The big come back...Tintin est de retour!

Just like me after a few weeks absence, Tintin is making a comeback! "Tintin est de retour". This sounds like a title for a sequel. I heard that Spielberg hadn't heard of him until somebody compared his Indiana Jones to an older Tintin, which made him do some research!I really find this hard to believe but what does it matter how he discovered him? I am really excited by the idea of Tintin being revamped by technology but staying true to his identity and the thought that millions of younger people finding out who he is.
I remember some attempts of cinematographic versions in the past, cartoon and real life and none could really recreate the colourful and energetic advenutres of the young reporter. It is often forgotten that Tintin was a reporter and not a crime solver!
Tintin is only one of the many heroes of "la BD" in the francophone world. La BD (La bande dessinée=cartoon strips) is a very popular art form and the heroes and titles are endless, some directed to kids, some to teenagers, adults and some suitable for the whole family. Astérix (by Uderzo and Goscinny) and Gaston Lagaffe (by Franquin) , for example are household names and worth the detour!It is a massive industry with new comers and new genres crowding the shops bookshelves.Next time you go to France, see the choice in any supermarket or bookshop...

A rough guide to Tintin.
The new film trailer.
A old Tintin cartoon.

Asterix: the official website. Check out the encyclopedia for background info.
Asterix: a film trailer which explains the story.

Gaston Lagaffe: official website.
Info in English.
A short video.

To come back to Tintin, his "father" Hergé (his intials are RG) is probably with Jacques Brel and Georges Simenon (Maigret books) national heroes of their native Belgium.

Le cancre. Jacques Prévert.

You either love or hate Prévert! On this grey September week, seeing children starting school made me think of some of his poems, Le cancre (The dunce) in particular: 

                     Le cancre

Il dit non avec la tête
Mais il dit oui avec le coeur
Il dit oui à ce qu'il aime
Il dit non au professeur
Il est debout
On le questionne
Et tous les problèmes sont posés
Soudain le fou rire le prend
Et il efface tout
Les chiffres et les mots
Les dates et les noms
Les phrases et les pièges
Et malgré les menaces du maître
Sous les huées des enfants prodiges
Avec des craies de toutes les couleurs
Sur le tableau noir du malheur
Il dessine le visage du bonheur.

 

Un bonnet d'âne
(a donkey's hat)
for the dunce,
picture that is thankfully
outdated now...


You can listen to an audio of this poem, with a slight french Canadian accent and read an approximate translation.
Now you have heard it, read it and understand it, here is a video A video to watch absolutely!

On the same topic of school, Prévert wrote En sortant de l'école.
Sung version.
Translation and some more French poems learnt at school.

And to finish, another one of my favourites, Page d'écriture. (Writing exercise-page of writing) sung by Yves Montand.

C'est la rentrée!



The holidays are not quite over yet but French TV and supermarkets are getting very excited about la "rentrée"(start of school). You should say "la rentrée scolaire", but everybody knows what you are talking about! Every French family has part of the summer holiday set aside to prepare for it. Children have a very precise list of stationary items to purchase, including quite large satchels even in primary schools.
Of course, there are no uniforms or dress code (see the kids in shorts and fli flops on the video)... but the stationary shopping list can be a nightmare (thickness of pencils, type of lines on paper, size and colour of folders, etc...), teachers are quite specific and parents stressed out! The price of a typical satchel and content is newsworthy. Luckily parents can receive a lump sum for their child who goes to school ( enfant scolarisé)!

La rentrée is a much more "celebrated" event... You can hear and read Bonne rentrée! (happy return to school!) in the media.The price of la rentrée, the new timetables, the state of the school buildings, everything is under scrutiny and a topic for conversation.

"Here in France, early September is known as la rentrée, and it’s a Big Deal. It’s when everything picks up again after the two month break that is summer holiday season – and as the French like to holiday en masse in July and August, it makes it well nigh impossible to get anything done until September. So now we’re all getting back to work, the children are going back to school with smart hair cuts, shiny shoes and new satchels, and with the holidaymakers gone, now is as good a time as any to ..."(extract from The Languedoc Review)

It is difficult to describe  a typical school week as it differs from areas to areas, even to town to town. Each school seems to follow another pattern. Traditionaly, children would be off on Wednesdays and Saturdays in primary school but go to school on Wednesday and Saturday mornings in secondary school. The school day is much longer than in the UK as it starts much earlier and there up to 2 hours lunch breaks (of course!). But there have been trials all over the country trying to find more children and family friendly hours and "emploi du temps" (time table).

