Beuvron River from the cycle path between Chaumont and Candé
We reach the village and discover that renovations on the pedestrian bridge are finished and that it’s decorated with enormous brightly coloured flower pots.
Giant flower pot on the pedestrian bridge at Candé sur Beuvron
We’ve already been here and have only found one bar open. Another cycling couple (French) are already having a beer. Jean Michel goes inside to ask for a Coca Light (Diet Coke) and comes back to say that there only have normal Coke.
Road entrance to Candé sur Beuvron
We’re in a wine-growing region and Candé is in the AOC (appellation d’origine contrôlée) area of Cheverny so I say, “Un verre de vin local“. The lady comes out with a CAN OF WINE. I look at it askance. Winestar, it says.
“You can look like that”, she says, “it’s excellent wine”. Yeah, in a can … It isn’t even local wine but corbières from the south of France. I have never heard of WHITE corbières, what’s more.
Canned wines – photo taken from WineStar website
The beer-drinking man at the other table says, “It’s a French invention. It’s just come out. Very popular.” “Eu, they’ve had it in Australia for years”, I reply.
We taste the wine which is drinkable, but that’s about all. The lady returns, “So, what do you think?”. I don’t trust myself to reply but Jean Michel says “c’est buvable mais ce n’est pas un vin local.” “C’est un vin excellent“, she says huffily and walks off. An excellent wine indeed! “Caractérielle“, says Jean Michel when she’s out of earshot. “Elle est caractérielle cette femme” which roughly means that she has personality problems.
Three air balloons near Chaumont
We finish our little glasses and cycle back to Chaumont, just in time to see a half a dozen air balloons taking off from the other side of the Loire.
I check out Winestar on the Internet when I get home. You guessed it, Winestar* is a wholly-owned subsidiary of WineStar Pty Ltd. based in Melbourne!
*I’ve since learnt that Winestar in France has nothing to do with WineStar in Melbourne, which is strange considering intellectual property law.
A Facebook comment by an Australian cousin currently living in France has inspired this post:
Dear smokers of France, Although I have an odd accent, I will understand you if you ask me for a lighter. Making expansive gestures and asking “Do you ‘ave zee fire?” is only going to result in me busting out some sweet dance moves to prove that yes, I do indeed ‘ave zee fire.
“Vous avez du feu?” is a well-known opening gambit in French among cigarette smokers. It’s a classic example of how a word in one language can have an entirely different meaning in another.
Feu is used in a large number of French expressions, starting with cars and traffic lights.
feu antibrouillard = fog light or lamp
feu arrière = tail or rear light
feu clignotant = flashing light/blinker/indicator
feux de croisement = dipped headlights, low beams
feux de détresse = hazard (warning lights), usually called warning in French, pronounced waa-ning.
feux de recul = reversing/back-up lights
feu vert/orange/rouge = green/amber/red light, traffic lights and feu rouge is more specifically used to mean traffic lights in general e.g. tournez à gauche au prochain feu rouge = turn left at the next set of traffic lights, which is a bit odd if you think about it because you should really be turning at the green light!
Bonfire is interesting, because it’s called a feu de joies in French in reference to the fact that it provides a warm place that people can gather around at nighttime and enjoy themselves. Despite appearances, the “bon” in “bonfire” does not mean “good” but “bones”, originally denoting a fire on which bones were burnt, or for burning heretics. Much nicer in French!
Not surprisingly, a coup de feu is a gunshot, like our gunfire.
The hot plates on the stove are also called feux which means that a stove with three burners or rings is a cuisinière à trois feux though this is probably dying out as more ceramic cooking tops come into use, giving trois plaques.
An expression that’s really expressive is Il a le feu au cul, because it so exactly describes drivers that tear past you on the motorway, flashing their headlines for you to get out of the way when you’re already sitting on 130 kph. It has sexual meaning as well. Cul is a three-letter word for backside. I could probably do a whole post on it alone but the blog would be inundated with spam as a result! Suffice to say that there are a whole lot of expressions connected with the word.
