FRENCH WORD-A-DAY

Raffoler: A Great Verb for Something You Love (such as dogs and cookies...)

Thursday, November 30, 2023

We are all crazy about our new dog Ricci, who gave us quite a scare recently....
Nous raffolons tous de notre nouvelle chienne Ricci, qui nous a récemment donné une sacrée frayeur.

TODAY'S WORD: Raffoler de

: to adore, love
: not be able to get enough of something

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse

Two weeks ago we nearly lost our little shepherd, la petite Ricci, adopted recently at the age of 3. Jean-Marc and I had been enjoying a stroll along the shore, and all the amusing dog encounters, when Ricci exchanged sniffs with a Boxer. When he got too playful our girl shot off like a bullet up les escaliers, over the boardwalk, and across two lanes of traffic!

We ran after our spooked chienne, bracing for what was around the corner by which she'd disappeared.

Incredibly, our dog had cleared two lanes of traffic before a stranger moved swiftly into action. The man swooped down, trapping her on the sidewalk in front of the pizzeria. We hurried across the street, and Jean-Marc retrieved Ricci while I grabbed the man with multiple piercings, hugging him like my own son--de toute ma force!

Sadly, no photo of Ricci’s sauveur. Standing in for this Good Samaritan are my son Max and granddogs Izzy and Loca.

With Ricci safely in Jean-Marc's arms, we walked the rest of the way home a little stunned. What were we to do now? We would like our dog to be able to play on the beach with other dogs--but at what risk? How is our dog supposed to get her zoomies out if she can't go temporarily unleashed? There are no dog parks in our seaside town, making it a challenge to exercise our energetic American Shepherd.

We have been sorting out this dilemma over the past few weeks and we are all making good progress. One blessing that's come of this is we have discovered the Parc National des Calanques here in La Ciotat--a beautiful natural reserve where we can walk along a rocky trail to the top of the city.

Read about this stunning natural reserve on the last page of the Feb/March edition of France Today.

After the randonné, it's time for a visit from Grand-mère (Jules has been catless ever since Lili returned next door, to live peacefully in our neighbor's armoire after three dogs moved onto our property). Jules adores Ricci, whom she visits each afternoon with her pockets filled with friandises. "Here comes the Cookie Monster!" my mom giggles, taking Ricci into her lap. We've given Jules a 3-cookie limit (per visit) for Ricci and I'm amazed she abides by the rules (if only this one time).

Regarding the dog biscuits, Ricci, elle raffole! She is crazy about them. As for us, on raffole de Ricci! We cannot get enough of her! With her soft-as-silk calico fur she's exotic and she has a very foreign--come to think of it a very French way of expressing herself: elle grogne. She is not visibly complaining or unhappy, she's "voicing" without words. You might say it's a kind of guttural dog purr....

UN CHIEN CHAT
"She doesn't seem like a dog" My mom brings up something we have all been thinking about our ethereal animal de compagnie. "I know," I say, wondering if Ricci is some kind of licorne...

"What do you think she is?" I ask Jean-Marc. After a bit of reflection, he answers "a cat."

"Ricci! I say, are you a little cat in dog's clothing?" Just imagine! One thing's sure: after the scare our pup gave us recently, she has nine lives... just like our dear Smokey had. Maybe he was a cat too? Nah, he was definitely a unicorn.

COMMENTS
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FRENCH VOCABULARY

Click to hear the French and English pronunciation

raffoler de = to love, adore, be nuts about
une frayeur = fright
une chienne = female dog
un escalier = stairs
de toute ma force = with all my strength
le sauveur = savior
la randonnée = the hike
la grand-mère = grandmother
une friandise = a treat, a sweet
elle grogne = she grumbles
une licorne = unicorn

REMERCIEMENTS / ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
Thanks in advance to readers sending in a blog donation for the first time, and to my returning patrons listed below. Your support keeps the wheels of this digital journal turning, and I am truly grateful!

Caro F.
Karen H.
Monica G.

I love your stories! The one about the train journey was an absolute gem. Caro F.

