Bonjour !
You may have seen today’s story on social media during the week my blog was down. Since most readers missed that post, I’m sharing it again here—this time with a delightful bonus: a charming video taken on nearby L’Île Verte. I hope you’ll read to the end and enjoy this lovely glimpse of our local paradise.

TODAY’S WORD: le déjeuner : lunch
PRONUNCIATION: [luh day-zhuh-nay]

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:
Nous avons passé un déjeuner charmant—et animé—chez Ana et Max dimanche.
We had a lovely—and lively—lunch at Ana and Max’s on Sunday.

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE… by Kristi Espinasse

Two Sundays ago, we had the chance to meet up with several members of Ana’s family, who drove in from Montpellier to spend the weekend in Ana and Max’s newly renovated apartment.

There is an expression in French that beautifully illustrates a collective effort, such as the one we witnessed after Ana and Max invited us over for lunch. When several people are working together on a meal, you may say: Ils mettent tous la main à la pâte—literally, “they all put their hands in the dough.” It evokes the image of many hands kneading, chopping, stirring—each contributing to something greater than any one person could manage alone.

À vrai dire, Jean-Marc and I didn’t touch the “dough.” The industrious kitchen crew had everything under control: Ana’s grandmother, Annie, made a terrine de volaille; her mom, Catherine, tended to an épaule d’agneau roasting in the oven; sister Clémentine prepared a crumble aux pommes; and Ana orchestrated le repas from behind the stove, while stirring a pot of riz au curry.

A couple of lazy dogs, Izzy and Loca, took turns slumbering or playing the tableside mendiant, their big soulful eyes begging for scraps.

The table was set with Ana’s own plates, made here in La Ciotat at the ceramic studio near Café de l’horloge, during her weekly classes last year. The napkins read, C’est un plaisir de vous recevoir!—in case we didn’t already feel cozy enough.

As the family cooked, we took our drinks out on the terrace where Max—and Ana’s brother, Quentin—played fléchettes (a fun return to form after the reign of computer games). I hoped no one would miss la cible and send a dart flying three stories down into the parking lot. Before I could imagine a catastrophic ending, we were called to lunch… “À table!” 

Brother Quentin served some wines from their region, le Languedoc, and Jean-Marc introduced his uncle’s Domaine du Banneret from Châteauneuf-du-Pape to complement Annie’s delicious entrée. When everyone became distracted by the instructions for how to make terrine, the dogs wandered over to try their luck once more. “Petites morphales! You’ve already had your pâtée!” That’s when Catherine pointed out the difference: “dogs eat pâtée: for us, it’s pâté, or terrine.”

Depending on how you spell it, pâté can be a fancy French food… or something you feed the dogs! “It can be as simple as rice, chicken, and carrots all mashed together (mashed and wet being the key elements). Voilà, la pâtée pour chiens,” Annie explained, adding that she used to make it regularly for her own dogs.

After Clémentine’s crumble—miam miam!—we all began to feel sleepy, until someone made the mistake of bringing up a heated topic: electric cars versus classic combustion engines. A passionate debate broke out between Jean-Marc and Grand-père, Pierre, while the rest of us slipped out to the balcony to whisper and giggle about it all.

Later, after hugging and kissing everyone goodbye, I finally dragged Jean-Marc away—he and Grandpa were now huddled around the TV, watching rugby (Bordeaux contre Toulouse), rooting for the same team! As we made our way down the building’s inner escalier, I turned to him and smiled, “We really got lucky with Ana’s family. They’re every bit as interesting, lively, and lovable as she is.” Jean-Marc wholeheartedly agreed… even if their taste in cars is pâté to one and terrine to the other.

FRENCH VOCABULARY

le déjeuner = lunch
mettre la main à la pâte = to lend a hand, to pitch in
ils mettent tous la main à la pâte = they all pitch in
à vrai dire = to tell the truth
la terrine de volaille = poultry terrine
l’épaule d’agneau (f) = lamb shoulder
le crumble aux pommes = apple crumble
le repas = the meal
le riz au curry = curry rice
le mendiant = beggar
C’est un plaisir de vous recevoir = It’s a pleasure to welcome you
les fléchettes (f) = darts
la cible = target (as on a dartboard)
le pâté = finely minced meat (la pâtée refers to wet dog food)
la terrine = terrine (more refined pâté, served as a dish)
le Châteauneuf-du-Pape = a prestigious wine from the Rhône region
morphal(e) = glutton (slang)
miam miam = yum yum
le grand-père = grandfather
contre = against
l’escalier (m) = staircase

REMERCIEMENTS
Merci beaucoup to the following readers for donating to this journal. Your support really touches me as well as your messages of encouragement:

“Congratulations on your new website!” –Karen
“Best wishes for the transition to the new platform!” –Rajeev

Mike P.
Mary M.
Chris A.
Cathy P.
Robin P.

Nancy A.
Karen H.
Elaine C.
Rajeev B.
Eleanor D.

Chandra F.
Monica G.
Cynthia C.
Jennifer J.
Cecilia de A.
Claudia-Marie P.

POSTCARD FROM ÎLE VERTE
I leave you with a wonderful video made by Ana’s brother, Quentin, of Exode Films, which captures a family outing at nearby Ile Verte. Enjoy!

Now through July 1st, I’m able to ship my book A Year in a French Life at a very low fee. But starting in July, international postal rates will skyrocket when books will no longer qualify for the special “cultural” shipping discount.

If you’d like a signed copy, now is the time to order!
The price, including shipping, is $35 by US check or Zelle.
For PayPal, please add $5 to cover fees ($40 total).

To order, simply email me at Kristin.espinasse@gmail.com