Daisies have long inspired an old French metaphor for flowery speech--les marguerites meaning
les discours fleuris, that is to say comments loaded with flattery or compliments.
©2025 P. B. Lecron
Tuesday, July 22, 2025
Monday, July 14, 2025
AWAY FROM THE CROWD
Loin de la foule
Summer stillness on an early evening stroll around one of the two Étangs de Corot in Ville d'Avray,
a western Parisian suburb. The artist Jean-Baptiste-Camille Corot rendered the ponds famous when
he painted them in 1865.
Vocabulary
un étang: a pond
loin: far
la foule: the crowd
©2025 P.B. Lecron
Saturday, July 12, 2025
ALL SPIFFED UP
Among the residual benefits of Paris having hosted the 2024 Summer Olympic Games are the
facelifts that were given to the suburban train cars. Cleanliness is next to godliness. La propreté
est proche de la piété.
Vocabulary
la propreté: cleanliness
la piété: godliness
un lifting: a facelift; a cleaning; a renovation
embellir: to embellish; colloquillaly to spiff up
©2025 P. B. Lecron
Friday, July 4, 2025
ON SECOND THOUGHT
This figurine of Tintin sitting in one of the discreet shop windows of the Galeries du Palais Royal in Paris caught my eye, and after some reflexion I decided to use the photo to illustrate French expressions such as après réflexion, maintenant que j'y pense, or finalement. All can be translated to "on second thought."
This collector's statuette is undoubtedly a limited edition from the early 1990's of the Leblon- Delienne
pop sculpture workshop.
Les Aventures de Tintin by the cartoonist Hergé is the most popular European comic series of the 20th century. Its protagonist, Tintin, is a brave young Belgian reporter and adventurer.
Vocabulary
un atelier: a workshop
une vitrine: a shop window, a showcase
©2025 P. B. Lecron
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