Today’s story motivated me to make another donation. I look forward to each new tale and do practice the French I see with each new post. Ricci is wonderful. So glad you have this beautiful new dog. Happy Holidays to you, Karen

A Message from Kristi: Ongoing support from readers like you keeps me writing and publishing this free language journal week after week. If you find value in this website and would like to keep it going strong, I kindly ask for your support by making a donation today. Thank you very much for being a part of this community and helping me to maintain this site and its newsletter.

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For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety

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Thanksgiving Vocabulary + Périple: Jean-Marc's Journey from France to New Zealand & Bike Tour

Thursday, November 23, 2023

Jean-Marc and Ricci at Port des Capucins. "I'm going to take her with me to New Zealand!" he teases. Read about my husband's 2024 périple in today's update.

Joyeuse Action de Grâce!
I can't guarantee that's how you say "Happy Thanksgiving" in French. But I hope you have so much to be thankful for and that your lives are brimming with blessings in any language. In addition to the blessings of my Franco-American family, friends, health, and our new dog, I'm grateful to have overcome my fear of making pumpkin pie...

La Tarte à la Citrouille
For a scrumptious tarte à la citrouille I roasted and puréed some farm-fresh potimarron, for 500 grams of pumpkin, mixed it in the blender with du lait concentré sucré (1 cup), 3/4 cup of sour cream, 2 eggs, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 muscade, a pinch of salt and baked it for 40 minutes at 200C (392F was a bit hot!) in a ready-made pastry--une pâte brisée. It turned out delicious! A refaire! Don't miss the photos at the end of this edition but, first, enjoy Jean-Marc's nouvelles, just below.

TODAY'S WORD: le périple

: trek, expedition, journey, long haul

NEW ZEALAND PERIPLE VIA BICYCLE by Jean-Marc Espinasse

Dear Kristi's Readers,

As my New Zealand trip is getting, day after day, more realistic, I would like to thank all of you who have already offered to help me during my 3 months stay in this fabulous country.

Three months... Actually, in 3 months, I will be right in the middle of the bike ride I have just put together. With my long-time friend from Marseille, Bernard, we will start in Greymouth on the West Coast to end in Christchurch. After much hesitation over whether to bring our own bikes from France, we decided to buy some electric hybrid bikes in Christchurch with an extra battery and plan to ride from 40 to 80 miles per day. We will follow the West Coast South bordered by the Alps and in Haast, we will get inland, pass by Wanaka Lake where one of the best NZ wines is, so I will definitely stop there to behold the spectacular vineyard slopes and enjoy the delicious biodynamic wines of Rippon.

The first leg of our trip will eventually end up in Queenstown where we will stay for 3 days to rest after 350 miles in 6 days and to explore the beauty of this city on the Waikapu lake surrounded by magnificent mountains.

The second leg of our bike tour will start by riding through the beautiful vineyards of Gibbston Valley before heading North, inland, to reach, 3 days later, the beauties of Pukaki Lake and Mount Cook

It will then be time to head back northeast to reach the Banks Peninsula where we hope to see dolphins and other beautiful landscapes before returning to Christchurch at the end of February to complete this 900-mile trip.

After a needed rest, I will say au revoir to Bernard and travel North and join the Blenheim area where my job at Whitehaven Cellars starts March 4th. I found a very nice cottage located 7 miles away from my work so I will continue to enjoy my bike for commuting back and forth for another 7 weeks.

When I am done with this exciting period, I plan to explore the North Island. I am not sure if I will use my bike or rent a camper (or both) for that, those plans are still up in the air.

What is certain is that I am going to have a wonderful time in this country that has always fascinated me.

Any suggestions, help, or contacts during my different "périples" will always be welcome at [email protected]

Happy Thanksgiving.

Love and Peace,
Jean-Marc

FRENCH VOCABULARY

Click to listen to the French and English terms
le périple = trek, journey
Joyeuse Action de Grâce = Happy Thanksgiving
la tarte à la citrouille = pumpkin pie
le potimarron = red kuri squash
le lait concentré sucré = condensed milk with sugar
la noix de muscade = nutmeg
à refaire = to do again
une cuisse de dinde = turkey leg

We celebrated Thanksgiving a day early to accommodate friends leaving town. Thanks, Sandra Zirah, for this photo of Jean-Marc and me cooking green beans and une cuisse de dinde over my mother-in-law's chestnut and girolle stuffing. Present at table were Sandra and Patrick, our son Max and Ana, and (vicariously) Mom (she enjoyed her plate of turkey back in her studio. She has a little cold and did not wish to share it with our travelers.).

