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Posts from the ‘Paris’ Category

Jan 11

7 Comments

No. 109: Advice on Where to Pee

Anyone who has lived in France or visited knows that public bathrooms are not plentiful.  Unlike the States, cities in France often don’t provide nice communal toilettes for their residents and guests. If they do happen to sponsor some sort of toilette, it’s usually pretty dégoûtant, and often Turkish-style to boot. I was talking to a good French friend of mine who now lives in Washington, D.C. and when I asked her what she likes about living in the US, public toilets was on her Top 10 List.

Turkish, or as Brits call them, French toilet

Turkish, or as Brits call them, French toilet

Yep. In the U.S., if you need to pee when you’re out and about it’s never a worry. Public bathrooms are plentiful and most of the time clean, and you never have to squat over a hole to pee. En fait, my hometown of Golden, Colorado, boasts one of the “finest” public toilets in the Denver Metro area. We actually had a parade, lead by our plunger-waving Mayor, when our fancy public facility was opened (and christened the the Taj Mastall).

The Taj Mastall, Golden, Colorado

The Taj Mastall, Golden, Colorado

So, you can imagine my dismay when, coming from this small town that strongly valued public sanitation, I landed in a huge metropolis where public toilets are so few and far between. Perhaps this lack of facilities is why so many men in France pee in public gardens and on the street.

Mais, what about us girls? We can’t pee in the breeze.

Well it turns out Cécile Briand had the exact same question, and answered it by writing the nifty guidebook: Où faire pipi à Paris. (Where to pee in Paris).

Ou faire pipi a Paris

It is a brilliant little book that fits neatly in my purse, and c’est pain bénit, (it’s a godsend), especially for women.

She has listed (and updates yearly) 200 toilettes in Paris that are accessible to the public. Her guide, arranged by arrondissement and including handy maps, also includes a history of public toilets and is limited to only toilets which are:

si possible, sont agréables, en accès libre (sans fouille de sac ou rarement), gratuite et bien répartis dans la ville (when possible, pleasant, with open access (without or rarely having to have your bag searched, i.e. museums), free, and well located in the city.

While some of the toilets she lists aren’t up to American standards, at least I know that if nature calls, somewhere in my general vicinity I can faire pipi.

 Ou faire pipi a Paris

Vocabulaire

C’est pain bénit! It’s a godsend!

dégoûtant: disgusting

en fait: in fact

faire pipi: pee, go to the bathroom

mais: but

Où faire pipi à Paris? Where to pee in Paris

Jan 9

8 Comments

No. 108: Idioms from the Bakery

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Bread. Glorious bread…

One of the many things France does right is bread. There are so many different types of bread to choose from in the boulangeries, it can get overwhelming at times. I had planned to do an extensive homage to bread this month, mais malheureusement, je suis au régime, and bread is one of my biggest weaknesses.

Donc, you will have to settle today for what I hope will be fun: idioms from the bakery or idiomes de pain.

Now, the first thing to know about bread is the French word for it: pain. No it is not p-a-i-n, as in agony, affliction, grief, heartache, and misery, but pain as in let’s-mix-some-flour-yeast-and-water-together-and-get-baking, and rather “Frenchily” pronounced: “pehn”.

One of my favorites expressions with “pain” which I hear the little boys shouting in my apartment corridors: Je vais au pain! Literally: I go to the bread, but meaning: I’m going to get the bread!

And we all need to get the bread. Bread is life, bread is sustenance, and bread is also clever when in the mouths of the French. Come have a taste.

Some happy exclamations:

C’est pain bénit! (This is blessed bread.) It’s a godsend!

Bon comme (du) bon pain! (Good like good bread) Extremely good!

Nul pain sans peine! (No bread without penalty) No pain, no gain!

A tragic saying:

If my father-in-law is a plus de la moitié de son pain cuit (his bread is more than more than half baked), sadly he won’t live long.

Are you a worrier?

Don’t tell your mother you’re avoir peur de manquer de pain (fear running out of bread) worried about the future.

Regarding money:

If your son has a job, he gagne son pain (earns his bread), make his living.

