SAVOIR-VIVRE

Un bouquet original

Instead of offering your hostess a bouquet of flowers or a bottle of wine, why not an exotic bouquet of litchis, or lychees? These delectable fruits were the favorites of Chinese emperors for centuries. Easily and simply peeled with your fingers, their taste is reminiscent of roses and muscat grapes. It's no wonder they are increasingly popular in France. Their peak season is November through January.


©2019 P. B. Lecron

REACH OUT

Now more than ever, we all need to reach out to others, or tendre la main. This illustration is one from the French children's story, Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille, written by my daughter, Marianne Lecron. Appealing to both young and old alike, this conte carries on the old custom of telling fairy tales in an original story that renews the folklore tradition. And, it teaches a lesson in the importance of helping one another.

Vocabulary
tendre la main:  extend one's hand


Click here to take a peek inside! Or have a look at its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog.

©2019 P. B. Lecron

HOW DO YOU SAY PLATYPUS IN FRENCH?

One cannot help but be amazed to hear certain multisyllable French words roll off the tongues of primary school children here, like Vercingétorix, the Gallic hero, or ornithorynque, the word for platypus. Of late, I've had to practice pronouncing the latter because my daughter has published another French children's story, Le Lapin et l'Ornithorynque. 

This is the third book of our on-going mother-daughter project in which she writes contes pour enfants, and I illustrate them. Caring and being kind are always the predominant themes of her stories, with this latest hoping to inspire children to help others, no matter what their differences. Click here to take a peek inside!

Vocabulary

un conte: a tale

un conte pour enfant: a children's story

un ornithorynque: a platypus

©2019 P. B. Lecron

JUST ABOUT, NEARLY, ALMOST

Quasiment--it's so much fun to say

Quasiment is our French word of the day, because our upcoming and third children's book is almost, or quasiment,
ready to be published. Written by my daughter and illustrated by myself, it will feature our favorite character, Papa Lapin, and introduce more of his friends, including Madame Loutre, or Mrs. Otter, above.

Vocabulary
prochain, -e: next

Hands on for early literacy!
Reading children's books in a foreign language, at no matter what age, is a great jump-start for the acquisition of a second language! If you're learning French, or simply looking for a children's book in French, here is one of our own recommendations, complete with a charming text and watercolor illustrations: Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille written by Marianne Lecron. Available on Amazon worldwide, in French and English. Click here for a peek inside!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

SHORT AND SWEET

These wedding party favors from a marriage in Bordeaux are traditional French mini-cakes loved by many: le cannelé bordelais.  Flavored with rum and vanilla and best served warm, these succulent little darlings are never more than five centimeters high. Short and sweet.

Vocabulary
court et doux :  short and sweet
cannelé, cannelée : fluted



©2019 P. B. Lecron

LOST FOREVER

Don't let go!

We stopped to retrieve this errant and non-biodegradable Mylar balloon floating just above a wheat field in the Eure department. Think twice before you let one loose!

Vocabulary
ne lâchez pas:  don't let go

© 2019 P. B. Lecron

FLOWER POWER

Rose and violet flavored scoops of ice cream topped by an almond tuile with lavender flowers.

Summer fare in France.

Vocabulary

tuile aux amandes:  almond biscuits

©2019 P. B. Lecron

PIGEON

This French finial is a bit worse for the wear. Your guess is as good as mine as to how this pigeon, which once topped the roof of a barn or house in Picardie, received so many pockmarks.

Expression
Se faire passer pour un pigeon; se faire pigeonner:  to be played for a fool or dupe

Vocabulary
un épi de faîtage:  a finial
un peu mal en point; un peu triste:  worse for the wear

© 2019 P. B. Lecron

LONG TIME, NO SEE

Vintage Emmanuel Braudeau street art

Because of its ephemeral nature, a good deal of what I shall describe as early or vintage Emmanuel Braudeau street art has been worn away by the passage of feet and car tires, or simply lost under street and sidewalk resurfacing. That's why I've been surprised this past week to come across two of his vintage pieces on the sidewalk of rue Royale in Versailles. Long time, no see! I first noticed Braudeau's street art around 2009. Works of Versailles' favorite finger-paint-dribbling artist are today more easily found in local galleries.

