Posts Tagged ‘French language’
May 24, 2011
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un passage (noun, masculine):
a passage or alleyway;
a visit or stay;
a stop en route to somewhere/the act of “passing through”
(i.e. “Était-ce après le passage du facteur?” = “Was it after the postman had come/been?”);
“on the way” (to somewhere)
(i.e. “Je peux te prendre au passage” = “I can pick you up on the way.”)
une/la folie (noun, feminine) – madness ; an act of folly ; a passion (i.e. “avoir la folie des antiquités” = “to be crazy about antiques”); an extravagance
C’est de la folie ! –This is madness!; That’s crazy!; In more slang terms: That’s crazy talk! This is insane!
C’est de la folie ? – Is this madness?/Is this crazy?
un arrondissement – Paris is divided into 20 numbered districts, known as arrondissements
une chambre de bonne – literally, a “maid’s room”; many old residential buildings in Paris have what used to be servants’ quarters that have now been converted into low-cost one-room rental units (often for students)
la gym suédoise – “The Swedish Gym”
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******
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“What is life but a series of inspired follies?”
– George Bernard Shaw
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A couple of weeks ago, while meandering through the 11th arrondissement with my friend Khaled, I turned a corner and came across this sign. It made me smile instantly, not only because it was clever joke on the part of the graffiti artist, but also because it made an apropos title for the past year.
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“C’est de la folie?” (“Am I crazy? Is this madness?”) I wondered last year, as I contemplated quitting my job, giving up my comfortable life and moving to a foreign-speaking country across the Atlantic Ocean.
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Posted in France, Paris | Leave a Comment »
Tags: 11ième, 11th, arrondissement, Camelia Jordana, faire des follies, folie, folly, France, French, French language, Paris, passage de la folie, pochoir, pochoirs, stencil, street art, vocabulary
September 30, 2010
September can be like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get.
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rentrer – to come back, to go back, to return home
la rentrée – “the re-entry”; refers to the period in September when everybody is coming back from vacation and returning to work or school
les vacances – vacation; also refers to the month-long holiday break that many French people take in the summer
l’energie (féminin) – energy
le farniente – an Italian word that has been adopted by the French, the art of lazing about and doing nothing
un projet – project, endeavour, undertaking
un défi – a challenge
une boulangerie – a bakery
une boîte (familiar) – firm/company, office
rouler – to run (as in function)
Allez, c’est parti ! – All right, and we’re off/here we go!
une chambre de bonne – a “maid’s room”; many old residential buildings in Paris have what used to be servants’ quarters converted into low-cost one-room rental units (often for students)
une plaque – an electric stovetop burner; a hot plate
faire du lèche-vitrine – window-shopping (literally “window-licking”)
Je faisais du lèche-vitrine… – I was window shopping…
une nouvelle robe pour la rentrée – a new dress for la rentrée
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“The year does not begin in January. Every French person knows that. Only awkward English-speakers think it starts in January. The year really begins on the first Monday of September.”
– Stephen Clarke, A Year in the Merde
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There’s something about the arrival of September that always makes me want run out and buy myself a brand-new box of pencil crayons. This impulse doesn’t actually make any sense, as it’s been years since I’ve taken an art class, and I can’t remember the last time I picked up a sketchbook. Yet for some reason, without fail, every September I am struck with the overwhelming urge to run to the local art supply store and buy myself a pretty new set of coloured pencils, preferably in a shiny tin case like the one I used to carry back in grade school. Something about the sight of them, pristine, freshly sharpened, and lined up neatly in a row like an obedient regiment of soldiers, has become inexplicably linked in my mind with the idea of fresh starts and possibility… a perfect metaphor for my feelings about September.