If you are a good bargain hunter, you can pick up something pour une bouchée de pain (for a mouthful of bread) cheap, or for a song.

If you are a lousy bargain hunter, you manger un pain trempé de larmes (eat bread soaked in tears), pay a lot for something.

If your product se vendre comme des petits pains (sell like rolls), it’s selling like hotcakes.

It’s bad if you être à l’eau et au pain sec (to be given only water and bread) because you are bankrupt.

Regarding work:

If you avoir du pain sur la planche (have bread on the board), you have a lot on your plate.

Looking for a doughy insult? Try these:

If somebody vendre son pain avant qu’il ne soit cuit (sell his bread before it is baked), they are a bit presumptuous or in American-speak, they “count their chickens before they’ve hatched.”

If your brother ne vaut pas le pain qu’il mange (doesn’t want the bread he eats), he is lazy.

If someone or something is à la mie de pain (the breadcrumbs), they are worthless, or unreliable.

If your friend mange son pain en son sac (eats his bread in his bag) he does it on the sly, and might not be trustworthy.

If your girlfriend pleure le pain qu’elle mange (cries the bread that she eats), she’s stingy.

Politicians may be accused of enlever à quelqu’un le pain de la bouche (take the bread from someone’s mouth) depriving someone of their livelihood.

If you savoir de quel côté son pain est beurré, (know which side your bread is buttered on), you are an opportunist.

Et enfin:

If you faire passer le goût du pain à quelqu’un (take away the taste of bread from somebody), you do them in, knock them off, or take them out, (kill them)…

…and then, I guess they are toast!

655px-Toast-2

  

Vocabulaire

boulangeries: bakeries

donc: so, therefore

idiomes de pain: bread idioms

Je vais au pain! I’m going to get the bread!

mais malheureusement, je suis au régime: but unfortunately I’m on a diet.

pain: bread

 

With special thanks to my French teacher Nicolas and my classmates, and About.com, please let us know where we went wrong.

Jan 7

1 Comment

No. 107: A Mild Winter

I feel guilty posting these pictures as most of the United States is currently experiencing a deep freeze…bon courage, mes amis.

source: http://www.simpleblissblog.com
O’Hare Airport, Chicago, 2014, source: http://www.bbc.co.uk

Meanwhile us folks in Paris are having a very mild winter so far. After our brilliant long-lasting autumn, it seems like spring is already knocking on our door. We are expecting mid-to-high 50s (15-10 C) all week, and we had blue skies all morning.

I add mild winters as one of the things I love about this country, because in my short time in France, I have had two mild winters, and one bone chilling winter. (Fingers crossed that warm bones continue this year.) I’m pretty sure I have been VERY lucky, but coming from a state whose motto is “300 Days of Sunshine”, I am used to bright and sunny winters.

Christmas in Colorado, 2011

Christmas in Colorado, 2011

While I’m sure that winter hasn’t come and gone in Paris, the trees and flowers on the Champ de Mars, seem to have their own idea.

Vocabulaire

bon courage, mes amis: good luck, my friends

Jan 6

8 Comments

No. 105-106: Fabophiles and the Galette des Rois

Along with every other French-themed blogger posting today on Epiphany, the Twelfth day of Christmas (marking the Magi’s visit to the Christ Child), I too have a story to tell about the Galette des Rois (the Kings Cake).

Galette des Rois

As you may already know, each year on January 6, the French gather to share this special cake made with flaky puff pastry and dense frangipane, a sweet almond filling. They cut the Galette des Rois so that each person sitting at the table plus one extra guest receives a piece. (In the olden days, the extra slice was given to the first needy person to pass by your home.)

La fève, literally a broad bean, but these days a tiny porcelain or plastic charm, is hidden inside the cake. The lucky diner who finds it, (beware of cracking a tooth!), gets to be king of the feast or king for the day and sports a handsome paper crown.

Only a mild fan of the cake itself, I was interested in taking a broader look at the types of charms found inside these cake. In my three Epiphanies in France, I have only come across cheap plastic baby Jesus’s and mini, chipped royalty. It seemed to me that there had to be more.

And more there is. En fait, there is a pretty decent-sized blogosphere dedicated to “favophilie/fabophilie”.