French educational system explained.
Typical school day.
Rentrée des 6eme.

Lorraine?

Other than a girl's name and a quiche, Lorraine is a large French North-East "région" often associated with Alsace because of their common fate in history, always mentionned in treaties, passed on to the winner of each war! "Vous n'aurez pas l'Alsace et la Lorraine!" -You will not get Alsace and Lorraine-is a popular military marching song....Consequently, both regions have areas with strong Germanic heritage (dialects, names of towns and villages, food, etc...).
Lorraine has never been a tourist destination, but a place people pass through on the way to somewhere else! En passant par la Lorraine,-Passing through Lorraine- (another popular military song) , travellers can make some very interesting stops which highlight its rich historical past and discover that there is more to it than expected.

In no particular order:
Tourisme Lorraine (click on English version if necessary)
Metz, the capital city of Lorraine
Nancy
Plan incliné d'Artzviller a unique vertical "lift" for boats
The Maginot Line in Lorraine
La Citadelle de Bitche : fortifications besieged in 1870 war against Prussia, impressive audio-visual tour (English available).
Les Enfants du Charbon  Magnificent outdoor "Son et Lumières" performance by locals and volunteers to tell the story of  "le bassin houiller" , the mining area, its golden age and decline.
Amnéville-les-Thermes A Spa town which reinvented itself to become a tourist destination.
Animal Park of Sainte Croix, a truly beautiful place called Parc animalier, not a zoo!
and there is plenty more...

Who is Bison Futé?



I explained in my previous post how closely linked French holidays are with "la situation des routes" (the state of the roads, the traffic). A vast majority of French people travel by car, large distances, to their usual favorite holiday spot or to visit relatives. Millions of cars "meet" on congested motorways on particular days, at week-ends, in the middle of the month....To solve this regular occurence, after a mad summer on the roads in 1975, a service ( Centre National d'Information Routière) was created by the Minister of Transport in 1976 to predict the busy times, recommend quieter routes and  give advice on good road behaviour and safety tips. To make this information  a little more interesting, I guess, a little Native American character was invented, named Bison Futé ( Smart Bison) who shares his wisedom on TV,  the radio and now on the internet. The French summer calendar adopted a four colour coding system green-amber-red-black to symbolise the predicted traffic flow. The 1976 summer roads were half as busy. Bison Futé was a massive success. He appears now on all TV news bulletins and has become an institution. He received a new look for his 30th birthday in 2006. And since it is August 3rd, I believe we owe him our best but belated wishes for his 35th!
More on Bison Futé in French.

Vivent les vacances!

 

http://blocs.xtec.cat/avaclajota/files/2011/07/vacances_1_.jpg

Three words much awaited for by many kids! " Long live the holidays!" By the way, three controversial words. Should it be Vive les vacances! or Vivent les vacances!  There are two theories and  sides who agree to disagree. I believe (that's my theory) that originally vive or vivent are used when making a wish therefor sing the subjunctive mood.
For example, Vive la France! (which means Long lives France!) is actually short for Que vive la France! (I wish that France lives long!). Consequently, when using a plural subject, the verb should be conjugated accordingly in the "they" form . Example: Vivent les Bleus! (the French footballl team) should be the correct spelling. But you will never see this on a flag or Tshirt. Probably too grammatical correct!
So, eventually Vive has lost its value as a verb, become invariable and almost an equivalent to Bravo: Vive les mariés!
To come back to Vivent les vacances! (I am starting a new trend and have decided to use the subjunctive!), it is worth reminding that vacances is a plural noun; it will always be "les/des/mes/nos vacances".
Now these grarmmatical points are out of the way, let us get to the fun part of "les vacances"!
Summer holidays are much longer in France and have started 3 weeks ago! That is why they are often called "les grandes vacances"...
No French person will read "Vivent les vacances! without feeling the compulsion to hum a very old tune sung on the last day of school by many generations:

"Vivent les vacances!
Plus de pénitence!
Les cahiers au feu
Et la maîtresse au milieu!"

