Hmm...

Saw this bizarre window display a couple of weeks ago while walking around town. I know it's hard to see through the grating, but it's a very pro-USA collection of messages. However, some of the messages are a little extreme like, "Goddamn USA's enemies" and what makes it more bizarre is that the messages seem to be in a child's handwriting. This window is also very near a sign on the building with a middle school's name. But the sign looks kind of old...I can't tell if the building still operate as a school or not...and if it does, I don't know if this window is part of the school or not.

I went by a couple days a go and the display appears to have taken down.

Weird.

What the F(rench)? - #2

So. F***ing. French. A magazine cover featuring a French soccer player, Eric Cantona. Also found this very intense picture of him here. Check out that unibrow! (Interestingly, according to my research, there is no French translation for unibrow.)

Marbles - Les Billes n. f

A.'s treasured marble collection, neatly organized. I'd say it's pretty awesome for a six year old.


I like these.

Rebellion

The other day, R. did not want to take a shower when I told him to. So he decided to climb out the window. Unfortunately for him, it was grated and made for an uncomfortable place to hang out. He was feeling much more cooperative once I helped him down.

Les Bulles D'Agathe

I would like to suggest that anyone who has to regularly spend time with young, rambunctious children invest in a bottle or two of the Bulles D'Agathe (Agatha's bubbles) by wonderful perfumer Francis Kurkdjian.

I recently bought some from über-cool Parisian store Colette. (They ship to the US too!) So, what is it, exactly? Perfumed bubbles! It comes with a wand and everything! It's kind of a perfume concept art thing. Mr. K instructs the user to blow to bubbles and then try to burst a few with your nose so that you get a little whiff of the perfume. When you've done it a few times, there is a little trace of the perfume about the room so I guess this product could technically be lumped into the home fragrance category, but it's really more of an experience thing in my mind. Just a small, pleasurable, sensory experience - the kind of I love.

Anyway, got them a few days ago but today in a moment of desperation while trying to keep control of the kids, it occurred to me that they might enjoy playing with them. So, I told them about Mr. K's instructions and for a good 15 minutes I just blew bubbles at them and watched as they desperately chased and tried to burst them with their noses, sometimes throwing themselves headlong onto the floor in the attempt. It was marvelous. They loved it, and while I mildly resent them for forcing me into using my expensive bubbles to control them, I'm nevertheless grateful for the few minutes of relative peace I had while we all played together.

So, the ones I have, like I mentioned above, are from Colette and are only sold there. But the perfume house has four other scents: Herbs, Mint, Pear and Violet which are available in the US. (I definitely want to add to my fancy bubble collection with some of those.) :)

Well worth the coin I think, if either purpose appeals to you: controlling children or having a philosophical, yet lighthearted, sensory experience.

P.S. The bubble chase really was quite hilarious. Going to capture it on film and post it here as soon as possible.

Obsessed

On a note unrelated to France, I am in love with this show. Check it out! It's da jam!

Weather Report & French Lesson - Rain Vocabulary

(photo found here)
It has been raining almost non-stop for about two weeks and is supposed to continue the rest of the week. I happen to be a gal who likes rainy days, however, I do not like navigating the city's poorly drained streets without rain boots!

This song comes to mind...


Also this one...


So I thought this would be a good opportunity to go over some rain vocab...

Pleuvoir v. - to rain

Il pleut - it's raining/it rains

Pluie n. (f) - rain
i.e. J'adore la pluie! - I love the rain!
Goutte de pluie n. (f) - raindrop
Trombe d'eau n. (f) or Pluie torrentielle n. (f) - rainstorm
Orage n. (m) - thunderstorm
Pluviomètre n. (m) - rain gauge
Pluvieux (m) / Pluvieuse (f) adj. - rainy
Imperméable n. (m) - raincoat
Parapluie n. (m) - umbrella
Bottes de pluie n. (f.pl.) - rain boots
i.e. J'ai besoin de bottes de pluie putain! = I need some f***ing rain boots!

