Coming from North Queensland, I have remained amorous of spring flowers ever since I saw my first field of buttercups back in 1975 in the south of France. These are photos taken recently in the Blois and when we travelled back from the Basque Coast. I had never seen flax (linen) in bloom and had no idea it was lavendar. I’m amazed in fact at how many spring flowers are lavendar, white and yellow. I’m not sure of all the names – maybe more knowledgeable readers can fill in the gaps.
In this week’s bloggers round-up, fellow Aussie Andrea from Rear View Mirror shares five beautiful parks to visit in Paris, Heather Robinson from Lost in Arles brings us some stunning photos from the Fête des Guardians in Arles and Mary Kay from Out and About in Paris gives us an update on an archipelago of floating gardens soon to be opened on the banks of the Seine. Enjoy!
Spring has finally arrived in Europe and it’s currently rewarding us with gorgeous pink cherry blossoms, sweet-smelling wisteria and orange blossoms as well as beautiful spring flowering bulbs like tulips and hyacinths. It’s times like this I miss living in Paris and being able to visit my favourite French parks and gardens like the Jardin du Luxembourg.
How I am entranced by the swish of silk and shine of satins at the Fête des Gardians, held each year on the First of May in Arles. The women sway like tender reeds under the weight of their finery while the men clench their jaws as they guide their horses through the maddening crowds. We all gather and pull to catch glimpses of a past and present mingling, sighing wishes just for a little bit of better, a mist of more mystery. Our everyday garb says much of the times we are in–of uncertainty, of fatigue. So how wonderful to get lost in this particular dream. Read more
“Paris is the most beautiful city in the world, n’est–ce pas?”, announced the driver of bus number 62 as he eased to a stop behind the rush hour traffic on Pont Mirabeau. Pointing towards the Eiffel Tower in the distance, he let out a long sigh that was clearly audible over the public announcement system. Like a group of jet-lagged tourists visiting Paris for the first time, all of the passengers automatically swiveled their heads in unison to admire the sweeping view of their city. It is stunning. I can’t fault Parisians for being so proud. And thanks to Mayor Delanoë’s plan to “reclaim one of the most beautiful urban and river landscapes in the world”, the cityscape is about to become even more remarkable. Read more
This morning when we got up, Jean Michel called me from the bathroom whose first floor window overlooks the little wood behind our house which is part of our property. “Un chevreuil à côté du neflier”. Mr and Mrs Previous Owner told us we could see deer in the wood at dawn and dusk but this was 8.30 and unexpected. By the time I got to the window, it had disappeared behind the nearby apple tree.
I dashed off to get the binoculars and was rewarded by seeing quite a large animal sprint past the medlar tree and out of sight. By the time we tried to pick our medlars last year, there were none left on the tree, but I certainly don’t mind. I’d much rather the deer ate them. Maybe next time I’ll be quick enough to get a photo.
We love our little wood. Last time we were here, it was covered in daffodils. Now there our flowering apple, cherry, quince and lilac trees and decorative broom.
On the ground are wild Touraine orchids (two colours), bluebells, tiny white daisies, buttercups, dandelions and periwinkles. Mr Previous Owner had told us about the orchids but we didn’t see them last year probably because we didn’t know what they looked like. But thanks to Susan from Days on the Claise, this year, I’ve observed three species.
At the front of the house, the wisteria is in bloom, much more impressive than last year. We’re both relieved and delighted because we were worried that we’d pruned it too late. The drive into Blois along the Loire is sheer delight at the moment with masses of wild lilac and lots of beautiful wisterias which remind me of Venice in the spring time.
We have an enormous lilac opposite the house on the vacant land leading down to the Loire. We often park the car next to it and the scent is overwhelming. I hope it will still be in bloom next weekend so I can take some back to Paris.
After spending the day mowing and weeding yesterday, we finally found time to go cycling along the Loire to Saint Dyé late afternoon. Wild broom and apple trees dotted our path. Halfway along, though, our bike path suddenly came to a stop. Jean Michel had been noticing how high the river is this year after all the rain and our path was completely under water so we had to turn back.
