{"id":31901,"date":"2020-03-31T05:30:33","date_gmt":"2020-03-31T03:30:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=31901"},"modified":"2020-03-29T21:51:16","modified_gmt":"2020-03-29T19:51:16","slug":"french-culture-quarantine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-culture-quarantine\/","title":{"rendered":"French Culture – Quarantine Distractions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Well, not much has changed since last week<\/a>. Les fran\u00e7ais<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>I’ll stick with the classic fran\u00e7ais<\/strong> for now and not new(ish) fran\u00e7ais\u00b7e\u00b7s <\/strong><\/a>since l’Acad\u00e9mie fran\u00e7aise is not on board<\/a>!<\/span> sont tous encore confin\u00e9s chez eux<\/strong> (The French are still confined to their homes<\/em>) and around the world more and more of us are joining them as nous luttons ensemble pour emp\u00eacher la propagation du Covid-19<\/strong> (we battle together to prevent the spread of Covid-19).\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n

Quarantaine<\/strong><\/p>\n

The French word for quarantine\u00a0<\/em>can also mean\u00a0forty-something.\u00a0<\/em>It’s looking like for some of us, the\u00a0temps de confinement<\/strong> (period of confinement)<\/em> could approach 40 days … so since we can’t get out, I thought I’d share some great options for exploring Paris from the safety of you favorite tech device.<\/p>\n

Adding the suffix -aine <\/em>to certain French numbers is like adding –something<\/em> to numbers in English. So vingt<\/em> (2o) becomes vingtaine (twenty-something <\/em>or 20-ish<\/em>), trente<\/em> becomes trentaine<\/em>, cent <\/em>(100) centaine, <\/em>etc.\u00a0 You’ll see these pop up in discussions of age when someone doesn’t know exactly how old someone else is (Pierre a une trentaine d’ann\u00e9es<\/em> … Peter is thirty-something<\/em>) or an indeterminate amount (Il y avait une vingtaine de personne \u00e0 la f\u00eate de Jo\u00eblle. \/ There were about twenty people at Joelle’s party.<\/em>) or\u00a0Nous allons passer une quarantaine de jours \u00e0 la maison. \/ We’re going to spend about 40 days at home.<\/em>\u00a0<\/div>\n

Alors quoi faire?<\/strong><\/p>\n

So, what can we do?<\/em> Well here are some things I’ve found on the internet these past few weeks that I hope will help to fill your time and increase your appreciation for the beauty of Paris and France … And maybe experience a chuckle or two.<\/p>\n

\u00catre parisien, ce n’est pas \u00eatre n\u00e9 \u00e0 Paris, c’est y rena\u00eetre.<\/strong> (Being Parisian doesn’t mean being born there, it is being reborn there.) <\/em>-French acteur, artist, and film-maker Sacha Guitry<\/a><\/div>\n

\"\"For starters, how about a little journey to the past. This neat video<\/a> features rare color photos of a 1914 Paris on the eve of\u00a0la Premi\u00e8re Guerre<\/strong> mondiale <\/strong>(World War I) aka la Grande Guerre<\/strong> (the Great War<\/em>). Thanks to the French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn we have these amazing photographs “qui nous montrent que l’agitation de la vie quotidienne de Paris \u00e9tait beaucoup plus color\u00e9e que nous l’avions imagin\u00e9e<\/strong>” (that show us how the activities of daily life in Paris were much more colorful that we imagine them).<\/em><\/p>\n

Pour une tout autre vue de la ville<\/strong> (For a completely different view of the city)\u00a0<\/em>check out the video at the top of this article<\/a> apr\u00e8s la pub<\/strong> (after the commercial)<\/em>. Film\u00e9es par un drone de la pr\u00e9fecture de police\u00a0<\/b>(Filmed by a drone from the Paris police department),\u00a0<\/em>the rare scenes let us see an eerily beautiful Paris almost empty of people.<\/p>\n

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\"\"Arts …<\/strong><\/p>\n

During this time, many French museums, monuments, and cultural institutions are opening up their (virtual) doors in new ways. The Mus\u00e9e d’Orsay<\/a> has a great virtual tour that lets you discover the history of the space and many of its most famous works.<\/p>\n

If you prefer a more modern take on art, le Mus\u00e9e d’Art Moderne de Paris<\/b> (le MAM) vous propose une immersion \u00e0 360\u00b0<\/a> \u00e0 ne surtout pas manquer!\u00a0<\/strong>(The Modern Art Museum of Paris offers up a 360\u00b0<\/strong> virtual tour that you can’t miss).<\/em><\/p>\n

It took me a couple tries to master the navigation of both museum sites, but trust me, it is worth the effort!<\/p>\n

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\"\"… and Culture<\/strong><\/p>\n

You already know I love music<\/a>. While my tastes tend to run a little more pop, for those of you who like classical and opera, L’Op\u00e9ra de Paris is streaming a selection of concerts, operas, and ballets<\/a> that you can enjoy in their entirety from the comfort of your living room.2<\/a><\/sup>Note that, depending on where you live, some videos may not be available.<\/span><\/p>\n

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Et pour finir …\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Je vous ai d\u00e9j\u00e0 parl\u00e9 de Parole de Chat<\/strong><\/a> (I’ve mentioned Cat Talk before<\/em>), and I hope you enjoy this new special quarantine edition to wrap up this week’s list of ideas to stretch your mind … if not your legs … until the world gets back to normal.<\/p>\n