{"id":33313,"date":"2021-01-19T05:30:45","date_gmt":"2021-01-19T04:30:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/?p=33313"},"modified":"2021-01-17T18:54:03","modified_gmt":"2021-01-17T17:54:03","slug":"snow-covers-france","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.transparent.com\/french\/snow-covers-france\/","title":{"rendered":"Snow covers France"},"content":{"rendered":"

Unusually cold temperatures brought challenges for some and treats for others as snow covered much of France this past weekend.<\/p>\n

\"snow

https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/cold-frost-frozen-ice-259659\/<\/a><\/p><\/div>\n

La France sous un manteau1<\/a><\/sup>the more general meaning of the word manteau<\/i> is coat<\/em> but can also mean blanket<\/em><\/span> de blanc<\/h3>\n

Le week-end dernier<\/strong>2<\/a><\/sup>Last weekend<\/span> brought de la neige<\/strong>3<\/a><\/sup>snow<\/span> to much of the northern half of the country, covering the country in a blanket of white<\/em>. From Alsace dans l\u2019est<\/strong>4<\/a><\/sup>in the east<\/span> to Normandie et le Nord, en passant par l\u2019Ile-de-France \u00ab la neige est tomb\u00e9e en abondance \u00bb<\/strong>5<\/a><\/sup>Normandy and The North, passing by the Ile-de-France region (Paris and the surrounding area), snow fell heavily.<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Pour les usagers de la route<\/strong>6<\/a><\/sup>For people travelling by road<\/span>, the snow meant slower and more dangerous driving conditions. In Alsace, 4 000 foyers ont \u00e9taient priv\u00e9s d’\u00e9lectricit\u00e9<\/strong>7<\/a><\/sup>4,000 homes were without power\/electricity<\/span>. Farmers bringing their goods to market had to take extra precautions to protect leurs fruits et l\u00e9gumes mena\u00e7aient par le g\u00e8le<\/strong>8<\/a><\/sup>their fruits and vegetables from the freeze<\/span>.<\/p>\n

In Paris though, certains Franciliens<\/strong>9<\/a><\/sup>the name for those living in and around Paris in the \u00cele-de-France region<\/a><\/span> took advantage of the neige<\/strong>10<\/a><\/sup>snow<\/span> to make up for missed vacances d\u2019hiver<\/strong><\/a>11<\/a><\/sup>winter holidays\/vacation<\/span>, skiing down the collines<\/strong>12<\/a><\/sup>hills<\/span> of the Butte Montmartre or sliding down the piste verte<\/strong>13<\/a><\/sup>green (ski) trail \/ easy (ski) trail<\/span> of the Jardin du Trocadero on their skateboards with the wheels removed!<\/p>\n

Cliquez ici<\/a> pour le reportage de FranceInfo<\/strong>14<\/a><\/sup>Click here<\/a> for the news report from FranceInfo<\/span><\/p>\n

Une s\u00e9lection d’images de Paris et sa r\u00e9gion sous les flocons<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Or head over to the Le Parisien for a fun collection of pictures<\/a> of the neige qui est tomb\u00e9<\/strong><\/a>15<\/a><\/sup>the snow that fell<\/span> pendant le week-end<\/strong>16<\/a><\/sup>during the weekend<\/span>. Here\u2019s some vocabulaire utile<\/strong>17<\/a><\/sup>useful vocabulary<\/span> to help you:<\/p>\n

glisser<\/strong> \/ to slip<\/em>
\nles flocons<\/strong> \/ the snowflakes<\/em>
\nailleurs<\/strong> <\/a>\/ elsewhere<\/em>
\nle \u201cparaneige\u201d<\/strong> \/ a play on \u201cparapluie<\/em>\u201d (umbrella<\/em>)
\nune voiture stationn\u00e9e<\/strong> \/ a parked car<\/em>
\nIDF<\/strong> \/ \u00cele-de-France<\/em>
\nla mairie<\/strong> \/ the city hall<\/em>
\nles canards<\/a> et les cygnes<\/a><\/strong> \/ the ducks and the swans<\/p>\n

Pour approfondir votre vocabulaire<\/strong><\/h3>\n

As I note above, the French word\u00a0mairie<\/strong> means\u00a0city\u00a0<\/em>(or\u00a0town<\/em>)\u00a0hall.\u00a0<\/em>There is another term though, that also means city\u00a0<\/em>(or\u00a0town<\/em>)\u00a0hall:<\/em> l‘h\u00f4tel de<\/strong> ville<\/strong>. While the two terms are often used as synonyms, there is actually a difference.<\/p>\n

Strictly speaking, l\u2019h\u00f4tel de ville<\/b> is the building that houses la mairie<\/strong>, which is the ensemble of the municipal government. So l’h\u00f4tel de ville<\/strong> is the actual town\/city hall, while la mairie<\/strong> is the administration that occupies the building and runs the commune.<\/p>\n

La mairie<\/strong> is led by un, ou une, maire<\/strong>18<\/a><\/sup>a mayor (male or female)<\/span>. Cliquez ici<\/strong><\/a> for a little history of the word maire<\/strong> (and to discover a great resource from RFI<\/a>, Les mots de l’actualit\u00e9<\/strong>19<\/a><\/sup>The words of the news<\/span>).<\/p>\n

A ne pas manquer<\/strong>20<\/a><\/sup>Remember to be careful when using the French verb manquer<\/em>. Click here<\/a> to find out why.<\/span><\/p>\n

Don’t miss it!<\/em> If you’re a fan of French polars<\/strong><\/a> and you’re looking for a new series pour une s\u00e9ance de visionnage boulimique<\/b>21<\/a><\/sup>for binge watching<\/span>, check out the great series Lupin<\/a> on Netflix in which the French actor Omar Sy takes a modern twist on the famous gentleman cambrioleur, Ars\u00e8ne Lupin<\/em>.<\/p>\n

While Netflix let’s you chose to watch the series in English, it’s much better in the original French. Turn on the closed captioning if you need to (in French, if you want an extra challenge!)<\/div>\n

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