Expression
Ça fait un bail:  it's been a while; long time, no see

Vocabulary
un bail:  a lease

© 2019 P. B. Lecron

IN THE NICK OF TIME

We made our way to Gerberoy in Picardie to see and smell the roses, a week after the village's rose festival, and a week before the terrible heat wave that has hit France--and just in the nick of time.

Gerberoy, a medieval country village, is classed as one of the most beautiful in France. In 1901, post-impressionist painter, Henri le Sidaner installed himself there and transformed the ruins of Gerberoy's ancient fortifications into a suspended garden where he did some of his best paintings. He also led a campaign to plant climbing roses throughout the village. They teem with blossoms in the early weeks of June.

Vocabulary

juste à temps:  just in time; in the nick of time

©2019 P. B. Lecron

REMEMBERING D-DAY

Seventy-five years ago 

View of the dramatic statue "Spirit of American Youth Rising from the Waves" at the Normandy American Cemetery and Memorial, Omaha Beach. Incredibly moving. Incroyablement émouvant. 

In French, the D-Day Normandy landing is known as "Jour-J," and also "le grand jour." 



©2019 P. B. Lecron

CATCH AND RELEASE?

Are these bugs friends or foes? Flower growers, especially rose gardeners, like my friend Sylvia who captured this photo in her garden in the south of France, will say that Cetonia beetles, or rose chafers, are a curse because they feed on flower petals. They have a particular liking for cultivated roses.

These scarabées though have redeeming qualities! Their larvae, which live in the ground for about two years, play an important role in the ecosystem because they digest decaying organic material, leaving the soil enriched. Organic gardeners therefore recommend catching the beetles and releasing them someplace else to maintain the ecological chain.

Vocabulary
un scarabée:  a beetle
une bestiole:  a bug

PEONY LOVE

Friend Sylvia shares a photo of her peonies, or pivoines, which are in full bloom now in her country garden in the south of France. Merci!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

COCK-A-DOODLE-DO

Grown in France

It's strawberry season and French growers proudly distinguish themselves from their Spanish competitors with some cocky packaging. The basic declaration crows that these strawberries were grown in France.

Vocabulary
cocorico:  cock-a-doodle-do; crowing
un emballage:  wrapping, packaging
sous emballage cellophane: cellophane-wrapped
s'emballer: to get excited about something, to go overboard on things

Something else to crow about . . .
My Franco-American daughter has revealed a new talent...she's a children's book writer!
Check it out by clicking here for the French version, or here for the English!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

A MOMENT OF CALM IN LYON

A view of sunset in Lyon as seen from the left bank of the Rhône looking onto the lavish Grand-Hôtel-Dieu. The site has undergone transformations and expansions through the centuries. At first a refuge and meeting place for traveling clergy during the Middle Ages, it became an important hospital opened to the public in the 15th century. Interestingly, the 16th century French monk, doctor, and humanist, Rabelais, authored La vie de Gargantua et de Pantagruel during his appointment there. The building's white stone façade and dome were achieved in the 18th century. The impressive landmark is the largest historical monument in Lyon, and is now a luxury hotel and a trend-setting commercial and business center. In the background is the 19th-century Gothic Revival basilica, Notre-Dame de Fourvière. Photo courtesy of Ian Byrd.

©2019 P. B. Lecron

A GRASSY RESERVE

A haven of tall grass is reserved for the resident peafowl nesting in an out-of-the-way area in the otherwise well-manicured Parc de Bagatelle, one of Parisians' favorite botanical gardens. The park is located in the heart of the Bois de Boulogne.

