BASIC FRENCH

 Here's some basic public notice vocabulary for adventurous new learners of the French language.

Private property, forbidden to enter, and mean dog. In that order.

Vocabulary

prorpiété privée:  private property

défense d'entrer:  forbidden to enter

chien méchant:  mean or vicious dog

©2024 P. B. Lecron

COUNTRY CHARM PAR EXCELLENCE

 Le Re de Gally, a stream of 22 kilometers, flows through 13 communes in the geographically designated Plaine de Versailles.  And guess where its source is? In the park of the Château de Versailles, between the Grand Canal and the park of the Grand-Trianon. This bucolic view is from a Sunday promenade in the charming village of Rennemoulin.

©2024 P. B. Lecron

LITTLE DARLINGS

 Scattered, wide-open dwarf tulips, known as Melodie d'Amour, would give any onlooker tulip mania! 

Seen at the Parc Bagatelle in the Bois de Boulogne, Paris.

Vocabulary

la manie de tulipes:  tulip mania

©2024 P. B. Lecron

A COLD SNAP

                            Intense colors of these early spring flowers, jacinthes et narcisses, lift spirits during this week's cold snap in the Parisian area. Un coup de froid.

Speaking of cold snaps, get cosy with a children's bedtime story that my French daughter wrote, Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps. Reading children's stories in a foreign language is an excellent way to boost linguistic skills because they are easy to understand, and like this one, fully illustrated. A mysterious and late snowfall leads Papa Lapin on an adventure full of ups and downs to save springtime. Available in French or English on worldwide Amazon sites. Click here to discover!

Below, an illustration from Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps, by Marianne Lecron, illustrated by P. B. Lecron. All rights reserved.

©2024 P. B. Lecron

A FRENCH CHILDREN'S STORY

 If you or your family enjoyed reading my daughter's children's book, Le Lapin et la Lune, you will certainly like this story, Le Lapin à la recherche du Printemps. 

Thirty-one pages, distilling to a child's level character traits such as determination and initiative, demonstrate that encouragement and optimism can and do prevail. Fully illustrated with original aquarelles and available in either French or English on Amazon sites worldwide.

Click here to preview.

©2024 P. B. Lecron

 

POCKET PARADISE

 Not far from the city of Vanne is this pocket of paradise, or as I would liberally translate, un paradis de poche--and an idyllic venue for a wedding reception. A sequoia and stand of palm trees guarantee a dépaysement on the grounds of the Domaine du Plessis Kaër, Crac'h, which is bordered by the Rivière d'Auray in the microclimate near the Golfe du Morbihan in French Brittany. 

Vocabulary

un dépaysement:  a change of scenery

©2024 P. B. Lecron

FASCINATION

 Expand your French vocabulary as easily as the peacock fans open his tail by using cognates, or vrais amis--words in French and English that are spelled nearly or exactly the same, and have the same meaning, like fascination. There are hundreds of them!

photo courtesy of Patrick Lecron

Vocabulary

ardent: ardent

persévérance: perseverance

arrogance: arrogance

animal: animal

elegance: elegance

visible:  visible

patience: patience

impatience: impatience

admirable: admirable

brillance: brillance

romantique: romantic

vibrant: vibrant

©2024 P. B. Lecron

WITH AN EYE ON THE PEACOCK

L'oeil de paon

 Close up of a peacock's tail just after it shifted from blue-green to an elusive or insaissable copper.

Photo taken at the Parc Bagatelle, Paris

©2024 P. B. Lecron

SHIFTING COLORS

True to its name

La Côte d'Opale

France's Opal Coast is just that--opalescent.

It's shifting colors run along 90 kilometers of coastline in the Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

The photo above was taken in the town of Cucq Trépied Stella Plage.

©2024 P. B. Lecron