REMERCIEMENTS
Sincere thanks to readers sending in a blog donation for the first time and to my returning patrons listed below. Your support keeps me going, and I am truly grateful!

Debbie L.
Richard L.

Love reading each week. Look forward to our next trip to France. —Richard

So excited to have finally made pumpkin pie. In case it didn't turn out (and it did!) I also made chocolate chip cookies.

Joyeuse Action de Grâce! photo of me and Ricci by Sandra Zirah

COMMENTS
To comment on today's post, click here. Your edits are always appreciated, too! Merci beaucoup!

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Punaise! Our Hotel in Paris had a little bug (and not the kind you’re thinking)….

Thursday, November 16, 2023

Punaise! When I heard about the bed bug epidemic in Paris, I almost canceled plans to see my best friend. I’m so glad I didn’t let those punaise reports destroy this joyful reunion.

TODAY'S WORD: Punaise!

: Darn! Oh no! Oh dear!

Punaise also means bug or “bed bug”. The exclamation may have been born of the horror of seeing the crawly creatures, i.e. Punaises! Bed bugs! It is a very popular way to express surprise in French, in any let-down situation. Come to think of it, “Bed bugs!” makes for a colorful expression in English, too, don't you think?

A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE by Kristi Espinasse

Rouge-Bleu in Paris

Over leftovers of sea bass and exotic vegetables, a scrumptious meal I’d carted back on the train, I was remembering my visit with my best friend Susan, a.k.a. Rouge-Bleu,* in Paris. Oh to go back! Suddenly I felt a strong desire to relive our farewell dinner at Cafe de L’Alma. Even if the music was loud (our waitress kindly turned it down) I wanted to be transported back into that seat, energized by lively conversation, with Paris as a backdrop! Moreover, I wanted to relive all of the experiences my dear friend and I had this past weekend! While I can’t do that, I can write about it now and so relive a few of the memorable moments….

Saturday night, after 6 years apart, my best friend from high school and I caught up with each other in The City of Light. There in a pitch dark room, we were each tucked into a twin bed overlooking a grand suite decked in flowers, chocolates, and an unopened bottle of Ruinart champagne. Beyond the suite's balcony, at the edge of this golden triangle in which our girlhood aspirations had projected us, the Eiffel Tower sparkled.

Our pillows, packed exclusively with lavender flowers, were delivered earlier during le service du soir and filled our deluxe accommodations with the scent of good dreams to come. Meantime, un grand rêve unfolded all around us.

“Rouge-Bleu," I whispered to my longtime friend, "can you believe we are in Paris, in this room?” Susan and I met our sophomore year as new students at a high school in Scottsdale, Arizona. We were two fish out of water who quickly found each other in English class. Susan was from the small town Douglas, near the Mexican border, and I was from the west side of Phoenix, where I grew up in a trailer park. We were galaxies away from our European futures, but the seed of adventure was planted when we made a vow (before we could even drive) to travel to Beverly Hills.

California, it turns out, was not in the cards. And if we were here, now, in this 5-star Parisian hotel, enjoying free accommodations for two nights, it was thanks to Susan who, following university, began a career in travel and went on to found Critics Choice Vacations. Susan was currently in Paris attending DUCO France "an annual boutique travel summit held in Paris, France. A niche and destination-oriented event, highlighting the excellence of French hospitality to the world’s most important buyers."

In the past 22 years, Susan and her team have created thousands of 1st class travel experiences for clients. It was fascinating to hear about all the details Susan takes care of for her travelers—from a helicopter transfer to/from the Nice airport to a personalized shopping trip in Monte Carlo to wheelchair access during a cruise down the Rhone to medical assistance while on a safari in Africa (wait, I should add no lions were involved!). I loved quizzing Rouge-Bleu about her 24/7 job and all the adventures her clients experience all over the world.