As it turned out, I think 20 K was probably enough for our first bike excursion since last September. My sore thighs and rear end are appreciating the rest today as we drive from Blois down to Ciboure on the Basque coast, just across the estuary from Saint Jean de Luz.
As a fitting end to the day, we went to a restaurant we’d seen in Valaire (15 minutes by car from Blois) when cycling on another occasion and on the way, spotted the first air balloons of the season. L’Herbe Rouge is just the sort of restaurant I like – unpretentious, frequented by the locals with fresh food, a touch of originality and friendly service. The waiter turned out to be English but has been here for many years.
I had candied capsicums with fresh Corsican cheese while Jean Michel had avocado and prawns, followed by sirloin steak and French fries for Jean Michel and fennel purée for me as I am need to lose a couple of winter kilos to fit into my summer clothes again! Then we shared a serving of cheese cake for dessert. We chose a local chinon which we bought by the glass, followed by a decaff each. The bill came to 65 euro.
I’m looking forward to going back there when the weather is warmer to eat on the terrace.
L’Herbe Rouge, restaurant and wine bar, Valaire 41120, 02 54 44 98 14. Open from 12 to 2 pm and 6 to 9.30 pm Tuesday to Sunday. Closed Sunday night (except July and August) and Monday.Now you might wonder why I am writing a post about something as basic as bonjour which everyone knows means “hello”.
However, Black Cat and I were having a discussion the other day about WHEN and HOW it is used in French which is quite different from the English use of hello.
If I am in a supermarket in Australia and want to ask the man filling the shelves where the coffee is, the most polite way is to go up to him and say, “Excuse-me, but can you tell me where the coffee is”.
Now, if I do that in France: “Excusez-moi de vous déranger, mais savez-vous où se trouve le café?“, I am likely to get a nasty look. The person will say, “Bonjour” and wait for me to reply “Bonjour“, then I have to ask the question again and will get a helpful answer.
If you go into a bakery or a butcher’s shop or even a doctor’s surgery, you should always say bonjour to the people present, and it’s even more polite to follow it with messieurs, or mesdames or messieurs dames depending on who’s present. You can also walk in and say messieurs dames without bonjour.
There is no equivalent to our good morning or good afternoon . Bon matin doesn’t exist, although bon après-midi does (or bonne après-midi because après-midi is one of the rare words that can be both masculine and feminine and keep the same meaning) but that is something you say on leaving and it means “have a good afternoon” which, of course, is quite different.
You can start saying bonsoir instead of bonjour from about 5 or 6 pm onwards, particularly when it’s dark in winter. Bonne nuit is only used when someone is going to bed.
So if bon après-midi means have a “good afternoon”, how to you say “have a good day?” The answer is bonne journée, as opposed to bonjour because the ée ending indicates something that is ongoing. Very occasionally, you might hear passez une bonne matinée (have a good morning) but never bonne matinée by itself ! Bonne soirée means have a good evening (or what’s left of it). Saying Au revoir. Bonne journée when you leave a shop will be very much appreciated.
Every morning when I wake up (provided we wake up at the same time) Jean Michel wishes me bonne journée. I really miss it when he gets up before me. Just before we begin to watch a film at the cinema, he says bon film and at the beginning of a holiday or weekend, he says bonnes vacances or bon weekend.
Now what about salut? This is an informal way of saying both hello and goodbye and is not used to greet the butcher, for example.
Another thing while we’re on the subject is introducing yourself. If you’re invited to dinner and there are people you don’t know, it’s perfectly acceptable to shake their hand and say, “Bonjour, je suis David“, but it’s practically unheard of to give your name otherwise unless asked.
For example, when I wasn’t strong enough to help Jean Michel get a very heavy wardrobe up the front stairs once, he went looking for help and found a man picking up his son from a birthday party next door. Neither he nor the man introduced themselves and to this day, we still don’t know his name. That, in France, is perfectly normal, but would be considered very rude in Australia.
And, I nearly forgot: you only say bonjour once to the same person the same day. After that, you say rebonjour et even just re!
I’d be interested to hear other people’s experience under similar or different circumstances.
If you want to know how to pronounce bonjour and salut, there’s a great You Tube video by French Sounds.
Next Friday: s’il vous plaît which also holds some surprises!