In case you haven’t heard, a fabophile (or favophile) collects the beans and charms from the Galette des Rois. They call themselves “Fabos”.

photograph: isabelle-lottaz

photograph: isabelle-lottaz

The keenest Fabos seek out whole “series” of charms and, of course, those rare and hard to find models. From what I understand, there are three types of fèves: figurines, custom “beans”, and standard “beans”.

The figurines originally started out representing holy figures, the Christ Child, and royalty. Now it seems that anything goes—from religious icons to cartoon characters to celebrities.

Custom beans are the most valuable as they are limited additions, often brand marked, and sometimes quite expensive. For these beans the sky’s the limit—depicting cutesy animals to kitchen utensils to great works of art.

The standard beans are mass manufactured and sold to any-old-buyer (such as your local boulanger). These ordinary fèves are sold by the box and often repurposed by us homespun chefs who put them in our own cakes.

kaleidoplumes.canalblog.com
dico-cuisine.fr
kaleidoplumes.canalblog.com
kaleidoplumes.canalblog.com
kaleidoplumes.canalblog.com

In addition to the three categories of fèves, there is another thing to look for if you’re thinking of becoming a Fabo: the finish, your choice: matte or glossy.

So if you are really gung-ho about collecting, you could in fact amass two sets of everything, shiny AND dull.

Truth be told, and actually quite scarily, had I grown up in France, it’s likely I would be a very serious fabophile, knee deep in tiny porcelain treasures and a good 10 kilos heavier from slogging through the Galette des Rois in search of my prize.

mes fèves so far this year...

mes fèves so far this year…

If you want to make your own fancy one at home, hop over to David Lebovitz’s blog for a fabulous but time intensive recipe. If you want the quick and easy version check back in a few days for Galette des Rois à la Rachel.

Vocabulaire

boulanger: baker

en fait: in fact

fabophile / favophile: a person who collects fèves; Febo for short.

favophilie / fabophilie: the act of collecting fèves

frangipane: a thick almond filling

Galette des Rois: the Kings Cake, eaten on Epiphany and throughout January; in the U.S. it is also eating during the lead up to Mardi Gras.

une fève: the tiny porcelain/plastic prize found inside the Galatte des Rois; also a broad bean or fava bean.

 

 

Jan 5

10 Comments

Number 104: Being a Fake Tourist

I am the first to admit that living in a foreign country (even France—or maybe especially France) can be exhausting.

It’s very true in Paris that the Parisians can wear you down, from the careless cigarettes in your face on a crowded street, to the glaring games of chicken on the narrow sidewalks, to their indifference and superiority when you try to converse in French, it all gets kind of old after awhile…

…especially after you have spent 2 weeks in a much friendlier and relaxed part of France being bowled over by overtly pleasant French people.

Martinique

But being a fulltime temporary residence of a strange land does have its benefits.  In addition to the obvious ones: getting to really know your new home, making personal connections, experiencing life the way the natives do, etc., there is one less obvious benefit that I like to take advantage of every now and then: being a fake tourist.

I don’t do this very often, but there are days in my beloved France when I just want the mental break from trying to be too French, or from stressing out about getting my grammar and pronunciation right. I give my feet a break from wearing uncomfortable, but beautiful, shoes. I give up on eating small acceptable portions, and instead, I allow my casual, optimistic American upbringing to take the lead.

source: the sauvybackpacker.com

source: the sauvybackpacker.com

On these rare days I consciously let myself go into tourist-mode and breathe a sigh of relief.

Okay, so I don’t go as far as slipping on my running shoes, white socks, workout clothes and baseball cap. I don’t strap on a fanny pack and wander cluelessly in the bike lanes. I don’t use my really loud outside voice to press on as if no one else in this entire country can follow my conversation or understand English. And I certainly don’t make grand exclamations about how things would be better if the French just did it the American way.

What I do do is generously allow myself to see this city and country as if I had never set one teeny tiny toe on the other side of the Atlantic. I open my eyes wide and pretend I am a complete newbie, and…ssshhhh….I don’t speak French, at all. (Don’t tell anyone.)

