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.

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.