It's time in France--and the entire European Union for that matter, to set the clocks to daylight saving time, or l'heure d'été. The annual change takes place the last weekend of March in the night between Saturday and Sunday, at two o'clock in the morning. How to remember whether to set the clock forward or back? Anglophones use the reminder "spring forward, fall back." But is there an equivalent mnemonic device in French?
Yes! Here it is: because the change is usually around the first of April, associate the av of the month avril with avance, the French word for advance. For the passage back to l'heure d'hiver which takes place at the end of October, associate the re ending of octobre with the word recule, or move back.
The above clock face featuring a representation of one of the two Chevaux de Marly sculptures is mounted on a wall along the road between Marly-le-Roi and Saint-Germain-en-Laye.
Vocabulary
une astuce: a tip or trick
©2015 P.B. Lecron
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