Obviously it is not available on Youtube (I could not fing it) , as the lyrics suggest to burn exercise books and the teacher too! Things have changed!
To finish and put us in a holiday mood, here is a blast from the past Vive les vacances! ,a video clip by Dorothée, a children singer/TV presenter from the 80's. It illustrates how the French associate holidays with being stuck in huge traffic jams...but thats' another story. Watch this space soon.
Bonnes vacances!

La Francophonie.

That's the name of the "French speaking world". Immediatly, we would think of Belgium or Quebec but there are many other places in the world where French is the native, administrative or cultural language (region or pays francophone).L'Organisation internationale de la Francophonie has got its flag, motto,summit every two years (next one in Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo (2012) ), its Secretary General etc...
The French spoken is all these differents areas of the world will of course differ in vocabulary, syntaxe and accents. Figures will vary from one source to the other but it would be fair to say that French is spoken by 200  million people in well over 50 countries.
The hot spots are the obvious ones (Luxembourg, Belgium, Switzerland, Monaco,Quebec) but also in North Africa (Tunisia, Morocco), Gabon, Congo, the Middle East (Lebanon, Egypt), Central Europe (Roumania), Madagascar, Vietnam, Cambodia....
Watch the international French Television TV5 Monde.
Listen to an Hymn to Francophonie.

14 juillet! Aux armes....etc...!!!

Today is July13th.France is getting ready to celebrate "la prise de la Bastille" on July 14th 1789, when la Bastille, a symbolic prison in Paris was taken over by the people "le peuple". It was the D Day of the French Revolution and became France's National Day and so a Bank Holiday. On July 13th, towns and villages organise their "bal du 14 juillet " (dance) and feu d'artifice (fireworks). Again, "une fête populaire"!
July 14th called "Bastille Day" by the British is actually called "Le 14 juillet" by the French!! Biensûr!!
14th July is a more official affair with military parades :"le défilé du 14 juillet" (this link is really worth looking at) all over France and particularly in Paris on the Champs Elysées.
Not wanting to start a whole history lesson, it is worth mentionning a few classics:

• "la Marseillaise", the national anthem was written by Rouget de Lisle and only adopted by the nation in 1792. Lyrics and audio in French with translation.
• "Liberté,égalité, fraternité", the French nation "motto" originates from the French Revolution's Déclaration des droits de l'homme et du citoyen  but was not adopted officially till the 3rd Republic.
• the "sans-culottes" poor, badly dressed militants and the "tricoteuses",who sat, knitting, through hundreds of executions.
• " le drapeau tricolore", the French flag which originates from this historic period too.

More information on "La Révolution Française"

TIP: Walk around Paris and visit every landmark which played a role in the Revolution:  La Bastille, Place de la Concorde, le Louvre etc...
And for something different, Serge Gainsbourg's own version of la Marseillaise: "Aux armes, etc...!"

C'est la Fête!

I have already written about la Fête as in a Saint Patron's Day. By the way, today is "la Saint Thibaut" and "Edgar". So Bonne Fête to all the Thibauts and Edgars! I have a strange feeling that they will not be many! If you have no idea of what I am speaking about, try reading my posting of February11th.
"Pour revenir à nos moutons" (to come back to our sheep/business), there are also plenty of other feasts happening all over France, particularly at week-ends to keep the French busy, planning, taking part, eating, dancing etc...
There is la fête patronale, again related to the saint Patron of the village/town or city this time.Sometimes simply because the town/village 's name, economic activities or past history. Originally, it wa a religious feast with special religious service and une kermesse, sharing of food , drinks, music, games etc... to celebrate the Saint Patron and thank him/her for his/her protection. This is slowly loosing its religious connotation but still alive in other shape and forms, especially fairs ("la foire", the fairground type with rides and so on..).
Then there are the myriad of "fête" advertised especially in the summer. Some can be justified :"la fête de la Mirabelle" to celebrate the harvest of the yellow gold plum in Metz,"la fête du citron" in Menton (it does not always have to be food), some are not "la fête des cow-boys" for example!

