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Posts tagged ‘France’

Nov 5

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No. 39: Les Vacances

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Just freshly back from the Toussaint holiday, it’s clear that one of the 365 things any sane person would love about France is les vacances. The French do vacation right. I don’t think it is an overstatement to say that the French are always on holiday. They truly are.

On the books, France has just one public holiday for which workers are guaranteed a paid day off every year — Labor Day on May 1; mais in reality, most French workers enjoy 11 national jours fériés per year.  During the month of May alone there is a holiday nearly every week. In addition to national holidays, France has one of the most generous vacation policy, mandating a minimum of 30 paid days off per year…which you would think would be enough, but the way the school calendar shakes out, it would appear that even with 41 days off per year, most parents must have to either take time off without pay, or pay for a lot of extra daycare. (Take a look at this school calendar. Blue means vacation–and doesn’t include all the of the extra national holidays. Just look at all that blue!)

school holiday calendar for France, zone C (Paris and environs)

school holiday calendar for France, zone C (Paris and environs)

At Button’s French bilingual school, she follows a schedule of roughly 6-8 weeks on, with 2 weeks off, with a handful of other holidays scattered throughout.

Meanwhile, the average US worker receives a scant 16 paid vacation days and holidays combined. In fact according to the Center for Economic and Policy Research, “the US is the only advanced economy in the world that doesn’t require employers to offer paid vacation time.” C’est fou! Contrast these two scenarios and you can understand why les vacances ranks high on my list of things I love about France.

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I don’t think the French will ever budge when it comes to their right to holiday–to them vacation is sacred. France nearly shuts down in the summer as the entire population takes the entire month of July or August (or sometimes both) off. What’s even better, as far as I can tell, is that the French jamais, jamais, jamais, take their work on the road. Vacation is vacation. There is no place for work while on holiday. Indeed the French have co-opted a verb (rentrer) and turned it into a noun with a BIG “r” :  la Rentrée, to describe the en mass homecoming when families return from vacation at the end of August and kids head back to school.

Alors, as long as I am lucky enough to live in France, I will continue to be faithful to the saying “à Rome, fais comme les Romains.” Vive les vacances!!

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Vocabulaire 

à Rome, fais comme les Romains: In Rome, do as the Romans

C’est fou! That’s crazy!

jamais, jamais, jamais: never, never, never

jours fériés: holidays

la Rentrée: THE homecoming (after the summer hols)

les vacances: vacation

mais: but

rentrer: to return (home)

Toussaint: All Saints (Day/Holiday period)

Vive les vacances! Long live vacation!!

 

Nov 5

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No. 38: Edible Insults en Français

As I soldiered on with my intensive French course today, le prof decided to liven things up by presenting us with a list of insults / reprimands en Français. He taught us some good ones and they are so yummy, I just had to share them with you!

…in keeping with the food theme of last week’s French idioms, all of these insolent phrases continue to pay homage to France’s love of, and connection to, food.

Amusez-vous!

AndouilletteSay for example, you are angry with someone, and you want to be more descriptive than simply calling him/her an idiot, you could say instead:

Espèce d’andouille! (You) piece of sausage!

Une vraie courge!  (What) an utter squash!

Quelle nouille!  What a noodle!

Quelle poire!  What a pear!

 If you want to tell someone to go where the sun don’t shine, you could say:

Va te faire cuire un œuf! Go cook yourself an egg! (Go to hell!)img_0244

Want to tell someone to mind his own beeswax? Try this gem:

Occupe-toi de tes oignons!!  Mind your own onions!

If you think your colleague is one twist short of a slinky, you might tell your boss:

Elle travaille de la cafetièr.  She’s working from her coffee pot!

OR

Elle pédale dans la choucroute!. She pedals in the sauerkraut!images 2

If you want to criticize a person’s looks you can handily compare them to some common food. For example, you could tell a woman:

Vous avez deux oeufs sur le plat. You have two fried eggs on the plate. (You’re flat-chested.)

Think someone’s ears are too big? Try:

Vous avez des oreilles en chou-fleur.  You have ears made of cauliflowers.

Have a friend who has become a bit pudgy around the middle? How about comparing him to a breakfast bun?

Il a de la brioche.  He has some brioche. (a potbelly)

Do you have a friend who is much taller than the average? You could always call him:

Une grande asperge. A big asparagus.images

Oh, I love this tricky and vivid language! Please let me know if you have come across any other charming food-related insults (and if I have made any mistakes).

Vocabulaire

Amusez-vous!  Enjoy! / Have fun!

en Français: in French

le prof: the teacher (short for le professeur-informal)

 

 

 

Nov 3

No. 37: Guy Roux Maître Chocolatier

Leave it to  the French to produce amazing sugar-free chocolate.  Guy Roux is affectionately known as the le roi du chocolat sans sucre. Using a selection of beans from South America, he and his artisanal staff produce pure cocoa butter chocolate without sugar. It’s 100-percent natural (no artificial sweeteners), has 40-percent fewer calories, and it is surprisingly delicious!

After hours of tastings, it was pure delight to come across this exciting young chocolatier. I was dubious chocolate sans sucre would tempt my taste buds, but indeed it did.  His mendiants were deliciously on par with others at le salon du chocolat, but what really “took the cake” was his  chocolate spreads.  Handing out his products and gamely chatting with the crowd, he and his creamy and subtly sweet cocoa concoctions completely won me over.

