HELLO PARIS

Long time no see!

Ça fait longtemps !

Looking up near the Place d'Italie in the 13th arrondissement in Paris on a fine day nearing the end of summer after a very confined Covid-19 springtime. More colloquial is the expression "Ça fait un bail" which can be liberally translated as "It's been ages." Note that un bail is a lease!

©2020 P. B. Lecron

IN MATCHING SHADES

Summer reading

The French expression "ton sur ton" best describes this refreshing photo that has been used to illustrate a very thoughtful book review of the English version of my daughter's French children's story, Le Lapin et l'Ornithorynque, i.e., The Rabbit and the Platypus. The review, written by Kristal Leon, appears on A Sailors Wife website and Instagram. Photo courtesy of Kristal Leon

Expression
ton sur ton: in matching shades
se rafraîchir les idées:  to refresh the mind

©2020

LOOKING FOR MOTHER GOOSE

Years ago I snapped this photo of my little girl feeding geese in our neighborhood park in the north of France. She was raised reading famous French fairy tales, like La Belle au Bois Dormant, Cendrillon, Le Petit Chaperon Rouge, Le Chat Botté, all written by the 17th-century man of letters, Charles Perrault. Inspired by traditional folk tales, Perrault first established the fairy tale as a literary genre at the ripe age of 67 when he published Histoires ou contes du temps passés, subtitled, Les Contes de ma Mère l'Oye, or Tales of My Mother Goose. 

No one knows if there had ever been an actual person known as Mére Oye. Legend has it that she delighted children telling them tantalizing tales all ending with character-building moral lessons. Why a name like Mother Goose? Probably because for centuries the goose has been a symbol of fidelity, protection, and communication in popular culture.

Little did I know that one day my daughter would be writing her own French fairy tales perpetuating the tradition! She is gradually building a library of tales which include Le Lapin et la Lune, Le Lapin et le Roi Grenouille, and Le Lapin et l'Ornithorynque. All are available on worldwide Amazon sites, and all are available in English. Click on the titles to take a peek!

What's that title?

La Belle au Bois Dormant:  Sleeping Beauty

Cendrillon:  Cinderella

Le Petit Chaperon Rouge:  Little Red Riding Hood

Le Chat Botté:  Puss in Boots

©2020 P. B. Lecron

BUMBLEBEE BLUES

Avoir le bourdon. . . to have the blues

Bumblebee in French is bourdon, which is also the word for a low-pitched sound. It's as well the word for an organ pipe--in both French and English, and the expression for a typesetters's omission of a word. 

The origin of "avoir le bourdon" as an expression for having a low morale is thought to be from the deep sound of huge bells that are customarily rung to signal grave events. However, a typographer who left out a word from a text could have cause for feeling low, too.

Good friend Sylvia photographed this bumblebee in her garden in the south of France in the middle of the Covid 19 confinement and contributed it along with the expression. Thanks, Sylvia!

Vocabulary

un bourdon:  a bumblebee

un bourdonnement:  a buzzing, a humming

©2020 P. B. Lecron

PUTT-PUTT

Being confined to home, we might as well translate a few golfing terms into French.

Vocabulary

une balle de golf:  a golf ball

un club de golf:  a golf club

une voiturette de golf:  a golf cart

un chariot de golf:  a caddy cart

des fers:  irons

un putter:  a putter

un driver:  a driving iron

un putting set:  a putting set

un tee:  a tee
faire un trou en un; un trou d'un coup:  to get a hole-in-one
un tournoi:  a tournament


©2020 P. B. Lecron

PAUSE AND THINK

Minute, papillon!

A Scarce Swallowtail or in French, le Flambé, poses on a cherry blossom in good friend Sylvia's garden in the south of France. Sylvia's photo brings to mind the French expression

"Minute, Papillon!" Although the origin of the term is not settled, it is contended that during WWII journalists from the Canard Enchaîné popularized the phrase. The story goes that they frequented a café next to their offices where a waiter named Papillon worked. Whenever they called out for him, he would respond, "Minute, j'arrive." Human nature being what it is, they nicknamed him Minute Papillon. Another possibility is that the term has been handed down over generations as a request for patience--to think before acting, in reference to the fact that a butterfly flits about and never settles on any one spot for a long time.

Vocabulary

un papillon:  a butterfly

une minute:  a minute

©2020 P. B. Lecron

A WORD TO THE WISE

Un bon conseil...

Even A French Education's mascot, Pompon, follows the government's confinement order to the letter.

You should, too! 

Expression

à la lettre:  to the letter, exactly, precisely

©2020 P. B. Lecron

LICKITY-SPLIT BUTTER

With some help from a Thermomix, a leading multifunction European kitchen appliance that is very popular in France, I--or should I say the machine and I--made some butter!

And in no time at all!

Vocabulary

à toute allure:  lickety-split

en un rien de temps:  in short order

Expression

Faire son beurre:  to enrich oneself  (literally to make one's butter)

©2020 P. B. Lecron

MON CHOU

A term of endearment

A fresh head of cabbage has never looked so good as it does today during the current pandemic confinement. Widely cultivated, the sturdy staple has inspired a number of expressions in the French language, the simplest of which is a term of endearment:  mon chou.

Expressions

mon chou:  sweetie, honey-pie, sugar

mon petit chou:  my little darling

un bout de chou:  a small child

être chou:  to be cute

être un chou:  to be nice, kind

être dans les choux:  to have failed at something

faire chou blanc:  to miss the mark; to draw a blank

faire ses choux gras:  to take advantage of or to profit from

Time to read

Immerse yourself or your child for a moment in an original French tale! Reading an illustrated children's story is a great way to jump-start the acquisition of a second language. If you're looking for something new, we suggest our latest story or conte, Le Lapin et l'Ornithorynque, written by my daughter, Marianne Lecron, and illustrated by myself. It and its English version, The Rabbit and the Platypus, are available on worldwide Amazon sites.

©2020 P. B. Lecron

ONE FOR ALL AND ALL FOR ONE

Stay safe and self-isolate!

In confinement with my son, nephew, and Birman.
Keep yourself and others safe by heeding public health directives.

Expression

Un pour tous et tous pour un! 

One for all and all for one!

©2020 P. B. Lecron