The "fête" has obviously a committee who plans an array of activities such as un défilé" ( a parade), un corso fleuri ( parade with floats decorated with flowers), un buffet campagnard (local food table), un barbecue, l'élection de la Miss (election of the Queen of ...),races (bikes, boats, sheep, horses), a dance (le bal), light shows (Son et Lumière) and fireworks (feux d'artifice).Plenty to do!

Link to more examples.

       

      

So if you travel to France and see one advertised,it might be a good idea to take the time. If on a small scale, it could give you the taste of "la France profonde" (the deep/real France).

Le Tour de France.

From Saturday 3rd till Sunday 24th July, the Tour de France will be the headline of sports news. This is the 98th edition of this cycling race which technically should travel around France but never actually does. It takes mainly place in France but over the years, there have been "étapes" (rounds/stages) in all the neighbouring countries, even England I believe.
This year, it will cover 3430,5 kilometers over the 3 weeks and visit places such as Cap Fréhel, Carhaix, Serre-Chevalier, Valfréjus, Olonne-sur-Mer, and Pinerolo (Italy). Also named "la Grande Boucle" (the Big Loop), it is the yearly celebration of  a very popular sport; the bicycle ,a national treasure is nicknamed "la Petite Reine"(the little Queen).

There is a lot of jargon attached to this sport and "le Tour".
Every day ,cyclists will cover une "étape de plaine "(flat terrain), "de montagne "(mountain) or "contre la montre" (against the clock!).This year , there will be 21 étapes.See this year's itinary.
The cyclists will be relieved to see "la flamme rouge" which lets them know there is only one kilometer left to "la ligne d'arrivée". The main bulk of men who cycle together is "le peloton".
Every day, the "classement "(ranking) will change according to performance.The last cyclist is called "la lanterne rouge"!
The more successful ones will wear "un maillot" (Tshirt) with specific coulours.



The most famous one is le "maillot jaune" (the best of the race). It has become an expression to describe somebody/a country/a town/a business who is the best at something... L'Italie porte le maillot jaune de consommation de pâtes! (Italy eats the most pasta!)

"Le maillot vert" goes to the best sprinter, the white one with red dots to the best climber, the white one to the best young cyclist.
The "Tour" finishes on a Sunday with a last sprint on the Champs Elysées.  in Paris.

Even if you are not interested in sports or cycling, it is a great "periple" (venture) to follow the "Tour" day after day, discovering France and its regions, its cities and villages, its mountains and plains which are the backdrop of this classic race.

Offical website Letour.fr
Official Letour.fr in English
Follow the Tour with http://www.cyclingfans.com/



Que le meilleur gagne!
May the best man win!

It's all in the past!!!

It is not advised to read this  if you are a beginner!!

Once students get over "conjugating", this usually starts with  the present tense, I hate to break the news that there are more tenses: future and past tenses. The past tenses are quite tricky because there is a selection to choose from and it takes time and practice to not only conjugate (build the verb with the right ending) but also to choose the right past tense!

Basically you will need to know the perfect (le passé composé) and the imperfect (l'imparfait). Some people like to mention the past historic (le passé simple), called the simple past, not so simple, since nobody ever uses it in the spoken language and it only shows up in history books, poetry or novels. It is handy to identify it and understand its meaning but there are so many verbs to remember in the first place in useful tenses that I like to priorotise.There is only that much one can memorize in the first years.

I don't like to explain things by translation but sometimes it helps so here goes:

The perfect(J'ai mangé)  is called "passé composé" , a compound of 2 elements : an auxilary (avoir or être) and a past participle (mangé=eaten, été=been, allé=gone). You would use it to narrate an event which happened in the past, it is the equivalent of the English past tenses: "I have eaten", "I ate" and even "I did eat".

The imperfect (Je mangeais) is called l'imparfait. You would use it to:

• describe an action in the past that occured often or regularly. It would then translate: "I used to..."
• describe an action in the past which was happening and interrupted. "I was reading when..." *
• describe a feeling, the atmosphere of the moment, the weather.It sets the scene. "It was a rainy day..."
• report speech in the past: "She said that she was going to the cinema".
• give a suggestion: "If w went to the beach today!"

