THE PERFECTLY APPROPRIATE WORD

French cat Pompon puts on literary airs after having found le mot juste in his dictionary.

Vocabulary
le mot juste:  the right word
juste:  fair; right; tight

©2012 P.B. Lecron

HOME ALONE

Montrer patte blanche

A sign of recognition 

A French child's education is not complete without having learned by heart at least two or three fables by Jean de La Fontaine. Pompon, this blog's mascot, kindly illustrates the expression "montrer patte blanche" popularized in "Le Loup, le Chèvre, et le Chevreau." 

Here's the fable, in short: One day a mother goat had to leave her kid home alone. Before leaving, she locked the door and told him a phrase to use as a password, with instructions not to open the door to anyone without it. A wolf who was sneaking around the house at the time, overheard the phrase. After the mother goat left, the wolf knocked at the door and repeated the password. But because he did not get the phrase just right, the young goat was suspicious and asked that he "show a white paw." The wolf could not do, so he turned and went away.

Vocabulary

une patte:  a paw

un loup:  a wolf

un chevreau:  a kid goat

un mot de passe:  a password

montrer:  to show

©2012 P.B. Lecron

A TASTE FOR LUXURY

One way to make sure you don't miss dinner...

Give French cats the choice between a bowl of tap water and a bowl of Evian, and they'll inevitably choose Evian. Cachemire, silk, camel hair? These cats recognize quality right away and will curl up on the best fabrics in a second. But I never dreamed they knew anything about stainless steel cookware until I discovered Pompon, a.k.a. Guy l'Eclair and sometimes called Yo-Yo, nesting in my best French Cristel marmite.

Vocabulary
soie:  silk
cashmere:  cachemire
poil de chameau:  camel hair  
inox:  stainless steel
marmite:  stock pot


Expression

Une truite dans la marmite vaut plus que deux saumons dans la rivière.  A trout in the pot is worth more than two salmon in the river.  

Text & photos ©2011 P.B. Lecron