Vocabulary

un nid:  a nest

un site de nidification:  a nesting site

les paons:  peafowl
un havre:  a haven

Meet Monsieur Paon!

He's a sympathetic, although vain, friend of Papa Lapin in a delightful new series of French children's stories authored by Marianne Lecron. The first two books are Le Lapin et la Lune and Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille, and their English versions, The Rabbit and the Moon and The Rabbit and King Frog. All are available worldwide on Amazon. You can take a peek by clicking on the titles! 

©2019 P. B. Lecron

POTS AND PANS

Window shopping at a kitchen supply shop in Paris. These professionally-oriented stores where amateurs may also shop, are overwhelmingly interesting--especially for the culinary tourist. The reference is Mora, 13 rue Montmartre, in the first arrondissement. 

Expression
Tomber dans la marmite: to have an inborn talent; literally to fall into the cooking pot

Vocabulary
une marmite:  a cooking pot, pot
cuivre:  copper
une casserole: a saucepan

©2019 P. B. Lecron

QUITE A HANDFUL

A showy Pullman Orient Express rose from the garden of friend Sylvia in the Gard who says this variety reminds her of organza. Thanks for the photos, Sylvia!

Vocabulary
une poignée de: as much as as a hand can hold; a small number of; a handful of
organdi(e): organza, organdy


©2019 P. B. Lecron

AND SOME MORE

An old wooden wheelbarrow seems to have been planted as a focal point and extra treat for the eyes along a path in Monet's Garden at Giverny. Brouette is the French word for wheelbarrow; you'll sometimes hear it used in the expression "et des brouettes," meaning some more or a little more. This use came about because a wheelbarrow is generally used to carry inexact or variable quantities.

Get cosy with a French children's story!
Anyone at any age can boost his French proficiency by reading . . . and there is no better starting place than a fully-illustrated and vocabulary enhancing children's story like Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille. It and its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog, were written by Marianne Lecron and are available on worldwide Amazon sites. Click on the titles to take a peek!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

AN ECO-INDUSTRY AS OLD AS THE HILLS

We were on a nature walk and came upon this square basin laid in stone, like one of many that can still be found in Brittany. It was in such basins of stagnant water that flax plants were macerated in a natural, bacterial retting process to breakdown and separate their fibers for the production of linen, a rich and centuries-long industry in the Côtes d'Armor. Photo taken in the Domaine de la Roche Jagu.

Vocabulary
un bassin de rouissage:  a retting basin
le lin :  flax 
une toile de lin:  linen

©2019 P. B. Lecron

PERMANENT WAY OUT

Philosophizing in the parking garage

In a hellishly complicated and unfathomable parking garage of a French shopping center, this directional sign gives cause to pause for existential questions, and possibly even some relief from them!

Click here for a nutshell explanation of Jean-Paul Sartre's fundamental tenants of existential choice presented by BBC Radio 4.

© 2019 P. B. Lecron

SAY IT WITH FLOWERS

When it's time to tiptoe. . .

A sumptuous array of tulips and primulas adorn this plate-bande, or flower bed,

bursting with color at a shopping center in Versailles.

Expression

Marcher sur les plates-bandes de quelqu'un:  to step on somebody's toes; to encroach on

Vocabulary

une plate-bande:  a flower bed

une primevère:  a primula

sur la pointe des pieds: on tiptoe

Read in French!
We're pleased to post these links to the French and English versions of a new children's story, written by my daughter and illustrated by myself: Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille, écrit par Marianne Lecron , illustré par P. B. Lecron, and The Rabbit and King Frog. Click on the titles to take a peek!



















©2019 P. B. Lecron

SPIRIT OF REBIRTH

A wave of hope for Our Lady of Paris

An outpouring of unity, courage, and determination for the rebuilding of Notre-Dame de Paris is mobilizing the whole world over the morning after fire devastated the roof of the spiritual heart of French history, culture, and architecture. It seems everyone wants to be a part of the cathedral's renaissance--a reminder to the French of the importance of its heritage worldwide. Photo taken by Dr. Carol E. Cass on an earlier and less eventful spring day.