*Incidentally, whatever interrupts this action would be in the perfect!!!!

And that's why I will leave the past historic for the time being. Follow these links for more information.It is worth reading this , several times to process it and of course practice, practice, practice...

When to use the imperfect.
How to conjugate the imperfect.

When to use  the perfect.
How to conjugate the perfect.

Perfect or imperfect: Practice.

Don't forget to use the Conjugueur to check your verbs or the verb Bible: le Bescherelle!

A Famous French poem in the perfect tense:
Hear the audio.

Déjeuner du matin (Jacques Prevert)

Il a mis le café
Dans la tasse
Il a mis le lait
Dans la tasse de café
Il a mis le sucre
Dans le café au lait
Avec la petite cuiller
Il a tourné
Il a bu le café au lait
Et il a reposé la tasse
Sans me parler
Il a allumé
Une cigarette
Il a fait des ronds
Avec la fumée
Il a mis les cendres
Dans le cendrier
Sans me parler
Sans me regarder
Il s'est levé
Il a mis
Son chapeau sur sa tête
Il a mis son manteau de pluie
Parce qu'il pleuvait
Et il est parti

Sous la pluie

Sans une parole

Sans me regarder

Et moi j'ai pris

Ma tête dans ma main

Et j'ai pleuré.

Prepositions: little important words

La pomme est dans la boîte. La pomme est sur la boîte.

Luckily, prepositions can be straight forward in some cases!

But they can sometimes be quite tricky....

Prepositions in French deserve a blog of their own. It is a vast territory and a dangerous one to explore.To start, we need to understand what a preposition is. We use them all the time without realising. They are those little words that can change the whole meaning of a sentence:
"I look at the apple"." I look for the apple."
It is the same in French...
Here are the links: basic French prepositions.
More complex list of prepositions
It is all very good to memorise them but it is probably wiser to memorise them in context, for example with a verb or in a sentence.There is no point remembering that en, à and dans mean "in".It is important to know when to use them.
In this last case:
J'habite à Lyon.(estate, town, cities)
J'habite en Normandie/en France. (certain areas, countries, not all of them)
J'habite dans un immeuble /une maison/un appartement.(housing type)

I could carry on but I want to keep the audience awake!

"Dans" and "à" are quite troublesome because they are also involved in the temporal (time) prepositions dilemna:
When to use dans , à, depuis, en and othersto talk about time periods?

 Best is to give examples:

DANS.
Je travaille dans une heure.
I (will/start) work in an hour.

A.
Je travaille à 12:30.
I work at 12:30.

DEPUIS.
Je travaille depuis 40 minutes.
I have been working for 40 minutes.

Je travaille depuis 12:00.
I have been working since 12:00.

EN.
Je travaille en 2 heures.
I finish this work in 2 hours.

PENDANT.
Je travaille pendant 3 heures.
I work for (during) 3 hours.
etc etc etc....

Then you have the verbs which take a preposition in French and English:

Je parle à mon amie.
I speak to my friend.

Those which take a preposition in French but not in English:

Je téléphone à mon amie.
I phone my friend.

And those which take a preposition in English but not in French:

Je cherche mon ami.
I am looking for my friend.

Je soigne mon apparence.
I am looking after my apparence.

You must admit that prepositions are a mine field! But they are in all languages. Again, I can't advise enough to learn by meaning and context, maybe trying to memorise simple phrases initially.

Click these links for more information and exercises.
Position prepositions video
Position prepositions activities
Geographical prepositions explained
A/au/aux/en in front of countries
Time prepositions explained
A/dans/pour/pendant/depuis which to  use?
all about jouer au/jouer du
Jouer

Qui sont les Français en 2011? Size of living space.

The typical  French dwelling measures 91 square meters with 3 or 4 rooms. This figure has increased by almost 10 square meters since 1984. Of the 28 million French homes, 84% are primary residences.  In the total figure of dwellings, detached houses are the majority of real estate with 57.2%. 57.9% of French households owned their home in 2008.

