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Tag Archives: victor hugo

French Poetry: “La Coccinelle” de Victor Hugo Posted by on May 21, 2018

I always love the time of year when ladybugs start coming out. In French, a ladybug is called une coccinelle, and it symbolizes good luck. The French often refer to les coccinelles as “les bêtes à bon Dieu,” which means something like “Good God’s creatures.” Some linguists state that this expression dates back to medieval times. According to medieval legend…

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Vérités Éternelles* Posted by on Nov 1, 2016

C’est La Toussaint aujourd’hui. And since the holiday falls on a mardi (Tuesday) this year, it’s a safe bet that a lot of folks in France took yesterday off too to faire le pont from le week-end. And nice long weekends like this are great for catching up on your reading. Since I live and…

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Mon Amour, Mon Ami (My Love, My Friend) Posted by on Jan 6, 2013

Victor Hugo has famously compared love to un arbre (a tree): “Il a besoin de racines fortes pour croître et prospérer” (it needs strong roots to grow and prosper) Marie Laforet is the first who sang “Mon amour, mon ami” (“My Love, my Friend”) Today, Marie Laforet is better remembered in France as the lady who…

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The French Golden Lines Posted by on Jul 20, 2012

Considered by some as le père spirituel (the spiritual father) of Victor Hugo, French writer Gérard de Nerval is known to have been in the company of a rather “unusual” pet, always taking him wherever he went: It was un homard (a lobster) he called “Thibault”! In this poem, Gérard de Nerval refers to “les vers dorés”…

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Google Puts the “€” in French “€-Books” Posted by on Jun 12, 2012

Not too long ago, several French literati organizations seemed to heroically wage an “uphill crusade” against the Internet search Goliath Google, accusing it of outright book piracy. Today, the paramount motivation of these organizations appears to be more mercantile than virtuously academic. Everything else, of course, “n’est que littérature” (“nothing but literature”). Internet search giant Google…

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The Right French Spelling is *Ça va*—Not “Sa va”! Posted by on Feb 17, 2012

Hey! Salut les amis! Ça va bien…? Tell me, what is the difference in French between “ça“, “çà“, and “sa“? Today’s post will talk about that avec les détails: Whether or not you’ve been fully diagnosed with a desperately incurable case of “coulrophobie” (that -please, try not to laugh- is the serious medical term that describes…

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Oui, Oui, French Boxing – aka “La Savate” Posted by on Oct 12, 2011

Ihe martial art of “French Boxing“, which is also known as “savate“, doesn’t date from yesterday, and for that reason it belongs to the category of les Arts Martiaux Historiques Européens (Historical European martial arts), such as the 15th century “Jeu de la hache (“game of the axe”), the English jujitsu-inspired “Bartitsu“, or the much older Greek pancrace (in…

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