Three very different posts have caught my eye this week for Wednesday’s Blogger Round-up. Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris informs us that the recently restored 500-year-old Tour Saint-Jacques in Paris, the starting place of the San Diego de Compostela pilgrimage, is open temporarily to visitors. Phoebe from Lou Messugo takes us through the stunning lavender fields of Haute Provence. And to finish off, the inimitable Bread is Pain talks about the question of changing personalities when you speak another language. I couldn’t agree more! Enjoy.
After 500 Years, Tour Saint-Jacques Temporarily Opens to the Public
by Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris, an American by birth, Swiss by marriage, resident of Paris with a Navigo Pass for the metro that she feels compelled to use
While Stéphane and I were sipping glasses of Perrier menthe and rosé on the terrace of Café Nemours on Friday evening, my ears perked up when I overheard an American couple at the table behind us talking about the 360-degree panoramic view of Paris from “that tower”. When the woman added that the vista of all the famous Parisian monuments was well worth the climb even though it had been hard on her knees, I nudged Stéphane in the ribs and whispered, “They’re talking about the Tour Saint-Jacques, the one I want to visit this weekend. We’re going to have to get up really early on Sunday morning to make reservations.”
After being closed to the public for most of its 500 year history, the Tour Saint-Jacques received permission to temporarily open its doors to visitors from July 5 until September 15, 2013.Read more
Lavender fields of Haut Provence: a photo essay
by Phoebe from Lou Messugo, a traveller, francophile, expat, mum and foodie now living in Roquefort les Pins where she runs a gîte after many years of travelling and living in Asia, Eastern Europe and Australia
Last weekend we went to see the lavender fields in Haut Provence, something that’s been on my bucket list for a while now and I wasn’t disappointed. That was a typically British understatement; I LOVED it! It was absolutely gorgeous. The views, the smells, the colours, the bees, everything was just sublime. It was so great that I now want to go back and stay over night to be able to photograph the fields in the early morning and evening light. Read more
Schizofrenchia
by Bread is Pain, a 30-something American living in the Rhone-Alps, getting her master’s degree, learning French and slowly eating and drinking herself through the country
From the corner of my eye I see my Mother watching me with a wry expression on her face. I give her a look as if to say “quoi?!” and return to my conversation. I am discussing, in French, the various differences between French culture and American culture with MB’s family; nothing out of the ordinary is being said so I am perplexed by my Mother’s seeming amusement. Finally the conversation comes to an end and I stalk over to her in the corner.
“What was that, Mom?” I ask, while mimicking the face she was giving me during the conversation. Read more
At the Sainte Eustache market on Sunday, there were only two regular stalls – fruit & vegetables and fish and certainly no oysters! There were a couple of other people selling jewellery and scarves. When we arrived, there was absolutely no one at the fruit & vegetable stall and the three vendors were looking very glum. They expect next Sunday to be even more deserted and probably won’t be there.
Free parking spaces in our street in the middle of Paris
As we walked down our street on the way back, I was pleasantly surprised to see that there were not only free parking spaces but that the cars weren’t bumper to bumper as they usually are. Sometimes we can hardly get the trolley through the spaces in between.
Rue Viledo (Telescope coffee shop on the left) looking completely deserted
I can imagine that visitors must be very disappointed to find half the restaurants and shops closed, except in the very touristy areas, and the markets more than half empty.
Back of the Decorative Arts museum next to the Louvre on a hot August day
The first half of August, up until the public holiday of the Assumption on 15th August, is traditionally the quietest part of the year in Paris, particularly if 15th is a Thursday and makes a very long weekend. It’s all due to the weather of course. This year, we had an exceptionally hot July but most people prefer to go to the coast or country in August when they’re more likely to get some sun and decent temperatures.
Closed until 19th August – the music box shop in the Palais Royal
There’s a saying that after 15th August, le temps se gâte – the weather deteriorates. Last year was not the case; we were painting the front gate and cycling in Blois in a heat wave. But with the rentrée not far away at the beginning of September, most people prefer to be back home getting ready for the new school year during the last week or so of August.