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Posted in Canadian Expats, Expat Life, France, French culture and traditions, la rentrée, Paris | 4 Comments »
Tags: Canadian expats, Canadians in Paris, expat impressions, expat life, France, French culture, French language, French traditions, French vocabulary, la rentrée, Paris, Paris expat
August 19, 2010
Store Window, Montmartre, Paris
les vacances – vacation
une fermeture – closure
la Mairie de Paris – Paris City Hall
un embouteillage – traffic jam
le supermarché – supermarket, grocery store
une fermeture exceptionnelle – unexpected or extended closure; an “exceptional” closure, outside of the regular operating schedule
l’Hôtel de Ville – City Hall
la plage – beach
les quais de la Seine – the quays of the Seine
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Do you remember the creepy opening scenes of the film 28 Days Later? They caused a stir among critics and sent a chill down the spines of audience members everywhere because they depicted, in very realistic fashion, the always-bustling London landmarks, Westminster Bridge, Piccadilly Circus and Oxford Street, utterly devoid of human life. The simple, surreal absence of people in such famously and characteristically overcrowded spots was eerier than anything Jerry Bruckheimer could have pulled out of his bag of over-the-top tricks.
Well, those famous scenes are kind of what Paris feels like in August. Public spaces that are normally bursting to overflowing with people now appear vast and empty. While passing through the central métro station Châtelet the other day, I could have sworn I heard the opening theme from The Good, the Bad and the Ugly playing as a piece of tumbleweed drifted by.
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Posted in culture, Events and Outings, Expat Life, France, French culture and traditions, French holidays, les vacances, Paris, summer | 1 Comment »
Tags: August, August in Paris, Canadian expats, Canadians in Paris, culture, expat impressions, expat life, fermeture exceptionnelle, France, French language, French traditions, French vocabulary, les vacances, Paris, Paris expat, Paris Plage, Paris Plages, summer, summer holidays, summer vacation
July 22, 2010
“My “14 juillet” souvenirs
la fête nationale – national celebration
le 14 juillet – the 14th of July
le bal des pompiers – fireman’s ball
un pompier – fireman
un defilé – parade
le parfum – flavour
une gueule de bois – hangover (familiar)
un bonnet – bonnet, cap, head covering
une bavette – flank (steak)
papoter – to chatter
le feu d’artifice – fireworks
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A mere four hours after getting home from the July 13 pre-fête nationale Bal des pompiers, just as I was finally drifting off to sleep, my phone rang. It was my friend Floriane, with the wake-up call I had requested. She had received a V.I.P. invitation to watch the big defilé along the Champs-Elysées at a very special reception being held in one of the offices above the grand boulevard, and she had invited me to be her guest. “Coucou Darlene, tu viens de te reveiller ? ” (“Hi Darlene, did you just wake up?”) she asked me sweetly, obviously bright-eyed and bushy-tailed, having had the good sense to skip the bal the night before. “Euh… non…” I fibbed. “J’arrive…” (“I’m coming.”)
I dragged myself, slowly, painfully, out of bed, cursing military parades and their early start times. Why? Why start a parade at 9:00 a.m.? What was wrong with a 1:00 p.m. parade? Or even better, a 4:00 p.m. parade?
Thirty minutes and two large cups of caffeine later, I left to meet Floriane. Having consulted Google Maps the night before, I knew that the address was a fifteen-minute walk or a mere five-minute Métro ride away. I had also checked the RATP (the Paris métro) site the night before and knew that my nearest subway station wasn’t closed, so I was all good. Or so I thought.
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Posted in Events and Outings, Expats in France, France, French culture and traditions, French holidays, Paris | 2 Comments »
Tags: 14 juillet, bal des pompiers, Bastille Day, Canadian expats, Canadians in Paris, Champs-Elysées, défilé, expat life, fête nationale, fireman, fireman's ball, firemen, France, French culture, French language, French traditions, French vocabulary, holidays, military, national celebration, parade, Paris, Paris expat
June 20, 2010
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hôtel de ville – city hall
un centre d’animation – community centre
la vraie gastronomie française – real French gastronomy
A votre santé ! – Cheers! (Literally, “To your health!”)
