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