FURTHER READING
This post is part of Lou Messugo’s All About France montly blog linky. For other posts on France, click on the link.
This Wednesday’s Bloggers’ Round-Up starts with a trip to Parc de Sceaux in Greater Paris with Andrea from Rear View Mirror to see the spectular cherry blossoms in bloom at the moment. Pierre from Paris on Demand invites us to the Orsay Museum to see an amazing collection of works from the 19th and 20th century from an private American collection. Marie from Europe Trip Tips, a new blog on my list, gives us a photographic tour of the Sainte-Chapelle in Paris. Enjoy!
If you can bear to leave Paris for the day but still want a typically French experience, Parc de Sceaux is a great spot for a classic picnic of baguette, cheese and wine. Although the park is a popular weekend destination for Parisians, it’s not widely known to visitors of the city. It’s worth a trip if you’ve already visited much of Paris and are looking for something different or if you want to see the stunning cherry blossoms in spring. Read more
Starting on April 16th, the Orsay Museum will host one of the most awaited exhibitions of the 2013 Spring as it has gathered 70 masterpieces from the Marlene and Spencer Hays Collection. The Hays are an American couple from Nashville, Tennessee, who have developed a passion for art and France. Spencer has become a business mogul by selling, among other things, men’s suits, books and health insurance. Since the 1980’s century and as his fortune grew, he and his wife have gathered an amazing collection of works from the 19th and 20th century. Read more
The Sainte-Chapelle had been a long standing item on my Paris to-do list, but for some reason, I’d never got around to it. I had deemed Notre-Dame and Sacré-Coeur more worthy of my attention – the former for its free entry, and the latter for the views.
It wasn’t until my most recent trip to Paris that I finally managed to visit the gorgeous Ile de la Cité, skip Notre-Dame altogether, and focus my visit on the well-hidden Sainte-Chapelle. Read more
I can’t help thinking that there should be some way, in a country such as France, of only having to work when there is no sun. I’m sure that would still give us enough working days. I know I’ve already complained about the awful weather this winter and spring but there hasn’t been a lot of improvement since I last wrote.
Today, the sun came out and the temperature has actually gone up to 14°C. That’s not exactly warm enough to be sitting out-of-doors like my friend Redfern who’s learning French in Montpellier at the moment (and posting photos on Facebook to make me envious) but it’s enough to not want to be cooped up in an office.
I could see the sun on the Palais Royal fountain from my office window so after lunch, I found an excuse to go outside. The white magnolia next to the fountain is now in full bloom and the pink one next to it will soon be out as well. There are daffodils and jonquils in all the flowerbeds. This time, I didn’t make the mistake of not wearing my parka but I still found the air surprisingly nippy.
My excuse to go out was to buy another pair of sunglasses. There must be some trick not to breaking or losing them that I don’t know about. If anyone can fill me in, please do. I seem to go through two or three pairs a year – and I don’t even wear them in winter. The only ones I manage to keep are my photogrey cycling glasses because I religously put them back in my bike bag at the end of the day.
My fashionista daughter, Black Cat, is always saying, “You’ve got new sunglasses again”. I don’t know how she can even remember what the last ones were like. I certainly don’t. So, as a result, I don’t buy those expensive ones.
They come from all over the world – Australia, Seville, Hong Kong, Basel, Ljubliana – you name it. First, you have to track down who sells them. In Australia, for example, the starting price at an optician’s is way beyond my budget, which is not the case in France, which they always have a shelf of no-brand sunglasses. In Australia, the cheap ones are in pharmacies, I discovered on my last visit.
Explaining what I want in another language isn’t that easy, but the lady in the optician’s in Seville was very helpful and I found a lovely pair, very reasonably priced. Black Cat said they looked very trendy. I wonder what happened to them?
Today, I went to a couple of optician’s in Rue des Petits Champs (home of the lovely Galerie Vivienne) but their non-brand-name ranges weren’t very good. I have uneven eyebrows so I have to make sure they are both covered. I ended up at the Optical Discount in Rue Vivienne where I usually buy my contacts. I told the man that I wanted some cheap ones but with good optical quality. He told me the glass is exactly the same as the brand names, that only the frame is different, which was reassuring. I don’t want to damage my eyes, after all.
