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.