haute cuisine – literally, “high cooking”; elaborate or skillfully prepared food (especially that of France); artful or elaborate cuisine
manger sur le pouce – to have a quick bite to eat
une crêpe salée – a savoury crepe, sometimes sold wrapped in wax paper “to go” at little stands and shops around Paris
à emporter – to go
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“Alors je m’étais lancé, je l’avais invitée
Dans le meilleur Quick de la région
A boire en grand seigneur un milk shake à la banane
Dans des grands verres en carton”*
– From the song “Carpe Diem“ by Aldebert
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One of the cool things about living in Paris is that, since it is one of the most touristed cities in the world, at any given time there’s almost always bound to be a friend passing through on vacation to keep me from getting too homesick. This week my friend and former chiropractor Sarah was in town, so I did my best to show her a good time. Wednesday, we spent the morning window shopping in the Marais and then I took her to Montmartre and Sacre Cœur, which, much to my amazement and despite her many visits to Paris, Sarah had never seen before.
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Sarah and I on the steps of Sacre Cœur
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Now, I realize that hanging out with your chiropractor is not really something that everyone does, but sometimes life brings you friends in unexpected places and you just have to roll with it. It no longer seems strange to me, but it can occasionally be a bit weird to explain to people at first. Sometimes I get tired of the usual awkward: “Uhhhh, she was my chiropractor… and we really got along, so…” and am tempted to mix things up with a bit of humour. On the steps of Sacre Cœur, when two friendly tourists struck up a conversation and asked us how we knew each other, it took all my willpower not to listen to the mischievous imp on my shoulder and answer cheekily, “I was once half-naked on her table. There was oil involved.” For some reason, I felt that response might be misconstrued. Continue reading »
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Posted in Expat Life, Food, Food, France, Museums Shows and Exhibitions, Paris | 5 Comments »
Tags: Canadian expats, Canadians in Paris, centre d'animation, eating, exhibitions, expat impressions, expat life, fast food, food, France, French culture, French language, French vocabulary, Gérard Uféras, Hôtel de Ville, love, Ménilmontant, Montmartre, Paris, Paris d'Amour, Paris expat, Quick, Sacre Cœur
June 15, 2010
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la Ville Lumière – “The City of Light”; a common nickname for Paris, in reference to the ideas of the city’s philosophers during the Age of Enlightenment (and, some say, to its early adoption of street lighting)
un quartier – neighbourhood
se retrouver – to meet up (with each other)
Quel truc de ouf ! – “What a crazy stunt!” *
faire un pique-nique – to have a picnic
Et si on se faisait un pique-nique? – Why don’t we have ourselves a little picnic?
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“This afternoon I will go to les Champs Élysées. They have transformed it to a big garden for the week end.”
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I squinted groggily at the message on my cell phone, the words on the tiny LCD screen slowly swimming into focus. Roused just seconds before from a near catatonic sleep by a lo-fi version of the Beatles’ Revolution (theme song and ring tone for Orange, my service provider), I wasn’t yet operating at a fully-cognitive level. The wheels in my brain screeched loudly in protest as they sluggishly kicked into gear. I blinked again, still processing, then sat up straight in bed.
Did I want to see Paris’ most famous avenue and busiest autoroute transformed into a giant garden? You bet your fancy Hermès scarf I did.
I shook the last traces of sleep off and quickly texted my friend Sebastien back. “When and where do you want to meet?”
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The famous Avenue des Champs-Élysées, sometimes referred to by Parisians as “la plus belle avenue du
monde” (“the most beautiful avenue in the world”), is often choked with traffic. Photo courtesy Julian So.
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Tags: Canadian expats, Canadians in Paris, Champs-Elysées, expat impressions, expat life, farmers, France, French language, French vocabulary, Gad Weil, garden, Jeunes Agriculteurs, Laurence Médioni, Nature Capitale, new friends, Paris, Paris expat, picnic, picnics, Place de Vosges
The Vanishing Point 