{"id":33212,"date":"2020-12-29T05:30:08","date_gmt":"2020-12-29T04:30:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33212"},"modified":"2020-12-24T20:02:22","modified_gmt":"2020-12-24T19:02:22","slug":"french-culture-oh-what-a-year-bis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/french-culture-oh-what-a-year-bis\/","title":{"rendered":"French Culture – Oh what a year bis"},"content":{"rendered":"

This time last year I shared a post called \u201cOh what a year!<\/a>\u201d \u2026 after les gilet jaunes<\/strong>1<\/a><\/sup>The yellow vests<\/span> and l\u2019incendie de Notre-Dame<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>the fire at Notre Dame<\/span> it seemed surely 2020 would be a better year. And like 2019, 2020 has had des hauts et des bas<\/strong>3<\/a><\/sup>highs and lows<\/span>, but \u00ab Oh quelle ann\u00e9e ! \u00bb<\/strong> once again seems like a fitting title.<\/p>\n

Ev\u00e8nement d’exception!<\/strong>
\nBefore we get to the year in review, check out this exceptional event<\/em>! En partenariat avec la ville de Paris<\/strong>4<\/a><\/sup>In partnership with the city of Paris<\/span>, the French master of electronic music Jean Michel Jarre<\/a>, will present a virtual concert from a digital version of Notre-Dame. Tune in via YouTube, Facebook, or Twitter at 23h15 CET<\/a> on New Year’s Eve.<\/div>\n
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Photo by VisionPic .net from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Janvier<\/strong><\/h1>\n

Despite news of a possible new virus out of China, l\u2019ann\u00e9e a commenc\u00e9e dans le calme<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>the year started calmly enough<\/span>. January was all about vocabulary and grammar and Tell me why<\/a> was the most popular post.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Daria Shevtsova from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

F\u00e9vrier<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In February, \u201cnormal\u201d news was still \u00e0 la une<\/strong><\/a>. La m\u00e9t\u00e9o et la politiqu<\/strong>e6<\/a><\/sup>Weather and politics<\/span> were both a bit<\/p>\n

agit\u00e9es<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>agitated<\/span>, but things were calm enough that the unveiling of France\u2019s 2020 entry to the Eurovision song contests was a big story.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Pressmaster from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Mars<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In March, tout a bascul\u00e9<\/strong>8<\/a><\/sup>everything tipped over<\/span> when France (and many other countries) instituted their (first!) confinement<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Avril<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Photo by Oleg Magni from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

As early as April, even though travel was still highly restricted, everyone was already ready to get out of town. The French group Trois Caf\u00e9s Gourmands and their catchy chanson<\/strong>9<\/a><\/sup>song<\/span> A nos souvenirs<\/strong><\/a> took us on a virtual visit to la province<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Dominika Roseclay from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Mai<\/strong><\/h1>\n

In May, Bridgette joined us<\/a> here on the Transparent Language French blog and despite the cancellation of the Eurovision competition<\/a> things seemed like they might be improving enough for us to turn back to more normal topics like the post-Revolution history of France\u2019s surprisingly resistant monarchy<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Juin<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Photo by Stijn Dijkstra from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

And suddenly it was summer! In June, hop-l\u00e0<\/strong><\/a>, Bridgette brought us a little onomatopoeic fun.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Anna-Louise from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Juillet<\/strong><\/h1>\n

For un quatorze juillet pas comme les autres<\/strong>10<\/a><\/sup>a different kind of July 14th\/Bastille Day<\/span> this year we had virtual fireworks<\/a> \u00a0and took a tour of French regions<\/a> \u00a0and reviewed useful vocabulary for talking about cities and towns<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Ao\u00fbt<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Photo by Mateusz Dach from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

In August, la p\u00e9riode des grandes vacances en France<\/strong>11<\/a><\/sup>vacation season \/ the “big break”<\/span>, we spent some time down on the farm<\/a> and rediscovering the classic French conte<\/strong>12<\/a><\/sup>story, tale<\/span> Le Petit Prince.<\/a><\/p>\n

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Photo by Polina Zimmerman from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Septembre<\/strong><\/h1>\n

September of course means la rentr\u00e9e<\/strong> and so we went back to school<\/a> \u00a0\u2026 a perfect opportunity for sharing some more great musique fran\u00e7aise<\/strong> to help you learn new vocabulary with a groove<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Octobre<\/strong><\/h1>\n
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Photo by Marta Wave from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Unfortunately as we turned les pages du calendrier<\/strong> from \u00e9t\u00e9 to l\u2019automne<\/strong>13<\/a><\/sup>the pages of the calendar from summer to fall<\/span>, it became clear that we weren\u2019t quite done with la Covid-19<\/strong><\/a> and France instituted un couvre-feu<\/strong><\/a> to try and tamp down the spread of the virus.<\/p>\n

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Photo by Micheile Henderson from Pexels<\/p><\/div>\n

Novembre\/d\u00e9cembre<\/strong>14<\/a><\/sup>Remember that les mois de l\u2019ann\u00e9e<\/strong><\/a> are not usually capitalized in French.<\/span><\/h1>\n

By late November it seemed everyone was ready for the year to be over and for les f\u00eates de fin d\u2019ann\u00e9e<\/strong>15<\/a><\/sup>the year end celebrations\/holidays<\/span> (even though they would be very different this year<\/a>) and we started to put up les d\u00e9corations de No\u00ebl<\/strong><\/a> perhaps just a bit earlier than usual.<\/p>\n

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And so here we are, another year ending \u2026 and it is time once again de vous souhaiter tous Bonne Ann\u00e9e<\/strong>16<\/a><\/sup>to wish you all a Happy New Year<\/span> and to vous remercier pour votre fid\u00e9lit\u00e9<\/strong>17<\/a><\/sup>and to thank you for your continued support<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Et que 2021 vous apporte beaucoup de bonheur et pleine d\u2019occasions d\u2019apprendre (surtout le fran\u00e7ais !)<\/strong><\/p>\n

And may 2021 bring you much joy and many opportunities for learning (especially\u00a0French!)<\/em><\/p>\n

And a quick final cadeau<\/strong> to fill your shoes<\/a> … following up on last week’s video of a skateboarder at the Louvre and a ballet dancer at the Mus\u00e9e d’Orsay here is a video featuring the French BMX champion Matthias Dandois<\/a> riding through the empty streets of Paris (and even inside a few sites!). Talk about a different way to get around Paris<\/a>!<\/div>\n