I found a pair I liked and he gave me a nice hard case, not too big so I can put it in my handbag, and I only paid 33 euros. We’ll see how long these last!
I got caught in the cold today. I was working away in my office and suddenly realised there was sun streaming in through the windows so I thought I should make an effort and go outside. I looked at the temperature and saw it was 9°C but I figured it would be warmer in the sun. So I put on a light wool coat instead of my winter parka. I was over optimistic and nearly had my hands and ears frozen off.
I went into the Palais Royal gardens first to check the state of the vegetation and was delighted to see that the magnolias are just coming into bloom. In a couple of days’ time, they’ll be out completely. Which reminded me that we don’t have a magnolia in Blois, but the only place we could put it is behind the house in our little wood.
I wanted to buy some soapless soap (pain dermatologique) so I went to the parapharmacie which is like a drugstore or a pharmacy, but without any medication, just skincare and hygiene products, cosmetics, first aid etc. The products are usually cheaper than you would pay in a normal pharmacy. This one’s in avenue de l’Opéra. The annoying thing is that they’re all arranged in brands. I was looking for a particular brand whose name I can’t remember but I’m sure I’ll recognise it when I see it!
I went to another parapharmacie near rue Coquillère on the other side the gardens but it’s turned into a real pharmacy with a snooty pharmacist running the show. Half the shelves were empty and all she could offer, apart from Avène which I didn’t want because it becomes gluggy after a couple of weeks of use, was Lipikar by La Roche Posay. At 5.20 euro a piece, it’s going to be a luxury shower but I was too cold to go anywhere else.
I walked back down rue Coquillère past L’Imprimerie and was surprised to see that one of the two little corner shops (which a friend of mine aptly calls PADC – petit arabe du coin – little Arab on the corner) has turned into a smoothie bar. The other shop doesn’t even have a name any more. I obviously don’t get out enough to see all these changes.
I took a little detour to go past Serge Luten’s perfumery in Palais Royal gallery next to Miss Bibi on the way back home and admired their new window display. You can’t beat them for originality, can you?
For years, I didn’t go to Monet’s garden in Giverny because I was told there were too many people. Now we go at least twice a year! The best time to visit is at lunch time, when there aren’t any groups and few people queuing. And to avoid the queues altogether, you can either go to the Impressionism Museum (an offshoot of the Orsay Museum) first and buy a double ticket, or buy your ticket on-line. Both the garden and museum are open from the beginning of April to the end of October. These photos were taken in July when the famous nympheas are in bloom, but every month is beautiful. The tulips in April are stunning and the roses in June are out of this world. Then you can eat outside under the trees at the historical Restaurant Baudy down the road (don’t forget to check the inside).
I don’t know how it got to be 10th March when just a couple of days ago, it was still February. All that R&R we were supposed to have this week doesn’t seem to have happened. Even though the fireplace smoked, we still could have spent time stretched out on our new sofa or relaxing in our armchairs reading.
So what did we do? Well, we made the most of spring. When the weather suddenly got warmer – 15°C – and the sun came out, we dashed into the garden where we discovered we were late with most of our pruning. We cut back the Pierre Ronsard and Meilland roses which already had new buds sprouting. We pruned the grape vine (not that the grapes are edible), the wisteria and honeysuckle.
We cut back all the hydrangeas in the hope that they will flower again as well as they did last year. The timing seemed to be right in any case. We cut down the remainders of the tall-stemmed daisies. I’d already pruned the hollyhocks in the autumn and they all seem to be doing well.
Jean Michel planted potatoes, onions and garlic in the rain by himself this year while I was upstairs working. But it’s OK, I didn’t really feel I was missing out on anything …
We couldn’t resist a visit to the nursery though. Our aim was to buy a clematis for the wall you can see on the other side of the front yard when you’re having breakfast. We nearly didn’t plant it because it turns out there’s a lot of water under that flowerbed but there was absolutely nowhere else to put it so we’ll see what happens. The lavendar and Saharan rose seem to be doing OK.