Under the shady trees in the Tuileries with Orsay Museum in the distance
For the people who live here permanently though, it’s nice to have some peace and quiet. Life goes at a different pace. It’s warm (most of the time) so you can wander down to the river or eat in Tuileries Gardens and feel you’re still on holiday.
Deck chairs in the Palais Royal Gardens
You can even take your deck chairs down and enjoy a picnic near the fountain in the Palais Royal gardens and stay there for the rest of the afternoon!
The Marne river near Pont de Bry
You can visit your friends in the suburbs or drive to the Marne to go cycling without having to spend hours in the car. We could hardly believe it last Sunday when we drove along the quays. There was not a soul. We wondered for a minute whether the road had been cordoned off and we had somehow got onto it by mistake!
Café next to the bakery on Place des Petits Pères that’s closed in August
Fortunately, the fact that about 90% of the city’s bakeries are closed is not a problem for us, because we make our own bread. But if you’re really desperate, you can consult the list on the Paris City Hall’s website (scroll down to find the pdf file). However, I’ve had to wait for two weeks to get a new pair of contact lenses !
Resting in our little wood during our lightening visit to Blois two weeks ago
So how are we coping with an empty city? Tomorrow, we’re off to Blois for week to make the most of the rest of the summer. Let’s hope the weather is fine enough to go cycling every day. And if it’s too hot, we’ll take our deck chairs up into our own little private wood.
Melk, a pretty little Baroque town of 5,000 people in Austria, is famous for its Benedictine Abbey built in the early 18th century on the site of an earlier abbey dating back to 1089 and affording a stunning view of Wachau Valley and the Danube. The abbey library contains numerous mediaeval manuscripts, including 750 incunables, while the church, completely renovated thirty years ago, is splendidly baroque.
The first view of Melk Abbey on the cycle pathThe Abbey dominates the townExample of mediaeval architecture in MelkTypical baroque building in MelkThe entrance to Melk AbbeyThe inner courtyard of Melk AbbeyOne of the beautiful painted ceilings in the AbbeyThe marble room where important visitors were always takenStaircase showing painted ceilings inside the AbbeyElegant staircase inside the AbbeyThe Garten Pavillion at Melk AbbeyInside the Garten PavillionInterior of the Abbey churchView of Wachau and the Danube from the Abbey
You’ve probably heard of faux amis, literally “false friends” or “false cognates”, which are words that look the same in two languages but have different meanings. The word blocagewhich I talked about last week is an excellent example. Sometimes the meaning is totally different while in other cases, it’s quite subtle.
Take offrir and “offer”. Maybe you think they mean the same thing, but they are really not interchangeable at all.
We’re walking along, looking at the market stalls. I see something I like, but hesitate to buy it. Je te l’offre, says my husband. That means that he’s going to pay. We wouldn’t say in English “I’ll offer it to you”, but something more along the lines of “Why don’t I get it for you?” or “My treat”.
If I want to tell someone that my husband bought me a watch for my birthday, I’d say, Mon mari m’a offert une montre pour mon anniversaire rather than Mon mari m’a acheté une montre pour mon anniversaire which is perfectly correct but not nearly as elegant. Jean Michel would certainly not say it!
If I were to say, “my husband offered me a watch for my birthday”, it doesn’t necessarily mean that that’s what he ended up buying. What it really means is that he “offered to buy me a watch” and I could say yes or no.
In English, we talk about offering flowers and it’s the same in French : il m’a offert des fleurs.
We also offer someone a drink in English; in French we would say proposer à boire or offrir à boire when there is no danger of confusion. When there is a possibility of refusal, proposer is usually the appropriate term. Note the use of boire (to drink) for “a drink”. Even a toddler will say à boire if he’s thirsty or à manger if he’s hungry and not boisson or nourriture.
“Il m’a proposé deux vins différents” is quite different from “il m’a offert deux vins différents”. In the first case, he gave me a choice of two different wines while in the second case he gave them to me as a present.
“I offered to help him” = J’ai proposé de l’aider whereas Je lui ai proposé de l’aide could mean that I offered him financial help.
