Archive for 'Culture'
Visiting Ancient France: The Battle of Alesia Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Apr 21, 2018
One of the most important ancient battles that occurred during the Gallic Wars took place in Alésia, France. Known in French as le siège d’Alésia, this battle pitted Roman forces, led by Julius Caesar, against the Gauls (the Celtic tribe that inhabited the region from 5th century BCE to the 5th century CE), led by the…
Staying In The Juice – Useful French Expressions Posted by John Bauer on Apr 18, 2018
Learning new expressions is a fun but difficult part of learning une langue (a language). It gets even harder when des expressions start building on top of each other by adding in les jeux de mots (puns). There is a very useful expression française (French expression) that is nice and short and doesn’t involve having…
French Music – Calogero Posted by Tim Hildreth on Apr 17, 2018
Before becoming a writer, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry had a very different professional life. A new song from the French chanteur (singer) Calogero, celebrates that previous career as well as some of Saint-Exupéry’s most famous works. While he may be best known outside France for his charming novella Le petit prince (The little prince), Antoine de Saint-Exupéry wrote…
La Couronne: The Oldest Restaurant in France? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Apr 9, 2018
France is known for having many of the oldest restaurants in the world. Why is this? Because the first modern restaurant was established in Paris in 1765. Run by Monsieur Boulanger (which literally translates to Mr. Baker), this restaurant served just one dish: sheep’s feet in a white wine sauce. On the eve of the…
Travel in France: A Palace Made of Pebbles? Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Mar 26, 2018
There are lots of famous sites in France, from the iconic French Riviera to the Eiffel Tower and the Louvre. But there are also some interesting attractions off the beaten path … like a gigantic palace made almost entirely of pebbles in Hauterives, France. Known as Le Palais idéal, or the Ideal Palace, this strange…
Amercian Stereotypes and Traditional Cuisine – Hamburger Vocabulary in French Posted by John Bauer on Mar 21, 2018
Living in France as un américain (an American) sometimes means hearing the same jokes over and over again. Most of the time it’s all meant in good fun so it never bothers me and sometimes I even learn about les stéréotypes américains (American stereotypes) that I never knew existed! The most common stéréotype américain that…
French Nursery Rhymes: Au Clair de la lune Posted by Elizabeth Schmermund on Mar 16, 2018
A couple of weeks ago, I wrote a nursery rhyme with an interesting origin. That comptine, as nursery rhymes are known in French, might not have been as familiar to English speakers as the one I’m writing about today. The melody of “Au Clair de la lune” is probably familiar to most people around the world…