Tag Archives: France
Vacation has arrived Posted by Tim Hildreth on Aug 1, 2017
August 1 (le premier août) is the traditional start of France’s grandes vacances (big vacation). For decades, the month of August has seen literally millions of French take to the roads to escape the office, city, and home to find un peu de repos (a little rest) à la campagnes, dans les montagnes (in the…
A Revolutionary Calendar Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 18, 2017
Before we leave juillet (July) and our observances of the French Revolution* behind for another year, I thought it might be fun to explore briefly one of the odder ‘inventions’ of the First French Republic. The French Revolution and France’s First Republic which it led to gave us many enduring ideals including the Déclaration…
French holidays: Bastille Day Posted by Tim Hildreth on Jul 11, 2017
This Friday (vendredi), le quatorze juillet (July 14), is la fête nationale française, known in the United States and many parts of the world as Bastille Day. And if you’re like many francophiles, you may think this day celebrates the storming of the royal prison of la Bastille on July 14, 1789 … and you’d…
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…
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…
It’s spring and inspiration is in the air Posted by Tim Hildreth on May 2, 2017
May has returned and with it the beautiful weather of le printemps (spring) at least here in my little corner of the world. In France that means – even with the stress of les élections présidentielles (the presidential elections), which are particularly heated this year*, and a recent spate of cold weather in the north…