Unusually cold temperatures brought challenges for some and treats for others as snow covered much of France this past weekend.

https://www.pexels.com/photo/cold-frost-frozen-ice-259659/

La France sous un manteau¹the more general meaning of the word manteau is coat but can also mean blanket de blanc

Le week-end dernier²Last weekend brought de la neige³snow to much of the northern half of the country, covering the country in a blanket of white. From Alsace dans l’est⁴in the east to Normandie et le Nord, en passant par l’Ile-de-France « la neige est tombée en abondance »⁵Normandy and The North, passing by the Ile-de-France region (Paris and the surrounding area), snow fell heavily..

Pour les usagers de la route⁶For people travelling by road, the snow meant slower and more dangerous driving conditions. In Alsace, 4 000 foyers ont étaient privés d’électricité⁷4,000 homes were without power/electricity. Farmers bringing their goods to market had to take extra precautions to protect leurs fruits et légumes menaçaient par le gèle⁸their fruits and vegetables from the freeze.

In Paris though, certains Franciliens⁹the name for those living in and around Paris in the Île-de-France region took advantage of the neige¹⁰snow to make up for missed vacances d’hiver¹¹winter holidays/vacation, skiing down the collines¹²hills of the Butte Montmartre or sliding down the piste verte¹³green (ski) trail / easy (ski) trail of the Jardin du Trocadero on their skateboards with the wheels removed!

Cliquez ici pour le reportage de FranceInfo¹⁴Click here for the news report from FranceInfo

Une sélection d’images de Paris et sa région sous les flocons

Or head over to the Le Parisien for a fun collection of pictures of the neige qui est tombé¹⁵the snow that fell pendant le week-end¹⁶during the weekend. Here’s some vocabulaire utile¹⁷useful vocabulary to help you:

glisser / to slip
les flocons / the snowflakes
ailleurs / elsewhere
le “paraneige” / a play on “parapluie” (umbrella)
une voiture stationnée / a parked car
IDF / Île-de-France
la mairie / the city hall
les canards et les cygnes / the ducks and the swans

Pour approfondir votre vocabulaire

As I note above, the French word mairie means city (or town) hall. There is another term though, that also means city (or town) hall: l‘hôtel de ville. While the two terms are often used as synonyms, there is actually a difference.

Strictly speaking, l’hôtel de ville is the building that houses la mairie, which is the ensemble of the municipal government. So l’hôtel de ville is the actual town/city hall, while la mairie is the administration that occupies the building and runs the commune.

La mairie is led by un, ou une, maire¹⁸a mayor (male or female). Cliquez ici for a little history of the word maire (and to discover a great resource from RFI, Les mots de l’actualité¹⁹The words of the news).

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  the more general meaning of the word manteau is coat but can also mean blanket
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  Last weekend
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  snow
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  in the east
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  Normandy and The North, passing by the Ile-de-France region (Paris and the surrounding area), snow fell heavily.
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  For people travelling by road
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  4,000 homes were without power/electricity
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  their fruits and vegetables from the freeze
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  the name for those living in and around Paris in the Île-de-France region
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  snow
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  winter holidays/vacation
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  hills
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  green (ski) trail / easy (ski) trail
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  Click here for the news report from FranceInfo
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  the snow that fell
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  during the weekend
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  useful vocabulary
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  a mayor (male or female)
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  The words of the news
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  Remember to be careful when using the French verb manquer. Click here to find out why.
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  for binge watching