Qui sont les Français en 2011? Jobs.

On average, a French employee would work 39,20 fours a week. Managers stay in the work place  for another 6 hours a week.
In 2009, 25,6 million people were employed, 82,7% work full time, 17,3% part-time. 12,6% hold time limited contract jobs (CDD: Contrat Durée Déterminé, agency work, apprenticeship).
One in 5 employed people (5,2 million) is a civil servant according to a 2008 survey. In Paris and its suburban, there are 84 civil servants for every 1000 people.

1er mai.

Today is another special day! Firstly, it is  la Fête du Travail (Labour Day). This is regardless the day it falls on a Bank Holiday, sadly this year a Sunday to most French people's great annoyance! But more importantly it is le 1er mai (le premier mai, May 1st) and la Fête du Muguet (lily of the valley); I am sure Princess Kate would be happy to hear this!
Today, people buy lily of the valley if they don't grow it and offer it to wish each other lots of happiness. There are small market stalls in popular places to grab your lily of the valley sprig if you are not already lucky enough to have a garden! Lily of the valley, like le ramoneur (chimney sweeper), le fer à cheval (horse shoe) and le trèfle à quatre feuilles (4 leaf clover) are un porte bonheur (they bring you luck), or you could say "ils portent bonheur".

Joli moi de mai

Ô joli mois de mai, tu ouvres une à une

De tes doigts délicats, les roses du jardin

Et tu déposes en pluie la rosée du matin,

Offerte par la nuit à un rayon de lune.

Tu murmures aux buissons la chanson du Zéphyr

Jetant à la volée des fleurs sur les chemins.

Tu fais valser les cœurs, joyeux lutins

Au rythme des passions et des éclats de rire.

Sur les calendriers avec tes saints de glace,

Des affres de l’hiver, il reste encore la trace

Entre soleil et pluie, nuages et éclaircies.

Les oisillons s’emplument et le vent les emporte,

Adieu mauvais temps et les intempéries

L’été s’annonce enfin, il tape à la porte.

Alphonse Blaise.

So some French people will be marching in cities to celebrate trade unions and workers' rights and others will be exchanging lily of the valley!

Beaucoup de bonheur à tous!

Qui sont les Français en 2011? Births.

In 2010, 828 000 babies were born in France. This was some sort of a record after 2006 and 2008 which were already very good years. Since 2005, French women have become "birth champions" with an average of 2,01 children per child bearing age woman. Far more babies are born nowadays comparing to 10 years ago. Women become mothers later and later.The average age to give birth is now 30,1. It is worth mentionning that comparing to 20 years, twice as many women become mothers after their 40th birthday.The birth rate in France, in 2009, was 12,8 childbirths per 1000 people.

Joyeuses Pâques!

I will take a short break from the survey to wish everybody de "Joyeuses Pâques".  Fairly typically, the French are divided even in the most "trivial" topics. Some are adament that we should wish "une Joyeuse Pâques", others prefer the plural "de Joyeuses Pâques!" The confusion is due to the similarity of la Paque (the jewish festival to celebrate the exodus from Egypt)) and Pâques (Easter). The added  "s" at the end suggests the plural so people tend to add an "s" to Joyeuse (Happy) too. So, I am not entering this dangerous zone of conflict, I usually say Joyeuses Fêtes de Pâques , hoping for the best!
I will swiftly move on ...
To tell the story ofthe Easter bells, we will need to remember that France is in majority Roman-Catholic. Every town, village or area in a city will have its church with its bell(s) which ring(s) throughout the day (sometimes hourly, sometimes quarter hourly!) to mark time to lunch, time for mass etc... On the Thursday before Easter, all church bells in France become silent to remember Jesus' death.

Kids are told: "Les cloches sont à Rome pour voir le Pape" (The bells are in Rome to visit the Pope!)

Few towns or villages (especially in the east of France) still try to keep the tradition to replace the bells with groups of young boys who would march in the streets several times a day to remind everybody it is time to wake up, go to work, have luch, go home, go to bed etc...(They would be paid back after Easter with eggs (in the old days), chocolates or pocket money nowadays).

