Insights into the French way of life and European travels by an Australian living in the Loire Valley
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Category Archives: French language
Friday’s French – propre, clean, own, proper
I was talking to my Australian friend Susan from Days on the Claise recently and she mentioned the different meanings of propre in French. It does seems strange that the same word should mean both “clean” and “own”. My trusty Dictionnaire Historique de … Continue reading
Friday’s French – savoir-faire, savoir-vivre, savoir-être, know-how, expertise, interpersonal skills
Savoir-faire looks like a word that should mean the same in French and in English. But it doesn’t! Savoir-faire in English is the ability to act or speak appropriately in social situations. Savoir-faire in French, however, means skills acquired by … Continue reading
Friday’s French – galette, galet, shingles, gâteau, cake, pancakes, crepes, biscuits
It’s galette des rois time again. This is the cake used to celebrate the Epiphany in France, the 12th day of Christmas, January 6th, the day on which the three kings reached Bethlehem. It has become an essential part of New … Continue reading
Friday’s French – gigue, gigot, gigoter, jig, leg
Susan Walter from Days on the Claise was wondering recently about the use of gigue and gigot when referring to a leg of venison or lamb. I was not aware of the term gigue as I don’t often buy venison! … Continue reading
Friday’s French – Chantier, mess, roadworks, construction work
Chantier is an interesting word. The photo below is a perfect illustration of its three main meanings. Un chantier is a place where some sort of construction work is going on. It is also the construction work itself while the third … Continue reading
Friday’s French – pêche, nectarine, brugnon, peach
There is a popular belief in France that nectarines and their cousins, brugnons, are combinations of peaches and other fruits such as plums and apricots. Jean Michel was quite adamant before I was able to prove the contrary. He even … Continue reading
Posted in Food, French language
10 Comments
Friday’s French – châtaigne, chestnut, marron, brun, brown
It’s roast chestnut season. If you come from Australia, you probably think there is only one kind – the edible sort you read about in English novels. Not so! In French, there are two different words: marron and châtaigne and the … Continue reading
Posted in Food, French language, Uncategorized
Tagged brown in French, difference between châtaigne and marron
11 Comments
Friday’s French – horloge, pendule, clock, réveil, watch, montre
We get up on Sunday morning after going back onto winter time and all the clocks are an hour out. “Il faut remettre les pendules à l’heure, c’est le cas de le dire”. “Resetting the clocks” is an expression in … Continue reading
Posted in French language
Tagged difference between horloge and pendule, time-pieces in French
8 Comments
Five Years of Blogging
I missed my 5th anniversary of blogging! My first post was published on 11th October 2011 just before my son went to live in Australia. He helped me set it up and regularly comes to the rescue when I have … Continue reading
Posted in Blogging, Books, Country living, Cycling, French language, Life in France, Loire Valley
Tagged aussieinfrance, blogging, loiredailyphoto
20 Comments
Friday’s French – Tout un fromage and other cheesy expressions
You would imagine that a country with more than 400 different cheeses would have a certain number of expressions involving the word fromage, but surprisingly, there are more cheesy expressions in English than in French. I was rather disappointed recently … Continue reading
Posted in French language
Tagged cheesy in French, expression tout un fromage, origin of big cheese
11 Comments
