST,
I FORGOT TO MENTION, MY DREAM COME TRUE,THIS SPRING
WE ARE RENTING A HOUSE IN MOLLÉGÉS . YOU INSPIRED ME
BY READING YOUR BLOG AND LOOKING OVER AND OVER THE
BEAUTIFUL PLACES YOU PHOTOGRAPH.MERCI BEAUCOUP!!
MARTI
I know I am becoming French (more so) as I keep my garlic in a large garlic keeper from Betschdorf!!!!
I count my swimming laps in French!
Hi Kristi,
I know I am becoming French because I swoon whenever I see a label that reads “made in France” of course I want to buy the item immediately!
Usually it’s food items such as those found in trader Joes but I do also have Le Crueset cookware on my wish list!
Bisous,
Sandy Vichery
I know I am becoming French when I realized I always cook with Gros Sel de Guérande Gris Tradition. I can now buy it at Cost Plus World Market for,just about the same price as at SuperU. That and the fact that after fifteen trips to France I am no longer surprised by what I have ordered for dinner. Oh, yes, I also visited Soultz-Les-Bains in Alsace where my Great-grandmother was born.
I became French at birth in the USA, when my parents named me Paulette after my father. Then I knew I was French when my grandparents and parents only spoke Greek around me and I would respond with a oui, or Merci as a young child. I knew I was French when I flew to Paris at 14 with my parents and understood conversations around me and tried to hide on the Tour Eiffel so I could stay in Paris forever. As an adult, I’ve flown off to Paris at the drop of a hat for a baguette with sweet butter and ham and cheese, or a cafe or a chocolate croissant from Paul’s. Now in my seventies, flights are few but I frequent Paul’s at Tyson’s Galleria almost every week to hear the accent, savor the flavors and become French again by osmosis. Your words energize me in all things French Kristi! Merci!
I love gizzards in my salad….. This is the first time I have commented after all these years of reading your blog. I feel like a friend. I know you so well. I think I should come out of the shadows of ‘lurking’ and say, ‘Hello, my friend, you have brought me so much pleasure.Thank you.’
I know I’m becoming French because I end MANY sentences to MANY people with, ‘n’est-ce pas?’
I’m becoming French since I listen to France24 chaque jour, et je comprends (presque) tous ils dissent! Et je reponds des questions en francais sans pensait!
Kristin:
When my husband goes out to his favorite coffee shop on his daily walk my one request is that he bring me back a croissant.
Edie from Savannah
I know I’m becoming French because my husband and I always speak of poulet and boeuf and sometimes oeufs.
P.S Congratulations on joining an editorial team at French Provincial Kristi!
I know I am becoming more French because I call my husband Patrique instead of Patrick.
I know I am becoming French because I know how to ask to rent two matelas on the beach in summer instead of two matelots!
I also am very good at using my lips to say “ah, pfffft” about almost anything silly.
Also “ah, putain!” How terrible.
I now use an “azerty” keyboard without thinking about where the letters are.
I think I have become French when I open an email to a group of girlfriends by saying “Mes amies” rather than “Ladies!” And it feels so much more natural than “Dear Girlfriends!”
I am a south Louisiana/New Orleans girl and Iknow I am French because I think in French especially when I do something silly like bumping my toe- I say aww. ma pied Je me suis blessé mon orteil
I know I am becoming more French because I am, again, planning a trip in August to France from Rancho Bernardo, CA, at the age of 88 and a half!
I know I’m becoming French when, pausing in the middle of a sentence, I purse my lips and say “euh…” instead of “um…”
“Bah Oui” creeps into your conversations everywhere, along with frequent “Je n’ai aucune idée”, interspersed in chats with your kids – no wait, that latter may be more a sign of age than of the fact you’re becoming French!!
Carolyn
I enjoyed reading a few of the comments from other readers. I’m becoming French by inserting French expressions into sentences at random times. Oh, and, j’ai presque oublié! We have just registered our older son for the French immersion program at his elementary school.
Felicitations on your new postition!
While I know I will never become completely French (I will continue to argue with French friends about stores being open on Sunday and past 7 p.m. and will still have an urge to eat dinner at 6:30) there are many signs I’m mutating to French. A few:
– not only do I plant red geraniums in my balcony boxes in France, I plant them at home in the U.S.
– I started buying CDs by Zaz
– too often at home I start a sentence “In France”
– I wince every time I go through a produce section at an American supermarket
– I miss seeing dogs at restaurants
– I’ve set my GPS to French language
– I can’t resist buying more scarves rather than necklaces
– I salivate at all of your photos of France
And did I mention that ever since college in the USA, I wanted to move to Vauvenargues? I love that the menus were still in French, that I could gaze out at the Chateau from my secret garden spot, that the colors of Provence are undescribable, that the scent of the jaune flowers envelope Mont Saint Victoire and that I raced the tide around Mont Ste Michel in my forties? Suffice to say, I have become French…..
I can tell I’m becoming French because I know where all the local marchés are by day so I can always shop for fresh ingredients and I plan the day’s meals based on what’s best in the market.
I know I am becoming French because I subscribe to so many French blogs, I want to stop at every outdoor café and I have lavender soap in my bathrooms.
I’m becoming more French by reading your blog and listening to the dreamy sound clips . Every snap you post sings to me ! A friend put me In touch with your blog, knowing I am anticipating a long-awaited reunion this fall (last we saw each other was in Nantes, 1981) with a college friend – in FRANCE!!
One way I know I’m becoming more “French” is because I’m willing to drive 45 minutes each week to the nearest Alliance Française to volunteer as a teacher’s assistant in their children’s French class. Due to my years serving as an after-school tutor, English Assistant in France, and tutoring refugees, I tend to work with the especially difficult students too! But I love the kids and the language, ça vaut le coup!
I am becoming more French as I anxiously await the arrival of your postings in my mailbox !
When received I totally immerse myself in your writings and photographs and let myself daydream . . .
. . . . in French !
Je rêve en français et je pense en français. Après tous ces ans, c’est magnifique ! J’achète des baguettes autant possible. Je les adore.
It happened years ago when my husband and I took our two French poodles to work every day (private physician’s office). The patients loved them and the younger dog would do tricks for the children. For six years now I have audited classes at the nearby university and best of all, my friends have nicknamed me “Frenchy”.
Congratulations, Kristin, for joining the editorial teams of “French Today” and “French Provincial” … how exciting!
I know I’m becoming more french when I long to sit at an outdoor cafe with a croissant and cafe avec creme.
When serving a meal, I say “bon appétit.”