{"id":24789,"date":"2016-10-04T05:11:11","date_gmt":"2016-10-04T03:11:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=24789"},"modified":"2021-05-11T02:51:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-11T00:51:04","slug":"quoi-de-neuf","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/quoi-de-neuf\/","title":{"rendered":"Quoi de neuf?*"},"content":{"rendered":"

It’s not always easy to keep up with the news, but a number of recent stories out of France and Canada caught my eyes and I thought I’d share some of them with you this week.<\/p>\n

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By Martin St-Amant (S23678) – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=7028466<\/p><\/div>\n

Up first, some exciting news about one of the world’s great villes francophones <\/em>(French-speaking cities). Qu\u00e9bec<\/a> has just been named ville culturelle de l\u2019ann\u00e9e <\/em>(cultural city of the year) in the London-based Leading Cultural Destination Awards<\/a>.\u00a0 While the judging body may be a tad obscure, there is no doubt that Qu\u00e9bec belongs on any list of great cultural destinations<\/a>. In November, I’ll be delivering an en directe <\/em>(live . . . ish) update on Qu\u00e9bec when we go visit notre oncle et tante (celle qui aime le vin<\/a>) <\/em>in Qu\u00e9bec. (our uncle and aunt – the one who loves wine)<\/p>\n

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By Copyright \u00a9 2004 David Monniaux – Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https:\/\/commons.wikimedia.org\/w\/index.php?curid=24153<\/p><\/div>\n

Deuxi\u00e8mement <\/em>(secondly) le SNCF (Soci\u00e9t\u00e9 Nationale de Chemin de Fer) <\/em><\/a>recently announced plans for their newest TGV (Train \u00e0<\/i><\/span> Grande<\/em> Vitesse\/High-speed train), l\u2019Oc\u00e9ane, which will travel between Paris and Bordeaux starting in the summer of 2017. You can get a peak at the new model here<\/a>. This news makes me doubly happy as the French company that manufactures the new TGVs is also under contract to deliver new high-speed trains and rail to the American Amtrak train service that runs from where I live to New York City and to Wasington, D.C. . . . <\/em>of course, I’ll have to wait as the new trains are not scheduled to be in service until 2021<\/a>!<\/p>\n

Et pour finir<\/em> (And to conclude), in the ‘il n’y a qu’en France’ <\/em>(only in France) department, this fun little piece<\/a> about a battle over whose names are – or are not – French. If you don’t remember the details, take a look at the final footnote of my blog on the singer Zazie<\/a> to see just how particular the French can be about names!<\/p>\n

And a bonus: in researching this week’s blog, I came across this new clip <\/em>(video) by un chanteur fran\u00e7ais <\/em>(a French singer). It seemed appropriate . . . J\u2019esp\u00e8re que vous l’aimerez** autant que moi. <\/em>(I hope you like it as much as I do.)<\/p>\n