I spent a couple of hours trimming back all the geraniums we’d left inside the little house for the winter. When Jean Michel saw them the day we arrived in Blois, he said I was going to be disappointed because they were all dead. Not so. After only a week, there were new bits of green sprouting everywhere. However, since it’s going to get cold again this week, with temperatures below freezing, I cut them back, gave them a bit of water and let them in the little house until our return.
We also wanted some peonies. I love pink peonies.The man at the nursery said to plant them in pots and put them with the geraniums. That way we can plant them in garden when we come back in a month’s time. I’m not really sure where though. We really do seem to be running out of room.
In the meantime, the little wood is a mass of daffodils so we were very sad to leave. There are two lilacs we should have pruned in the autumn so I don’t know it we’ll get many blossoms. That’s another flower I love. We’ve started a garden book so we’ll do all the pruning at the right time next year. I’m looking forward to seeing the native Touraine orchids bloom in May.
All the bulbs I planted in autumn are starting to come up and last year’s fuschias are just sprouting as well. However, we decided not to plant any gladiolis. They look a bit messy when you aren’t there to look after them all the time. I’ll wait until we live there permanently. The little pansies came right through winter without batting an eyelid.
We’re supposed to be going down to Blois again in a month’s time, but I don’t know if we’ll be able to resist that long. I just love watching everything coming out of the ground in the spring! Driving back to Paris, we’ve just learnt that we’re in for a very cold week, with snow expected tomorrow. The temperature has already dropped from 8° to zero. I’m glad we made the most of spring in Blois!
It’s Saturday and I’m back in Paris at last. The scaffolding has been removed from our windows so we decide to replace some of our house plants because I’m not the only one to have suffered from Seasonal Affective Disorder. We go down our four flights of stairs with the shopping trolley and discover it’s spitting. Neither of us wants to walk back up for an umbrella. I have a hood and Relationnel has a hat. That will have to do.
We walk down Rue de Rivoli to the end of the Louvre then turn right towards Quai de la Megisserie. On our left we see a brass band and some sort of stall being set up in front of the Town Hall. It looks as though the neighbourhood association (1er arrondissement) is going to be handing out galettes des rois. If you don’t know what they are, you can read my last year’s post, Galette des Rois – King’s Cake. We decide we’ll check in on the way back, despite my diet.
It’s winter of course so most of the traditional pet and plant shops don’t have much out on the pavement and the largest, Vilmorin, is closed for renovation. Relationnel wants to find a new fern to replace the one he loves best which I think is a fishbone fern. We also need a bird’s nest fern and at least one other plant. None of the stores has a fishbone but we buy a bird’s nest and another plant at Casa Nova and Relationnel sees two little maidenhairs that he wants. I object because, in my experience, they keel over within weeks of buying them.
He insists however so we get them. We decide to go and get the car and go to Truffaut, an enormous nursery on the other side of town. We go past the Town Hall again and there are lots of people eating galette and drinking cider and hot chocolate while the band is playing a catchy tune in the background. There’s a big banner up on the Town Hall that mysteriously says “La viande est un métier” (Meat is a profession).
I nearly crack my tooth on the fève, which is a tiny red handbag of all things. I go and claim my reversible crown (Reine on one side and Roi on the other which I’ve never seen before!). A lady comes up to me and asks to see my fève obviously very sad she didn’t get one herself but I don’t hand it over because I want to add it to my collection.
We move off and go past a bag and luggage store which is having its after-Christmas sales and buy a suitcase with four wheels to replace the one that disappeared on our way back from Australia, plus a cabin bag to match. I’ve been wanting a four-wheel model for a while. I love the way people just glide them effortlessly along the ground. We chose dark red so the suitcase will stand out better than black on the carousel and not get pinched again.
As we reach Place du Palais Royal, just opposite the Louvre, we hear more music. It’s a jazz band this time with a big pink and white tuba. They’re all clowing around and enjoying themselves. The classical orchestra that is often on nearby Place Colette hasn’t made an appearance. I guess they were put off by the rain which fortunately has ceased.
At Truffaut, there is a still no fishbone fern, so Relationnel very reluctantly settles for another kind instead. I promise to cut the old one right back and see if some TLC and a lot of light (in my office) will revive it. We get home and replace all the dead plants, taking particular care when replanting the maidenhairs. I’ll let you know how long I manage to keep them alive!