And here’s another time we say “offer” in English but not offrir in French. “I’ll raise the subject when a suitable occasion offers itself” = Je lui en parlerai lorsque l’occasion se présentera. And there’s that very annoying future tense that you have to use in French when we use the present in English. Remember the rule: when future is implied, future must be used and especially with quand and lorsque.
To offer one’s sympathy is faire/présenter/offrir ses condoléances. And while we’re on the subject, an American friend asked me recently what she should say to her neighbour whose wife had just died. The answer is very simple. You shake the person’s hand and simply say Toutes mes condoléances or Je vous/te présente toutes mes condoléances. In English, we would say “I’m very sorry about your wife”,”You and your family are in my thoughts”, “I am sorry for your loss” “You have my deepest sympathy” and so on.
Knowing where to choose accommodation in Paris often poses a problem for first time visitors. If you’ve never been to the City of Light, it’s difficult to imagine exactly what it’s like and what area to choose. I’m always surprised when I learn that travel agencies have recommended hotels near the Eiffel Tower or Montmartre, for example, because they’re so far from anything else.
Ile de la Cité, the historical centre of Paris, in the middle of the Seine
The main artery in Paris is the Seine. The city “intra muros” as the French say (within the walls) is in the shape of a rough oval with the Louvre more or less in the centre. The historical centre, with Ile de la Cité, the main island in the Seine and home to Notre Dame Cathedral, is slightly to the east. South of the Seine is the artistic Left bank, while the more shopping-oriented Right Bank is north. The oval is divided into twenty districts called arrondissements, forming a spiral starting in the middle.
First-time visitors often only come for a few days and want to see a maximum number of sights so it’s important not to spend half the time on the metro, efficient though it may be. Also, the best way to soak up the atmosphere of Paris is on foot. You may need to downscale your sightseeing list. You’ll enjoy the City of Light much more if you leave plenty of time for just wandering around the smaller streets, enjoying the sidewalk cafés and watching the sunset.
The 20 arrondissements in Paris forming a spiral
To decide where to stay, you should first make a short list of the places you want to see. The Eiffel Tower, Notre Dame and Sainte Chapelle, the Louvre, Orsay and Orangerie Museums, the Latin Quarter, the Sacré Cœur, Montmartre and perhaps the Moulin Rouge, the Marais and the Champs Elysées will probably be high on your list. If you’re only staying three or four days, two museums will probably be enough and even then, you’ll have to select the main works or you’ll soon suffer from museum fatigue. If you want to go to Versailles, you’ll need to set aside an entire day.
Once you’ve drawn up your list, take a look at a map and see where they are. You’ll find that Notre Dame, the Louvre, Orangerie and Orsay Museums and the Latin Quarter are all more or less clustered around the same central area with the Marais slightly to the east. The Moulin Rouge, Sacré Coeur and Montmartre are up in the north on a hill called Butte Montmartre and the Eiffel Tower is off to the west.
The Eiffel Tower from Bir Hakeim bridge
One important thing to remember in Paris is that, unlike large US and Australian cities, a block on the map is only a couple of hundred metres. The walking distance between two metro stops is quite short, often only ten minutes. I can powerwalk from the Louvre to Concorde in ten minutes, yet there is a metro stop inbetween.
If the Moulin Rouge is on your list, it will no doubt be at night so you can visit Montmartre and the Sacré Cœur before the show. If you stay in that area on your first visit to Paris, you’ll be spending quite a lot of time on the metro, often at peak hour, if you want to see the other sights. The same applies to staying near the Eiffel Tower. You certainly won’t be able to walk everywhere.
Paris metro map
Now look at the metro map. You’ll see there is a yellow line (n° 1) running west from Nation, through Bastille and along the Seine to Concorde, with Notre Dame, the Louvre, the Tuileries and Orsay museums along the way. It then goes underneath the Champs Elysées to the Arc of Triumph (Charles de Gaulle-Etoile). From line n° 1, you can get to most other places in Paris with a single metro connection.
There is a second red line (RER express line) that also runs from Nation to Charles de Gaulle via Opéra where the big department stores are (Galéries Lafayette, Printemps) that you can use to go quickly from one point to another when your destinations are further apart. Several buses run along the Seine, in particular bus 72 from Hôtel de Ville down to the Eiffel Tower. Bir Hakeim bridge probably affords the best view of the tower which is at its most attractive when it’s scintillating at night.
