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Marianne Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 4, 2017
Le 14 juillet (July 14th), Bastille Day, is the French national holiday commemorating the start of the French revolution in 1789. The end of the French revolution led to a series of Republics (more below) one of the symbols of which is la Marianne. Named for the two most common woman’s names at the…
Getting in the mood . . . Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 27, 2017
… For France! At the end of le mois d’août (the month of August), my family and I are heading to France to celebrate a wedding. It has been over three years since my last trip to France, and I can hardly wait. Three years is a long time to be away from a place…
In the eye of the beholder Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 20, 2017
Belle isn’t just the name of the main character in Disney’s latest film. Belle is also a French adjective that means beautiful, lovely, pleasant, or agreable (unlike joli/jolie – pretty, belle doesn’t only pertain to appearances). Ok, so that’s not entirely true. In another oddity of the French language, belle is technically not its own…
She’s a beauty Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 13, 2017
As one of my fellow bloggers said, Claude François was “an iconic French singer who died at 39 years old, and who even [more than] 30 years after his death still fascinates people in France and abroad…”. I suspect that fascination is due in equal parts to his great songs, his tragic death…
Coming soon . . . Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jun 6, 2017
If you’ve been following my posts here at the Transparent Language French Blob, then you already know that I like movies and the French comic books called BDs. Later this year, I’m going to get served a double-header when Valerian and the City of a Thousand Planets* hits theaters. The latest movie from the great…
Back to the store . . . Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 30, 2017
… For a love story! Between the world wars (la grande et la deuxieme*), France saw the creation of three stores dedicated to providing convenience and savings to urban shoppers. All three offered products “for a single price” and their names played on that concept. While all three evolved over the years, Monoprix (Mono-price), Uniprix…
Like a game of chess Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 23, 2017
A few weeks ago, I shared a picture of Marguerite de Valois, comparing her to the flower of the same name. Or at least that’s what I meant to do. Instead, I mistakenly used a picture of Marguerite d’Angoulême. Both women were Queen of Navarre (a region between present day France and Spain on the…