Kristin Espinasse's Blog, page 25
April 23, 2020
Prenez soin de vous + Take care of your French with a dozen more words
A gift from our guest: dried cyclamen, a ballet of expressive flowers!
Today's Expression: Prenez soin de vous
: take care of yourself (plural: yourselves)
Audio file: Click here to listen to today's phrase in French and English
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
Someone close to us, someone young and strong, had an accident--une chute while alone at home-- followed by a trip to ER for some points!
The emotional and physical scars are there, but our bien-aimé is here with us...
April 15, 2020
Etonner and a big surprise on Easter morning
Our up-n-coming Victory Garden--where I hang out (and try to chill) when I'm not bossing everybody around... Read today's story and please share this French word journal with a friend. That's an order!
TODAY'S WORD: étonner
: to surprise, amaze, astonish
Audio file: click here to listen to the following sentence
Les bonnes actions sont choses fort naturelles, et pourtant elles étonnent toujours. Good deeds are natural, nevertheless they always amaze us.
Adolphe d'Houdetot ; Dix épines...
April 8, 2020
Débrouillard: Share your thoughts, examples, and tips on resourcefulness
Mr. Fix-it is at it again! This time he's "mended" the hammock... Years ago I began a list to record the ways in which my husband shamelessly uses duct tape to fix things. I'm kicking myself for not keeping up that list. I'd best put my energy elsewhere, into today's post about resourcefulness.... Enjoy and please share it with a friend.
Today's Word: débrouillard
: resourceful, crafty, clever
Audio file: click here to listen to the following French
Ses camarades disaient de lui...
April 1, 2020
Goodbye La Bise: This Pandemic Marks The End of a French Kissing Custom
Empty streets in La Ciotat. But this isn't the only reason why citizens here may be spared from the coronavirus. It has to do with an unusual sanitary practice dating back to the plague. More, in today's story.
Today's Word: épargner
: to spare
Click here to listen to Jean-Marc read the French below:
La Peste épargne La Ciotat. Grâce aux mesures sanitaires, au courage des femmes, la cité maritime se préserve du terrible fléau. -Frequence Sud.fr
La Ciotat is spared of the plague. Thanks...
March 24, 2020
Tout ira bien. All will be well. + Confused about cleaning practices during the pandemic?
Are you confused about cleaning/disinfecting during the coronavirus pandemic? Me too. (Photo taken in the sweet town of Villedieu.)
Today's word(s): Tout ira bien
: All will be well*
*Famous words of Julian of Norwich
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
One week into confinement and I'm waving a white flag of surrender: this time over the obsession to control germs. As you will soon learn, I am not a germaphobe. But like you, I've stepped up my routine: when washing up at the...
March 19, 2020
Célibataire, Confinement, and Divorce after the coronavirus?
COVID-19, or Coronavirus disease 2019, is no laughing matter. The French (for the most part) are respecting les gestes barrières (wash hands, cough/sneeze into your coude, stand a meter apart, stay home #jerestechezmoi). Today, a light-hearted story from our family's confinement here in La Ciotat.
Today's Word célibataire
: single person; bachelor, spinster
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse
Yesterday, Wednesday, I was in our garden watering the radishes, the lettuce, the fava...
March 13, 2020
Let's Talk About the Coronavirus: COVID-19 in France and Chez Vous
"THE END" - That's my 73-year-old Mom wearing a hand-me-down T-shirt. The ripped neck is her signature. I snapped the picture of Jules this morning, moments after she'd rescued our 5th hen (trapped in our absent neighbor's yard.). While I was pacing up and down the street, a piece of fish (bait) in my hand, and in distress, Mom had already jumped the barbed wire fence, trespassed into unknown territory and, faster than a SWAT team, released the hen from captivity.
MÊME PAS PEUR
With that,...
March 2, 2020
La flemme! La grasse matinée... + Lackadaisy is not a flower
Jean-Marc and I begin Part Two of our memoir, The Lost Gardens. This project would not be possible without the support of readers. Mille mercis to those who have purchased the online edition and are reading our story and cheering us on. Without you we would be at Chapter Zero! The blog post below, written in 2013, takes us back to Saint Cyr-sur-Mer, where we thought we would live forever. To buy our memoir and begin reading right away, click here.
Today's Word: flemme? buanderie? semence?...
February 25, 2020
Wonderful phrase "Comme si de rien n'etait" + a Mother's lesson on giving
Le printemps has come early to France and promises to bring a beautiful late spring and summer, if you are thinking of a wonderful and different sort of holiday why not come on one of my painting trips. All-inclusive from pick up to drop off, you get to see some of the most beautiful places in Provence and beyond. Eat gourmet food and have one on one teaching. The groups are small and friendly. Don’t miss out!! www.paintprovencewithtess.com
Today's Phrase: Comme si de rien n'etait
: as if...
February 19, 2020
Quitter + Beyond bye-bye: Good ideas for ending a letter, an email, or a visit with a friend
Passion for Provence: 22 Keys to La Belle Vie tells the tale of Americans Gayle and Ralph falling for France on their Mediterranean honeymoon and finally making it home—over two decades later. Part love story, part travel tale, part can-do, this humorous, spirited memoir will have you packing your bags for Provence for a sweet sojourn or possibly a longer stay. Recently, the book was featured on Chroniques Méditerranéenes, a French travel TV show about St. Rémy de Provence—the charming...