Easter morning, the bells "come back" and ring out  to celebrate the Resurrection. In some villages, people kiss and embrace one another when they hear the bells ring. It is actually quite odd how people are used to hear their bells daily even at night, and how odd it feels not hear them for 3 days. After such a  long silence, the sound of the bells is truly joyful and marks a new happy beginning.

It is also a happy time for children who wake up and find the chocolate treats dropped by the bells, hidden in the gardens and fields. Those can be chocolate eggs but also chocolate fish, rabbits, chickens and bells.... No card board boxes in sight! A lot of these treats are wrapped in film or coloured foil.
Le lapin de Pâques (the easter bunny) also fits in all this, somehow, especially in non catholic families.

Finally, I need to give a mention to l'arbre de Pâques, not as popular as the Christmas tree, the Easter tree is usually some branches from the garden, decorated with all sorts of painted eggs and decorations. It sort of shows that beautiful bright things can come from dead ones and rightly symbolises Easter and life after death.




Find out more about Easter using the links below et... Joyeuse(s) Pâques à tous!

Some really fancy Easter chocolates.
Chocolates and other treats.
Les nouveautés en chocolat.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Mobile phone.

64,3 million mobile phones are in circulation en France. 79% of the population owns one.

168 billion text messages had been exchanged  in France by the end of 2010.

The Internet continues to infiltrate French homes with19,7 million contracts. Around 55% of households  use the Internet at home.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Family life.

Amongst the 17,5 million families in France (7,7 million couples),44%  have children. This number decreases year after year.
The typical French family has changed: 3,9 million families have one child against 3,5 million who have 2.
The number of childless couples is increasing and represents 42% of families. There are 7,3 million couples without children at home.
The nombre of single parent families is increasing  (2,4 million). 85% ofsingle parent families are women who bring up their children alone.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Budget.

The biggest expense in French people's budget is ....bottled water. Every year, they drink 151,1 liters of mineral or spring water. In the 80's, the 5 foods at the top of the shopping list were: potatoes, fresh vegetables,wine, bread and milk. Now, they are: bottled water, fresh vegetables, potatoes, bread and fresh milk. Compared to 1999, the French spend more on housing, their health and communication equipment but less on food, alcohol, tobacco, clothes and transport.

Qui sont les Français de 2011? Salaries.

Average salary: 2068 euros

The "average" French person working full time in the private and semi-public sector earns 2068 euros a month. 10% of the French workforce in full time employement earn less than 1124 euros. The SMIC (minimum hourly wage) has been increased steadily in the past years to reach  9 euros on January 1st 2011. Manuel workers have seen the highest salary increase in 2008 (1,3%) in contrast with management whose salary have decreased of 0,8%.

Qui sont les Français en 2011 ? Le mariage.

249 000 couples said "yes" in 2010.The average age of the groom is 31,7 and  the bride 29,8. Even if marriage is decline since 1970 (393700 weddings then), it is still more popular than the Pacte Civil de Solidarité (185 000) which is increasing in popularity (13% since 2009).
The divorce rate has increased dramatically from 1969 to 2009 (76%). 127 600 couples divorced in 2009, (10,6 divorces for 1000 marriages). Most couples divorced after 5 years of marriage.

Qui sont les Français en 2011? Population overview.

The population of France is now well over 65 million. In 26 years, it has risen from 56,4 millions (1985), that is a 15% increase.
The average age for a man is 38,9 and a woman is 41,9.
The French population is growing older : over 65s represent a sixth of the population.Their number has increased by an impressive 20,7 % in the past 10 years.
Experts forecast that the average age of a French person will be 43,6 by 2040.
And by 2050, the total population should be between 70 and 73 milllion!

Qui sont les Français en 2011 ?

Who are the French in 2011?

L'Internaute (internet magazine) offers 14 quick glimpses at French people 's everyday life,what does aFrench family look like, what are the working hours, what is the average size of a French home etc...For the time being, it is all in French so reading material for higher improvers, intermediate to advanced students. But keep on eye on the blog as I will slowly translate the good bits.
Follow the link:
Qui sont les Français en 2011 ?

En avril....

