Bike riding in the Bois.

Today I took a sort of memorial bike ride through the Bois de Boulogne in honor of a friend of ours who fought hard till the end but lost her battle with brain cancer.  She is now pain free and in a much happier place.  This could not have been a more beautiful autumn day.  It was a great bike ride.

Because I took a lot of pics you will find more on the next blog.

One last thing-Enjoy life to the fullest, don't sit around waiting for life to happen around you.  Terri never did.

Bike ride pictures number two.

Childhood rhymes

OK, we need help.

The little monkey has learned to "put her potatoes in" or whatever your local phrase for it is/was, to select who goes first in games. Know what I mean?  Where the kids put in their hands and do "eenie meenie miney moe..."  until all hands but one are eliminated?

We remember a few of these:

"One potato, two potato, three potato four..."

"Train, train, number nine, going down the city line, if the train goes off the track, do you want your money back, yes or no?"

"Mother and your mother were hanging up clothes. My mother punched your mother right in the nose. What color was the blood?"  

But variety is the spice of life and we need some spice. Which ones do you remember?

Fancy talk

French can be a very formal language. Just as an example, in English you might close a business letter with "yours truly"  or "sincerely", but this is a fairly typical formal closing in French:

Agréez, je vous prie, l'expression de mes sentiments les plus distingués,

Henri Flaubert

Loosely translated, this means "Please accept my humblest and most heart-felt appreciation for your time, and know that I am not worthy to be in the same room with you and breathe your exhaled breath. I would eat day-old mackerel from a gas station toilet seat merely for an opportunity, however remote, to perhaps catch your attention and receive a favorable nod or half-smile. Please walk upon my face and thereby deliver unto me the honor of your contact, Henri Flaubert"

Well, I'm exaggerating a bit. But not much.

More fun with faux amis!

Ages ago, we did a bit on faux amis, false friends that look like familiar English words, but really means something very different in French.  By popular demand, here are a few more:

parent (n):  In France you aren't restricted to just 2 parents. Here, you can have dozens!  Why? Because a parent is any relative, not just Mom and Dad.

canapé (n):  Mmmm...canapes! Hungry? Bring a sharp knife and fork and maybe some Tabasco sauce, because a canapé is a couch. Bon appetit!

blesser (v):  Careful with this verb. Before you go off and blesse someone, expect some resistance. It means to hurt or injure, not to wish well.

pain (n):  You probably know this one. The French love pain. And we do too. It's French for bread. 

Pop quiz:  What do the French call French fries? Right, just fries (frites, actually). And French bread? Well, it's just bread. And a French horn? The rule changes. It's not merely a horn, but a cor d'harmonie, or harmony horn.