Together now in Paris, we were not without our own adventures, right here in our luxury suite... Arriving back from dinner near the Arc de Triomphe, having finally gotten our keycard to open the door of our room, we were startled to find two strangers in our suite after 10 at night...While I stood shuddering discreetly in the foyer, Susan calmly addressed the unexpected guests, asking about the nature of their visit.

As far as I could see, the men were not wearing hotel uniforms but were dressed in khaki pants and shirts--a kind of camouflage? I wondered. "We are working on a mechanical issue," one of the men explained.

Well, that sort of made sense, except for the hour. As I said, it was past 10 at night! It was true our deluxe suite had been experiencing technical difficulties. Everything within the room was operated via an electronic tablet (similar to an IPad). Even the toilet was a high-tech wonder--with its own multi-function control panel. Rouge-Bleu told me it was one of those Japanese toilets, aka a Toto. Its seatwarming function, the water jets, and the dryer (no need for TP) were all operated electronically.

Similar to an electric car, if one thing goes wrong you're up the creek. And now the hotel's engineers were here for a lighting problem Susan had reported earlier. Relieved to know these weren't robbers, I quietly chuckled to think that our 5-star room was as technically challenged as Susan and I had been, as we tried to use the high-end amenities!

After the engineers left, the hotel manager came to apologize: regrettably, the technical issue could not be solved that night. We now had three options: 1) We could move to another suite 2) or stay here and sleep with all the lights on or 3) have the engineers shut off the electricity for one part of our suite so we could at least sleep in the dark.

Considering Susan had her office set up in one area, and our suitcases were opened and unpacked, neither of us wanted to pack up and move in the middle of the night. Given it was bedtime, it might be okay to shut off the main switch as we were only going to sleep now anyway…but then what about the electronic toilet? Would Toto flush?

The technicians were back once again to figure that out and, in the end, the high-tech wonder passed the test!

Well then, as long as Toto would flush we'd stay! After the mechanics and manager left, we tucked ourselves into the lavender-scented beds to laugh about the irony of having to use our own equipment (our own phone, as the hotel phone no longer functioned via the "smart" tablet, and our own flashlights on our phones) to navigate to the bathroom of our "luxury accommodations".

The good news was after all the talk of bed bugs in Paris, we didn't have any of those. But, punaise! We can't say the same for technological bugs, of which our suite had a few.

I would like to end with giant thanks to my bestie, ma meilleure amie, Rouge-Bleu. It was wonderful to spend time with you in Paris and to see you at work in the city. We never did make it to Rodeo Drive. Sometimes our dreams take us beyond our very own imaginations!

* * *

COMMENTS
Thank you in advance for your comments and corrections. I appreciate every word! Click here to leave a message.

Rouge-Bleu and I recreating a picture we took over 15 years ago during a trip to Monaco. You may be wondering about the nickname Susan and I share, and wasn't that the same name of your former vineyard? Yes, it was! The vineyard name was chosen back in 2006, after Jean-Marc asked me if I had any suggestions as to what to name our winery. On a whim, I blurted out "Rouge-Bleu!" He immediately liked it and went on to incorporate it for his business. We've since sold the vineyard but the name lives on with the new owners (and will always live on with the best friends pictured).

Thanks, Rouge-Bleu, for finding this old photo.

Susan and her team create personalized travel experiences to Europe and beyond. If you are ready to follow your dream to Paris (or anywhere in the world) contact Susan at Critics Choice Vacations.

FRENCH VOCABULARY

Listen to the French terms listed below click here.

Rouge-Bleu = red-blue
Ruinart = the oldest champagne house in France
service du soir = turndown service
un grand rêve = a big dream
punaise! = oh no! darn!
la punaise = bed bug
la meilleure amie = best friend

REMERCIEMENTS
Thanks in advance to readers sending in a blog donation for the first time, and to my returning patrons listed below. Your support keeps the wheels of this weekly journal turning, and I am truly grateful!

Lucie A.
Merle J.
Pattie M.
Mollie B.
Janice H.
The Gaucher Family

Thank you, Kristi, for your blog which I've been reading and enjoying for 20+ years! Mollie B.

Photo by Rouge-Bleu, courtesy of Critics Choice Vacations

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