STREET WISE

 This is one of the most original French caution signs I've seen yet, warning drivers to pay 

special attention to the community's juvenile pedestrians. I saw this sign in the village of 

Boissise-la-Bertrand in the Seine-et-Marne department.

Vocabulary

un panneau attention aux enfants: a sign warning of the presence of children

vigilance: vigilance

prudence: prudence, caution

un crayon en bois: a wooden pencil

©2026 P. B. Lecron

DRY JANUARY CONCLUDES

Le défi de janvier

Une pause de consommation

Dry January, or literally janvier sec, which is complete abstinence from alcohol for the entire month,

is also practiced by some in France. It's an annual, multi-national and unofficial public health movement that has been gradually catching on in France for the past 5 or 6 years. I recently noticed special mention of it near the wine and alcohol section of a local supermarket where non-alcoholic alternatives were being promoted for the challenge or défi.

Vocabulary

un raton laveur:  a raccoon

une pêche:  a peach

les baies de sureau: elderberries

un défi:  a challenge

©2026 P. B. Lecron

TO GET TO THE POINT

This long-needle pine seen in the Arboretum de Versailles-Chèvreloup serves to illustrate the French expression aller droit au but, to get to the point.

©2026 P. B. Lecron

ENDEARINGLY OLD-FASHIONED AND EVER-BLOOMING

Traditional French ceramic cemetery flowers

©2026 P. B. Lecron

HAUNTING ROMANTICISM

Majestic ruins

 Irrational, unrestrained, capricious--these words would very well describe Louis XIV's insistance to excavate a large canal and build an enormous three-level aqueduct across the Eure river valley to 

aliment the fountains of Versailles with water. The project which was to extend 80 km, however, was never completed due to a lack of funds. Because the unfinished aqueduct crossed the estate of Madame de Maintenon, the king gave her the title of Marquise to compensate her for the inconvenience and damage 

to her property. (She later became his secret wife, but that is another story for another day.) 

What is left of the aqueduct gives the the formal gardens of the Château de Maintenon a truly romantic aura and charm. 

Maintenon is approximately 20 km from Chartres and 90 km from Paris.

©2026 P. B. Lecron