*Wish I had these from J. Crew :(


One more rain song for the road:

They were a little tired...

I took this a couple of weeks ago when I arrived at home with the kids after picking them up from school. It was a very peaceful drive home.

Grape Harvest

A couple of weeks ago the family collected grapes from the vines around the little terrace area. There were quite a few grapes! This is what was left after C., the mother, made real grape juice. Mmmm... Took a while to eat our way through all those grapes! :)

French Lesson - Smoking Vocabulary

(photo found here, on one of my favorite blogs)

Fumer v. - To Smoke:

Je Fume - I smoke
Tu Fumes - You smoke
Il/Elle/On Fumes - He/she/one smokes
Nous Fumons - We smoke
Vous Fumez - You (plural) smoke
Ils/Elles Fument - They smoke

Fumeur n. - male smoker
Fumeuse n. - female smoker

Cendrier n. (masculine)* - ashtray
Cigarette n. (feminine)* - cigarette
Mégot n. (m) - cigarette butt
Briquet n. (m) - lighter
Fume-cigarette n. (m) - cigarette holder
Papier à cigarettes n. (m) - cigarette paper
Bureau de tabac n. (m) - tobacco shop

* In French, nouns are assigned a gender, masculine or feminine. Adjectives used in relation to the noun must be tailored to the noun - the adjustments are based on whether the noun is masculine or feminine and whether it is singular or plural.

Lycee Vauvenargues

This is one of the schools where I teach. This is the high school Vauvenargues. It has about 3,000 students. It used to be a convent, I think. You can see how lovely and grand it is in these pictures I took of one of the courtyards. The first floor of this building is all administrative offices and the second floor is classrooms.

Those are chestnut trees! The first couple of weeks I was here, the ground was covered with chestnuts. :)

Too Funny

This is A., one of the kids I take care of as an au pair. I saw this outfit and just had to take a picture. Fyi, you don't see many French kids in this kind of t-shirt.

A Bit of Marseille

So, a few weeks ago, I went to Marseille for training seminars. Marseille is on the coast and about 40 minutes by bus from where I live, in Aix En Provence. It's more of a major city than Aix and is therefore where people in Aix have to go to take care of practically everything administrative. It's also the main city for the academic region to which my schools belong.

So, we had our seminars at a university there, which was very grand and old. I kind of love how they allow things to fall apart a little bit and be a little ghetto in France. I feel like America has an obsession with having the newest version of everything. It's kind of nice to be in classrooms that haven't been renovated since the 60's. I think it gives one a sense of continuity with past that's comforting.

But enough of my philosophical ramblings. My point was just this cigarette receptacle I found in one of the old, chapel-like, class buildings.

So you just waltz in there, smoking your cigarette casually. You finish it in the lobby and then have this lovely brass receptacle in which to dispose of it.























In other news, the train station in Marseille has live trees growing in it.

What the F(rench)?

So for my first catch-up post, I would like to address something that any Americans (or other English-speakers) in France will notice everywhere: Bizarre usages of English in advertising campaigns. (And in lots of other contexts for that matter.)

English still seems to be thought of as something of a "cool" language here. So you see it around in ad campaigns, in store names, on clothing. But the English words or phrases they choose to use are almost always grammatically incorrect or just completely nonsensical. This ridiculous ad campaign for Quick Burger, a popular French fast food joint (that incidentally, I find to be worse than McDonald's) is a perfect example.



Hard Pepper? What the hell does that mean? This is just one of the many daily encounters with bizarre aspects of French culture that make me think:

"What the f***, French?"

Catch-Up

So obviously, I haven't written anything since my first entry a month ago - but I have been taking some pictures and thinking about what I want to share so I'm going to do a bunch of posts at once to catch you up on what I've been doing the past few weeks - and then I'm going to make a renewed effort in the future. :)