Oh, and sometimes I scandalize those moody, dark Parisians by wearing a pink coat!

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On fake-tourist-days, I allow myself to peruse the tourist trinkets and bargain with the North Africans selling black market handbags. I stand in other people’s way and take pictures of important monuments. If the weather is nice, I’ll take a cheap cruise on the Seine. When the spirit moves me, I might buy a slice of pizza or possibly a hotdog, or even an American candy bar in lieu of a salad Périgourdine or a 3€ maître-made piece of chocolate. I will smile at strangers and I’ve been known to inquire as to how they are feeling. It’s all so freeing.

source: parisbysite2011.tumblr.com

source: parisbysite2011.tumblr.com

Hmmm….when I see all this freedom in writing, it occurs to me that maybe I ought to play at being a fake tourist more often, except of course for the speaking French part…I’ll save that luxury for the days when I really need a break.

Vocabulaire

maître: master

salad Périgourdine: Perigord salad; a salad originating in the Perigord region of France and consisting of crisp lettuce, cooked or preserved duck giblets, bread cubes, chopped walnuts, walnut oil, and wine vinegar

 

 

Dec 20

12 Comments

No. 87: Petit-déjeuner en Martinique

This was breakfast in Martinique this morning. Refreshing, authentic and just so thrilled Superman did not chop off his fingertips.IMG_9227

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We are loving the Martiniquais and their beautiful island.

 

Vocabulaire:

petit-déjeuner: breakfast

 

 

Dec 19

2 Comments

No. 86: Marché de Noël

Christmas markets can be found in all the major cities of France, and also in the small villages and hamlets. Most of them are characterized by charming wooden chalets, vin chaud, local food specialties, gingerbread, and lots and lots of saucisson.

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They have strayed from their original purpose of supplying rural French femmes au foyer with all the hard to find ingredients for preparing the traditional holiday feast. And while the marché de Noël originated in the northern Alsace region, (belonging to Germany at assorted moments in history) and tend to draws on German Christmas market traditions, these days, at least in Paris most of the “handcrafted” toys and gifts are junky stuff mass produced in China.

That said, I still love them. They do add a terrifically festive feel to France in December. Here are the ones I’ve managed to see this year.

Marché de Noël Suédois, Swedish Church in Paris

I’d never been to a Swedish Christmas market so I really enjoyed this one. It was small and intimate, and the Swedish community was so very friendly. All things Swedish and holiday-ish available, including reindeer sausage, amazing ginger crisps, and of course Swedish meatballs and Glögg. (Held right before Lucia, so you’ve already missed it, but do look for it next year.)

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Marché de Noël, La Défense

More than 350 stands, very jolly despite the chalets nestled in the surreal setting of glass high-rise buildings and the ominous Grande Arche. (November 27-December 28.)

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Marché de Noël, Avenue des Champs-Elysées

The largest Christmas market within the Paris city limits. Incredibly crowded and best at nighttime—if you are going to brave the throngs of people, you might as well see the lights. (November 15-January 5.)

Marché de Noël, Trocadero

About 100 stands, a “snow” village, and an ice-skating rink with the best view of the Eiffel Tower in Paris. Lots of tourist, kiddos, African Eiffel Tower sellers, and pickpockets.

Marché de Noël, Notre Dame Cathedral

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Charming and cheery Christmassy views. Good photo opportunities. Beware of the gypsies and their tricks.

Marché de Noël on my bucket list:

Marché de Noël, Strasbourg

The mother of all Christmas markets and the largest and oldest one in France. A pilgrimage for those obsessed with Noël. Set in front of the Strasbourg Cathedral. I’ve seen pictures and the views are spectacular.

Marché de Noël, Bordeaux

Supposedly one of the more “magical” of the French Christmas markets, and of course, a great opportunity to stock up on wine from Bordeaux.

Marché de Noël, Nancy

Even though Nancy, France is my namesake, I have never made it there. I need to. Know for its range of traditional and regional foods and less junk from China.

 

Vocabulaire

femmes au foyer: housewives

marché de Noël: Christmas markets

saucisson: sausage

vin chaud: mulled wine

                          

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