This week, we have had glorious sunshine and Summer temperatures and so has everybody in France. But the French do not take the weather for granted and television and my own mum have reminded that Spring is only a few days old and things could turn nasty...Popular sayings (des dictons) and proverbs (des proverbes)  give us a warning...
"En avril, ne te découvre pas d'un fil, en mai , fais ce qu'il te plaît!" is one of my family's favorite! Do not take a thread (any cloths) off in April, do what you want in May! Even though, temperatures reached high maximums this week, most French people will follow this advice and not wear shorts quite yet...
"Une hirondelle ne fait pas le printemps!" A swallow does not make the spring! is of the same rather negative register and both sayings are hot favorites at home and on TV...
There are also plenty of proverbs mostly used by "les paysans" (those who work the land) and can be found in the ephemeride and calendar:
"Noël au balcon, Pâques au tison" Christmas on the balcony, Easter near the fireplace. Can somebody remind what kind of weather we had this Christmas?
All this negative talk has put me off this beautiful weather...Luckily I can also think of a more uplifting one: "Après la pluie, vient le beau temps."(after rain, comes better weather).



  If you want to learn how to say the weather, practice, listen some weather forecasts (la météo) , or learn more weather related "dictons", use the following links:

How to say the weather.

Practice:basic
Practice with a weather report: French region map, weather and grammar step by step
Practice: improvers
Audio exercise: advanced

Plus de dictons sur les mois de l'année.

Very recommended: today's weather for kids.

Poisson d'avril!!!

Poisson d'avril is the equivalent of April Fool's Day but not quite. It is "April's Fish Day"... Today, people will be playing tricks ("jouer des tours à quelqu'un") on others, the most popular one being discreetly sticking a paper fish on their victims' back! But all other kinds of false stories and traditional tricks are allowed too.When the fish or trick are found out, they shout out "Poisson d'avril!" at their victim. If you managed to trick somebody, you would say "Je t'ai attrapé(e)" ("I caught you!").That could be a possible connection with "le poisson".
Some books offer obscure reasons why the day is assocciated with fish; one suggests that François, duc of Lorraine, held prisoner in Nancy by Louis XIII, escaped "le 1er avril " by jumping in a river and swimming to freedom!
But there are more theories, such as the Reformation of the French calendar by Charles XIV. You'll find more explanations in French on l'Internaute.
So as well as being busy cutting out paper fish, the French will be busy "faire des blagues" , "faire des calunars","faire des farces" (playing tricks) hoping that their victims will have "le sens de l'humour"!

Histoires de pâtisseries.

Even at beginners level, very few students do not know the word  "pâtisserie". It suggests shop windows crammed with pretty little cakes with odd names, rows of creamy creations which can be "consommés sur place"(eaten in) or "à emporter" (taken home) in equally pretty boxes. Sometimes, the box will even be adorned with a yes, pretty ribbon!!! La pâtisserie can also offer chocolates, sweets and other treats such as fine liquors. But it has got to be cute and well presented. Don't be surprised if you are asked "Je vous l'emballe?"(Shall I wrap it for you?) as cakes and chocolates are often given as gifts to dinner party hosts. Or you could ask: "Vous pouvez mettre un emballage -cadeau?" (Could you gift-wrap it?)

 To name all the cakes would be an impossible task but here are some classics (sorry no croissants in sight!):


            

The Paris-Brest was created in 1910
by Louis Durand, inspired by a bicycle race.



Le mille-feuille, a pastry litteraly
meaning "a thousand leaves" or layers. 




Le Saint-Honoré, named after the saint
 patron of bakers, made of caramelised choux.

 

Le pain aux raisins.



  






Le chou à la crème.

  

La religieuse (the nun),usually comes in
chocolate or coffee flavour.

Le savarin, a variation of le baba, named after
Brillat-Savarin, a famous 18th-century food
writer, this rich yeast cake is soaked with rum-flavored
syrup and filled with cream and/or fruit.

Read more on the Food Dictionary.

Best pastry in Paris.

Best pastry in Lille.

To finish, let us correct a very famous misquote; Marie-Antoinette did not say "Let them eat cake!" but "Qu'ils mangent de la brioche!"