The Louvre Pyramid in winter
My personal experience from living in Paris for many years is that staying in the 1st or the 4th arrondissements, on the right bank, within a 10 minute walk of metro line n°1 is the most convenient solution as you will be able to walk to most places and take a quick trip on the metro to others. The 1st is more central and the 4th is more atmospheric.
You may have to pay a little more for your hotel, but you may find that it’s worth it in the long run particularly at night as you will have so many restaurant choices within walking distance, on both sides of the Seine, and you can stroll along the river afterwards.
Notre Dame Cathedral
If it’s typical French ambiance you’re looking for, rather than sightseeing, you may prefer the 5th or 6th on the Left Bank, which are touristy but lively. If you want to be off the beaten track but still get the feel of Paris, go for the 10th, 11th, 17th or 20th. And if you’re on a tighter budget, add the 18th and 19th, with access to a park like Buttes-Chaumont or around the Canal St Martinfor instance, which is more ‘normal residential’ and very popular with trendy Parisians at night. You are still only a few stops from the centre and won’t spend too much time on the metro.
And while you’re in Paris, why not take a side trip to the beautiful Loire Valley with its many châteaux. You can even do it easily without a car by staying in Blois. Click here for more information.
Enjoy your trip and do let me know if you think this post is useful by liking it on facebook. Also, don’t forget to read the comments as well as they contain some very useful suggestions.
Three completely different subjects for this Wednesday’s bloggers’ round-up: Sylvia from Finding Noon invites us along for ice-cream at La Pâtisserie des Rêves; fellow Australian Jo Karnaghan from Frugal First Class Travel explains how she managed to pay only $925 for her firstclass airfares and railpass for Europe; while Heather Robinson from Lost in Arles shares the magic of Chartres Cathedral with us. As some of you may know, we have a little leadlight window in our house in Blois containing a blue cabuchon from a renovated stained glass window in Chartres Cathedral. Enjoy!
Date Night – Pâtisserie des Rêves
by Sylvie from Finding Noon, an American living in Paris who appreciates fine art, good music, succulent food, and breath taking scenery
If there is anything that Mr French loves nearly as much as me and his family, it would have to be ice cream. Every night after dinner he asks what flavours ice cream are in the house. And almost every night I have to inform him that there is an ice cream shortage chez nous, I’ve prepared strawberries. Or watermelon, or any other fruit that happens to be in season. Read more
Resting in the shadows of the Chartres Cathedral
by Heather Robinson from Lost in Arles, an American writer and photographer living in Arles who offers us meanderings through all that makes life in a small town in Provence worth while
The longevity of awe…and the quietude buried within peace. These were the two thoughts echoing in my mind with the gentleness of passing a feather from one palm to the other while I was sitting in the Chartres Cathedral. We were in town for a wedding, a new beginning but I couldn’t stop thinking about the past.
I had sat in these pews years ago. Then, I was buoyed by the weight of the beauty surrounding me but this visit I realized that something far heavier was at play. How must the cathedral have loomed above the fields to the pilgrims that spied its spiers from afar, starting in the 12th century. Read more
How I paid just $925 for my first class airfares and railpass for Europe
by Jo Karnaghan from Frugal First Class Travel, an Australian who loves to travel – especially in Europe – and who has gradually learned how to have a First Class trip on an economy budget, without missing out on anything!
I’m off to Europe in October. I’ve organised to spend 10 days in France, and then I’m heading to Istanbul for 4 nights before I come home. It’s a bit of a special trip – in celebration of a significant birthday, so I want the best possible I can afford. But I still want it to be frugalfirstclass all the way.
