Félicitations to our Max, who begins un stage, or internship, in Reims, for the champagne house Lanson. Go back with me, today, to his very first job at the age of 3: teaching his mom how to correctly pronounce French! Read on in today's story, below.
Today's word: la ceinture de sécurité
: seat belt
Some of you enjoyed viewing the vocabulary list before the story, so we'll use this format once again today! (The audio file follows, below).
French Vocabulary
complet = full
une place = a spot (parking place)
Elle est complètement dingue! = She is absolutely nuts!
pompes funèbres (fpl) = funeral home
c'est sale = it's dirty
la crotte = droppings
la ceinture = seatbelt
Ah, bon? = Oh, really?
voilà, maman = there you have it, mommy
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE
Go back in time with me now, if you will, to the historic town of St. Maximin, where visitors from all over the world come to see the purported relics of Mary Magdalene (behind a thick glass encasement in the town's basilica).
The year is 1998 and the tree-lined parking lot in front of our centuries-old village home is complet. All fourteen parking spaces have been claimed. I am about to make one Frenchman's day by freeing une place—just as soon as I can wrestle my one- and three-year-olds into their car seats!
While I fasten Jackie's seatbelt, Max hums, pulls at my hair, or points to the pigeons in the dilapidated square. Beneath the campanile, which hasn't announced the hour in years, Madame A is scattering baguette crumbs again. If she keeps this up, there will be more birds in this village than beret-sporting Frenchmen! Maybe that's her plan?
I hear a familiar voice and I look up, past the car seat, to see Monsieur B, my other neighbor, shaking his head. "Elle est complètement dingue!" he mumbles, shaking his head at our neighbor. Perched there on the curb in front of les pompes funèbres, Monsieur looks as old as Mary Magdalene.
Monsieur B hates it when Madame feeds the pigeons. "C'est sale!" he complains, pointing to the crotte-lined curb. I sidestep the pigeon droppings on my way around the car. Time to buckle in Max, now that his sister is secure in her car seat.
"Mommy's going to put YOUR ceinture on now," I explain. Max stops humming and releases another lock of my hair. His eyes leave the pigeons to refocus on my still-pursed lips. Next, his little voice insists, "SEN-tewr, maman! SEN-tewr!"
Ah, bon? It seems I am mispronouncing again. I see my son point to my lips as he opens his own mouth to demonstrate the correct sound.
The car behind me begins to honk. I signal un instant to the impatient driver, who is still waiting for our parking spot. Turning back to my son, I repeat the word as my three-year-old has instructed.
"SEN… SEN-tewr…" Yes! I now hear the difference: SEN—like century, and not SAHN, like sonnet.
"Voilà, maman!" the little voice confirms.
With that, Max resumes his humming, I run around the car (past the other driver, who flails his arms in exasperation), Madame A tosses more breadcrumbs, Monsieur B shakes his head, and the pigeons continue to populate the village square as life goes on in the little French town of St. Maximin.
Today's story is from the book Blossoming in Provence: a collection of early blog stories. Thank you for your book support, which helps keep this French word journal going! To order, click here.
Audio File: Listen to a then 8-year-old, Jackie, pronounce this sentence:
Maman, j'ai attaché ma ceinture. Mommy, I've attached my seat belt. Download ceinture3.wav
Expressions:
faire ceinture = to have to go without
se serrer la ceinture = to tighten one's belt, to go without
un coup au-dessous de la ceinture = a blow below the belt
Also:
la ceinture de sauvetage = life preserver
la ceinture de parachute = parachute harness
la ceinture de sécurité = seat belt
la ceinture marron, noire = brown, black belt (karate)
Picture of our former village house on Rue Kléber in St Maximin. We lived there in 1997, when Jackie was born and Max was two-and-a-half. Above the front door, you see a window. Behind it, a desk where I first logged onto the internet. I happened upon a blog journal, "The Daily Alex," by a woman who chronicled her life with two young children. What a great idea! I thought, admiring the writer's discipline in documenting the moments in her childrens' lives. I wish I'd started blogging then and there, but I waited several more years, and in 2002 this blog was born. Our kids were 5 and 7 at the time, and though I have not gotten every milestone down on blog paper, the entries remind me of colorful moments I might have otherwise forgotten.
The village square in front of our old home. I could see this pastel "brochette" of homes from our window.
One last picture, snapped a minute ago by Jackie, who turns 21 next month. Time to hit publish and send out today's post….
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What lovely fun memories.Time passes so quickly. Bisous a tous.💜
French kids are great teachers!
Well, so are adults, even total strangers! I love how much they care how I speak their language. It is humbling and priceless.
Great story.
an adorable story!
Hi Kristi,
Great memories and how fun to look over your life documented through your blog! Thanks for sharing with us! The kids grow up fast don’t they?!
Kristi, I often pick up one of your books from my bookshelf and enjoy them all over and over again.
I think this might be my favourite though! I keep hoping for another. 🙂 Enjoy your September adventure.
I will be around your stomping grounds while you are in the USA … passing ships …
Bon voyage!
Max is the perfect blend of his parents! So handsome. You’ve come a long way from Arizona, Kristi. Much love.
Margy
I love the way he said, “Voila, maman,” once you had the correct pronunciation. A little French man to the core! Congratulations to Max on his stage in the world of great Champagne!
