French Blog

Imagine if you woke up one day, only to find yourself speaking “wiz a verry strrong French accent“? Assuming that you are not a native French speaker, or a person who lived long enough in a French-speaking country, that would seem just impossible? Well, pas vraiment (not really.) According to many neurologists, this condition, albeit [...]

J’aime toute ma famille (I love all my family)! La petite (the small) as well as la grande (the extended.) Don’t you too? Do you also believe in the priority that says “la famille d’abord” (“family first”)? Today, we will “familiarize” ourselves, so to speak, with a set of French words and expressions related to [...]

“Bolos“, sometimes spelled “boloss“, is a brand new word on the French Slang scene. It was virtually unknown just a decade ago! What does it mean? Everyone seems to agree that it designates a person who’s way too gullible. Call it in English a “boob“, a “patsy“, a “pigeon“, a “stooge“, etc. In short, it’s [...]

Ouvrez bien vos yeux (open wide your eyes), et ouvrez vos esprits (and open up your minds), because today, we’ll go through the conjugation of the French verb OUVRIR (to open)!  Some important remarks to keep in mind about the verb ouvrir: It is a verb that belongs to le troisième groupe (the third group) It is conjugated with the l’auxiliaire avoir (to have) It is transitif [...]

Today, you are graciously invited to join une petite dame sympathique (a little friendly lady) to go on an exciting shopping spree. Where at? Montmartre, Paris’s most picturesque (and therefore “touristy”) neighborhood! Bonjour, today we’ll join Ines de la Fressange (could be her real name) for a little shopping at Montmartre, Paris’s most artistic neighborhood. [...]

Everyone agrees, Noir Désir is a household name on the French Rock scene. Their song ”Un Jour en France” (“A Day in France”) has perhaps not reached the standing of a “classic” yet, but it does offer a pretty good idea about the message this band conveys through its music.   Noir Désir’s “Un Jour en France“ (“A Day in [...]

Nothing like a tasty French dessert with plenty of cerises (cherries) and amandes (almonds) to kickstart the Summer! Here’s how to prepare it, mes amis: Put a rack in the middle of an oven and heat it up to 350°F. Put in a large bowl 3 cups of small fresh sweet or sour cherries with 1/2 Tbs. [...]

Ever wonder what if things went differently? Le monde serait-il devenu si différent? (Would the world have turned out to be so different?) The French musical featured today sings, tongue-in-cheek, about the so-called Effet papillon (Butterfly Effect): Every little detail could transform the world as we know it. Or is there more to that? Ray Ventura’s “Le [...]

Tel père, tel fils (as father, as son), says the popular adage. We previously saw how the father, in this case François Ier (or Francis I in English), was le responsable numéro 1 of introducing la Renaissance to France, by inviting the likes of Rosso Fiorentino and le Primatice to his court. There, the Italian masters [...]

“Une cour sans femmes est comme un jardin sans fleurs” (“a court without women is like a garden without flowers.”) Thus spoke François Ier (Francis I in English), like a true Frenchman some would say. But contrary to some other French monarchs, female company was not his only preoccupation. In fact, the lifetime dream of François was to bring [...]