Vocabulary
une effusion, un déversement, une vague: an outpouring

©2019 P. B. Lecron

FRENCH LEAPFROG

Be careful of who you jump over!

This handsome unicorn, the central figure of one of two fountains flanking the entrance of Saint John's Cathedral in Valletta, evokes an old Chinese proverb, translated to French, that could well apply to the short-lived French occupation of Malta: Le sage ne joue jamais à saute-mouton avec une licorne. The wise man never plays leapfrog with a unicorn.

In 1798 Napoleon Bonaparte ordered Malta to be attacked after the Maltese Order of Saint John refused to allow his fleet of more than 30,000 men to enter the Valletta harbor. Bonaparte, who had been seeking to reprovision his forces on his expedition to Egypt, left a garrison to occupy the island. The occupation ended, however, after two years of an ongoing Maltese rebellion.

The Fontaine de la Licorne was sculpted in native limestone by Mariano Gerada in 1820.

Vocabulary
jouer à saute-mouton:  to play leapfrog
un mouton:  a sheep
sauter:  to jump, to hop, to skip
une licorne:  a unicorn


Imagine that!
A fanciful, and fully-illustrated children's story written by a busy and imaginative French mother, Marianne Lecron, has appeal for young and old alike! Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille, and its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog, carry on the old custom of telling fairy tales in an original story that renews the folklore tradition. A treasure! Both are available on worldwide Amazon sites. Click on the titles to take a peek!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

WHAT'S THAT EGG?

The French have a marked preference for eggs with sturdy, brown or reddish eggshells, a partiality I acquired after years of living in France--except at Easter when it was time to dye eggs pretty pastel colors for my young children. And even then, I could never find white-shelled eggs. Imagine my surprise today when I opened this carton of eggs that looked as bright as Eggy Pop lamps! In fact, the eggs were laid by white leghorn or Livorno chickens, a breed that originated in Italy. The leghorn is famous for its high productivity and smaller, white eggs. The most widespread egg-layer in France, however, is the Marans and its hybrids which produce brown-shelled eggs. Diet can affect the egg color, but it is mainly determined by genetics.

Expression
Il ne faut pas mettre tous ses oeufs dans le même panier!
Don't put all of your eggs in one basket!


A readable treat...
What are you planning to put in your little one's Easter basket? Why not a delicious children's tale? Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille and its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog, are fully illustrated and original fairy tales that gently teach life lessons. Their enhanced vocabulary will stimulate discussions between parent and child, as well as appeal to young and old alike! Available on Amazon sites with free delivery for Amazon prime users. Click on the titles to take a peek!

©2019 P. B. Lecron

READING HOUR

L'heure de la lecture

Lire c'est rêver les yeux ouverts.

To read is to dream with your eyes open.

Click here to take a peek inside Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille.

©2019 P. B. Lecron

WHEN IN NÎMES . . .

On the Via Domitia

Here's looking up at a beautiful winter day's sky in Nîmes. Once a Roman colony, Nîmes is known as la Rome française, the most Italian of any city outside of Italy. Originally an important outpost of the Roman Empire in southern Gaul, this ancient city is the site of important vestiges, notably its amphitheatre, built around 70 A.D. The impressive two-tiered arena's façade has 30 arches, one of which is pictured above. Photograph contributed by Jennifer Michalsky

Expression
À Rome, fais comme les Romains.
When in Rome, do as the Romans do.


Hands On Reading!
Anyone at any age can boost his French proficiency by reading...and there is no better starting place than a fully-illustrated children's story, like our latest title, Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille. It, and its English version, The Rabbit and King Frog, are available worldwide from Amazon. Click on the titles to take a peek!

©2019 P. B. Lecron