My itinerary includes a First Class Suite on Etihad Airways from Sydney to Europe. Then I need a four day France Railpass. I’ve done my sums and have worked out that a four day Railpass will be cheaper than individual point to point tickets, or a three day pass and a point to point for my shortest leg. Read more
The medieval town of Regensburg at the confluence of the Regen and Danube Rivers in Bavaria, is on the Unesco World Heritage list. Its many buildings of exceptional quality include ancient Roman, Romanesque and Gothic constructions and reflect its history as a trading centre and to its influence on the region from the 9th century. Regensburg’s 11th- to 13th-century architecture – including the market, city hall and cathedral, medieval patrician houses and towers, a large number of churches and monastic ensembles and the 12th-century Old Bridge – defines the character of the town marked by tall buildings, dark and narrow lanes, and strong fortifications. You may remember our unforgettable meal in its most famous restaurant, Historische Wurstkuchl, when we were cycling along the Danube.
Haidplatz, the Old Town market square with the Fountain of JusticeThe other side of the market squareA typical mediaeval streetThe 14th century rathaus (town hall)A wedding in the Alte Kapelle with participants in typical Bavarian dressTown gate leading to the Old BridgeThe Old BridgeThe remains of the east tower of Port Praetoria from Ancient Roman timesRegensburg Cathedral – Dom Saint PeterEverywhere you go, you see clock towers
Facebook fans and friends may have already seen the photo below. Take a good look and tell me what you think it is.
Plastic Art
Suggestions so far are “art”, “a nat. Or maybe two nats” (what is a nat?), “plastic bottle sculpture”, “gelato”, “cake icing”, “melted plastic bottles” and “weird-flavoured icecream”.
Lenses cases
If you look at the second photo, you’ll see the answer. Jean Michel and I both wear contact lenses and because we like to keep spare cases in our bike bags, toilet cases, glove boxes, etc., we regularly sterilise the free ones you get with the lens solution. I have a very bad habit of putting things on the stove and forgetting about them.
I’m working away and can smell something burning. I think it must be my laptop so I turn it off and go to the kitchen to make some tea. That’s when I see (and smell) the saucepan. Here is this molten mass in pretty shades of blue and green. I yank the saucepan off the stove then wonder what I should do with it.
I refrain from pouring it down the sink and clogging it up again the way I did last week with the contents of another burnt saucepan. Jean Michel spent quite some time getting that fixed. I put the saucepan down again and quickly get some alfoil out the drawer, tear off a sheet and pour the mess onto it. I then use a spoon to dig the rest of the molten plastic out of the saucepan. That’s a stupid move as the spoon becomes coated. I put my thumb on it to clean the spoon and burn my thumb. I discover we have no burn cream, well, not that I can locate anyway.
However, I see that once the plastic sets, you can peel it off. That’s OK for the spoon but doesn’t help the triple-bottom stainless steel saucepan. Usually when I burn saucepans, I pour bleach in (eau de javel) which is not at all environment-friendly, I know, but saves hours scouring the saucepan. It works remarkably well. The thing I burn the most is the meat sauce for lasagna. Spinach comes a close second.
The bleach doesn’t make much difference so I open all the windows to try and get rid of the smell and go back to work. In the meantime, Jean Michel had been repairing the portable airconditioner which I may or may not have been responsible for breaking. It has a second half to it that sits on the balcony and is attached by an unwieldy umbilical cord that contains little tubes with refrigerated liquid and air inside a metal sheath that musn’t get twisted or they’ll break.
Outside air-conditioning unit
Well, they did get twisted somehow and the air-conditioning gave up the ghost so he’s spent quite a few hours shortening and repairing the tubes and soldering the metal sheath with the help of a friend. Although he has expertise in air-conditioning and refrigeration he hasn’t used it for many years so he’s been reading up on it. The air-conditioner’s been recharged with gas and he calls me to tell me the friend’s going to help him carry it up the stairs.
Inside air-conditioning
I’m worried about the smell but Jean Michel doesn’t notice it and the friend is probably too polite to say anything. I do, however, confess to the saucepan as we’re cycling along the Marne towards the old chocolate factory.
The old chocolate factory at Champs sur Marne
He says I should use a razor blade but it doesn’t seem to have any effect. He has a go and eventually gets some of the plastic off and I take over from there, using a lot of elbow grease and steel wool until the saucepan’s finally clean.
I’d like to be able to say that it’s the last time I’ll burn a saucepan but can you really teach an old dog new tricks?