Vocabulaire

le mendiants: traditional French confection composed of a chocolate disk studded with nuts and dried fruits representing the four mendicant or monastic orders of the Dominicans, Augustinians, Franciscans and Carmelites. Each of the nuts and dried fruits used refer to the color of monastic robes with tradition dictating raisin for the Dominicans, hazelnuts for the Augustans, dried figs for Franciscans and almonds for Carmelite. Usually found during Christmas, recipes for this confection have veered away from the traditional combination of nuts and fruits to other combinations incorporating seeds and fruit peels. Wikipedia.

le roi du chocolat sans sucre: the king of chocolate without sugar

 

 

Nov 3

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No. 36: Salon du Chocolat Encore

“Chocolate doesn’t make the world go ’round, but it sure does make the trip worthwhile!”

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The theme of this year’s Salon du Chocolat was enchantment, the question asked, “Why is chocolate so magical?” The event itself was certainly enchanting, delicious, and completely over the top. If you are passionate about chocolate, and I am, this is the not-to-be-missed event of the season.

The annual salon brings together an amazing collection of chocolatiers, pastry chefs, cocoa experts and confectioners. This year, over 180 French and international chocolate makers filled the grand exhibition space (20,000 sqm) at Port de Versailles representing (and providing tastings of!) some of the biggest names and the highest quality chocolate products from around the world. Another 350+ participants provided samplings of bonbons, cakes, ice cream, crepes and sugarcoated delights.

I met my girlfriend Em first thing in the morning and spent nearly 8 hours nageant dans le chocolat. It was fabulous. Imagine a whole day bathed in a space completely dedicated to chocolate and sweet treats. The first floor, the Tendance Confiserie was dedicated entirely to fantastical sugary confections, new trends in confection and included a space devoted to les enfants offering little ones the chance to make and decorate les bonbons. For me the space was more eye-candy than mouth-candy. It was a photographer’s dream a fairy-tale land of colorful sweeties and fun.

The second floor on the other hand was for the serious chocolate connoisseur. This is where the big guns come to play and show off their newest creations. Just like the fashion industry the superstars have the chance to roll out their new fall line and share their established winners. And there were a lot of winners…and things got a little carried away! Never has the saying “so much chocolate, so little time” been more accurate.

Moderation, schmoderation…by the end of the day, we were completely chocolated-out, but completely and contentedly under the spell of the magic of chocolate.

“Oh, divine chocolate!

They grind thee kneeling,

Beat thee with hands praying,

And drink thee with eyes to heaven.”

― Marco Antonio Orellana

Vocabulaire:

les enfants: the children

nageant dans le chocolat: swimming in the chocolate

Nov 1

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No. 34: Salon du Chocolat

As we are running off for homemade Thai food tonight, I am leaving you with a few scrumptious pictures of how I spent the day….completely overwhelmed by chocolate! Stay tuned for the story tomorrow. Bonne dégustation!

Vocabulaire:

Bonne dégustation! Happy (good) tasting!

Nov 1

2 Comments

No. 33: Last Minute Finds

IMG_4058It’s not always easy to find the missing ingredients from your homeland in France. Sometimes it can take weeks or months to track something down when you’re desperate for a piece of home.  But tonight was an exception to the rule. Cet automne, j’ai du pain sur la planche with so many different and exciting things, that I didn’t even remember until last night that today America is celebrating Halloween.

Halloween on the metro….
…zombies et un diable…BOO!

Most Frenchies don’t observe Halloween. It’s not part of their history. Toussaint, tomorrow, is their holiday, and a pretty serious one at that. So when ma fille cadette came home from rehearsal for her Sondheim showcase tonight, and announced, “No one even acknowledged that today was Halloween,” I felt a little pang of regret. Even though Button is halfway to 18, I know she misses the fun and high spirits of dressing up, trick-or-treating, and being a teen in America.

So because I’m a good maman, while she was showering and changing, I ran out with Taz, and thought I’d take a chance on finding some Halloween candy for her to share with the cast ce soir. Et, voilà au marché d’à côté, on the highest shelf, sat one lone box of miniature-sized American candy! Quelle chance! That never happens in Paris.IMG_8452

A burly Russian tourist stood on his tiptoes and knocked it from the shelf and into my grateful hands.

Alors, happy Halloween à tous!

Vocabulaire

 à tous: to all

au marché d’à côté: at the market next door

ce soir: this evening

Cet automne j’ai du pain sur la planche: This autumn, my plate is full, literally “the bread is on the board”

ma fille cadette: my younger daughter

marché d’à côté: market next door

Quelle chance! What luck!

Toussaint: All Saints’ Day

Oct 30

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No. 31: Savon de Marseille

IMG_8425I love the world famous soap from Marseille. The authentic product is made from vegetable oils, mostly olive oil, and must contain 72 percent oil to be stamped as savon de Marseille.

Marseille and Provence have been associated with soap making since the 16th century. According to The Insiders Guide to the Most Beautiful Part of France, “in 1900, 60 percent of the population was involved in soap-making in some capacity and records from 1908 state that the city then had 81 factories producing 140,000 tons (308 million pounds) of soap a year.” That’s a tremendous amount of soap!

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Being crazy for color, I love to look at the colorful displays of soap found at every market in Marseille and Provence, but as far as washing up, I go for the natural miel et citron. With no artificial colors or dye. It smooths and nourishes and smells heavenly to boot…

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Vocabulaire

savon de Marseille: soap from Marseille

miel et citron: honey and lemon

 

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