Kristi, Long ago I gave up ever trying to learn French. I do so enjoy the phrases you post. And the glimpse into your daily life is just merveilleux. French is an interesting language for sure. I love the sound of the word La Poubelle. It slips around the tongue so nicely, and I can imagine one in my boudoir draped in a pink tutu skirt. On the other hand La Crotte is as ugly as it sounds.
It’s comparisons like this that demonstrate how quickly time goes by – a three year old to a young man going off to practice his future profession. Right now on Facebook are the many “off to school” photos of friends kids, or their kids’ kids. Very nostalgic.
A wonderful memory. I like the vocabulary up top!
I love your blog Kristi, which I have only just come across, and also the audio files which are usually attached, as I can send them to my husband whose French needs even more attention than mine! Sadly however today ‘s post doesn’t seem to have an audio file attached, just a link to a text input tool.
Hence I’m still not sure why ‘ceinture’ would benot be pronounced any other way than a‘sain-true’. Thank you for your efforts- always very helpful!
…. sorry …. ‘Sain-ture’ of course (predictive text slip-up!
….. Love the vocabularie at the top! I makes it so easy to incorporate the words in the prose. Max is so good looking and smart he will be a huge success in his new undertaking! His background is perfect for the job, as well. We are still in the steaming 90’s here in Tallahassee, but hopefully your ‘canicule’ has abated. Cheers, Judi Dunn
Cute story. Reading this post made me wonder whether Max was named for the village.
Our dear Kristi,
Today’s post is absolutely precious.Especially when you write about one and three year old Jackie and Max,and we then see how wonderfully they have grown up!
Gifted writing,Kristi!All of your books
are keepers,and in a special place in my library.
Really enjoyed seeing St Maximin;
particularly learning how you got your inspiration to start this wonderful blog!
Unfortunately,we never did get to St Maximin.Had always wanted to see Mary Magdalene’s relics.We were able to get to Chartes,though.The memory of the Virgin Mary’s tunic remains with me still.
What a gift to have the opportunity to see them.
Love
Natalia. Xo
Teresa, Ah, that could have been! But no. Max is the shortened version of Maxime.
Out of the mouths of babes.
Speaking of which, great photo!
Enchante,chere Kristi, pour les memoires. Max est tres charmant, n’est-ce pas? Quand je peux obtenir quelque l’argent je le misserai a vous.
Great story today, like every day. Especially appreciated written way to say a word. I cannot understand spoken French…with hearing aids I really have to see it expressed in writing.
I would of course like to see all the vocabulary you post with the way it is pronounced. Fortunately I can read enough to get by on my semi-yearly visits, but no one understands my spoken French.
Magical immediacy in this one, Kristi — so perfect an evocation of those maman-multitasking moments twenty years ago! Breathless in pace, yet so cheery and tender, this masterful anecdote brimming with love and energy. Stunning photos, too, as ever. THANKS for this vignette from Those Days!
Thank you, little Max, for the correct pronunciation of “ceinture.” I was thinking it incorrectly, mentally not seeing the “i” and going with the “sahn” sound.
I thought of something else to comment on while I was reading, but find I can’t hold two thoughts for the length of a blog.
Bises, Lee
Big congratulations to Max, and bon courage!
Kristi, I have always enjoyed this story and it reminded me of my honeymoon visit to St. Maximin and the basilica in 2006. I came upon French-Word-a-Day just several months before that time and read your journal with great relish in preparation for my first visit to France. I’m glad and grateful that you are continuing to write and share your stories with us today.
Your old home looks absolutely charming and I can picture you seated at the desk in front of the window overlooking the village square and its delightful pastel houses.
St Maximin is the turnaround point for the Velo Rail, as described in http://www.french-word-a-day.com/fun-things-to-do-in-france/
Hi Kristi. I just wanted to tell you how much I enjoy your newsletter. I always learn something, and not just French vocab! Best wishes to you and your lovely family, from Susan (Sydney, Australia).
Such a lovely post with beautiful photos; thank you for bringing such pleasure and enchantment into our lives with your delightful posts.
Memory Lane can be such a beautiful place and you show it to us just so beautifully! Loved the memories and the photos!!
Thank you for sharing the beauty of your family and your part of the world… It’s always a treat.
Brings up special memories for us as well. We made the pilgrimage to Mary Magdalene’s cave in La-Sainte-Baume and stayed at the Hostellerie years ago. We were told all of France’s kings would trek up that same steep path called the ‘Royal Road’, from the church to the cave, to see the reliquary. So nice to hear about this on my favorite blog once again. Merci!!
is there pronunciation for the words and phrases somewhere? I cant find it, only little girl’s sentence.
Bonjour Diane Young, I’m having trouble understanding the verb misser here.
Quand je peux obtenir quelque l’argent je le misserai a vous.
My « compatriotes » are often a pain the … for learners. My son aged 15 on his first visit to France in 1996 was so often told off for mispronouncing that he gave up. I was sermoned by my French family so often that I lost patience . « C’est pas la peine d’êtrre prof de français si tes enfants ne peuvent par parler » etc.all that for a vowel slightly mispronounced or a verb – who else in the world has so many tenses? – used incorrectly.
Recently my daughter in London met another French woman who did the same to her. My daughter is 36 and can converse finely with her French grand-mother with only problems with numbers past 60.
I can only imagine what it was for you Kristin. And well done for surviving.
Very interesting read. I liked how you approached the topic from different angles. It gave me a new perspective. Great writing — keep sharing more like this,
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