We've seen this turkey, er, pigeon, before, and we're bringing him back to illustrate today's fun-to-pronounce French word… read on and/or share your favorite French words in the comments box. la scoumoune (skoo moon) : tough or rotten luck, mischance Audio File: listen to "scoumoune": Download MP3 or Wav file Oh là là! Aujourd'hui c'est la scoumoune!Today we're having bad luck! A Day in a French … Continue reading scoumoune
"Alternative Blackboard" (seen yesterday, in Avignon). Alternative. I love the word, ever since discovering alternative music back in high school, thanks to the guy for whom I ditched the prom (we listened to The Smiths, instead). The following story (not about the guy or ditching) was written a few years ago… it's called Beauty and the Buck and it's simply an alternative to the story column below, or … Continue reading draguer
"The Rooster Thief". The French sure have a way with window drama, as seen here (see the full photo, below). Today, read about an American chick in a French autoparts store… or try your luck… with the anecdote on offer in the following story column! Please forward today's post to a dog lover or a wine lover or a France lover! Thanks! Yabla French Video … Continue reading chatier
Saperlipopette! Not a cat in the house (well, apart from this one… see her in the lower window pane?) I suspect readership may have… strayed… as a result of these ongoing "derma dialogues"… but I'll stick to my guns, as any woman from the wild west would… and continue to tell my story. Meantime, I'm offering an alternative read! Today meet the vamp who showed … Continue reading dodo
On today's "reading options" menu (alternatives to what may be, for some (including myself!), a gruellingly long retelling of a short hospital stay), we've got drunk birds (the ones who dip through our vineyard each winter) …and (option two) continue reading the latest installment in the skin cancer chronicles. Voilà, the choice is yours: a) Drunk Birds (click here) or b) Drunk Patient… either way, je vous souhaite bonne … Continue reading patienter
Fed up to your forehead with hospital stories? Je sympathise! Just skip, or saute, today's skin-cancer chronicle… and scroll guiltily or sneakily or self-consciously to the end of the page, to read, instead, about Chief Grape… on second thought, who wouldn't want to read about a hunky French winemaker? (But I do have faith in you and I trust , lecteur or lectrice fidèle, that you'll … Continue reading chariot-brancard
Not keen on reading another installment about skin cancer? Pfff! I don't blame you! Just skip the following story (I promise it's not gory! you'll even meet another great woman…) and click over here and read a story ("Ripping off the Winos") about shortchanging the locals (it's the last time the French ever asked an American to mind the cash register, and with good treason reason!). … Continue reading calmant
Butterscotch leaves are collecting along the tree-lined lanes in our village. And in this photo, taken in Suze-la-Rousse a few years back, leaves are turning rouge. la cheville (sheuh vee) : ankle jusqu'à la cheville = ankle-deepelle ne vous arrive pas à la cheville = she can't hold a candle to youavoir les chevilles qui enflent = to have a big head, to … Continue reading cheville
A bandagiste on Rue Sade in Antibes. Notice the flirty lace curtains… consider the street sign (what an address for "wound repairer"!) I think the sadistic French writer, long since deceased, might appreciate the irony in it! Merci, merci–merci beaucoup! for your letters and comments and lovely caring words regarding skin-cancer surgery. I have read and reread every note and commentaire and have been uplifted … Continue reading pansement
Whoops! That shop sign should read "MERCI"… please help me remove the "ER"… and accept my thanks for your patience as "word a day's" delivery schedule is temporarily interrupted! The next word will go out next week. Meantime a message from one of our harvesters to Imogen in the UK: Happy Birthday! comme si comme ça : so-so A Day in a … Continue reading comme ci comme ca
