Celebrating 22 Years with French Word-A-Day: From Trick-or-Treaters to Timeless Tales
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Twenty-two years ago, on a crisp autumn morning, the scent of candy in the air, this blog was born. In the medieval village of Les Arcs-sur-Argens, preparations were underway for Halloween—a totally new concept in France at the time. A ghoulish parade was about to begin, with local children dressed as witches, ghosts, skeletons, and little devils, going door to door to collect bonbons from village merchants, while des citrouilles d'Halloween flickered on porches, illuminating the festive spirit. There in the municipal parking lot, amidst a crowd of novice trick-or-treaters, my five-year-old Jackie and her seven-year-old frérot were giddy, and so was I…
That Halloween parade was my first cultural event to report on, and I covered the entire subject in one brief entry in this online journal. Here’s an excerpt from October 31, 2002:
Guess what? The French are celebrating Halloween! Today children will se défiler (parade) down the village streets dressed as sorcières (witches), fantômes (ghosts), and citrouilles (pumpkins). In France, the citizens haven’t yet figured out that it’s okay to be Elvis for Halloween… Les enfants (the children) will solliciter local bakeries, butchers, and various shops for candy (bonbons).
Granted, that short billet was more of a headline than a story. But soon, these paragraph-long reports grew into soulful essais—and how fitting that word is, coming from the verb essayer (to try). I soon learned that all you needed to be a writer was the willingness to essayer—the courage to try.
Since that day, I’ve been an essayist—someone who tries to put words down on paper. And, remarkably, it’s no easier today than it was 22 years ago which sometimes baffles me. But then, that’s true of every worthy pursuit, isn’t it? As you progress you build experience, but, just like jumping off a cliff, the fall is never the shorter. You may have better gear, more wisdom, and more muscle, but that doesn’t eliminate the fear, the risk of rejection from publishers and readers, and the looming threat of humiliation. Because once you have got your story down, no matter your intention, interpretation is out of your control. All you can do is try to improve your expression, day after day after day. Then one day, you repost an essay from years ago—only to get this feedback: “Loved today’s story! Your writing has improved so much!”
Maybe we don’t get better. But we get bolder!
Back to the grind… Each day brings the challenge of not knowing what to write about—in this blog post, in that magazine column, in this upcoming chapter—whatever the pen-worthy assignment might be. It can feel as daunting as a skeleton lurking in the closet, a goblin staring you down, or as unnerving as a ghostly whisper of doubt. And that brings us to today: Halloween! Just what is there left to say about that? Should I wax poetic about mums? During Toussaint chrysanthemums are the French flower of choice for cemeteries—precisely why you should never bring them as a hostess gift! Or perhaps I could describe the decorations that've gone up in town, in orange and black--so many pumpkins, spiders, and bats! Or let me tell you about the stash of candy I’ve amassed for the four trick-or-treaters who’ll hopefully ring our doorbell after sundown. Currently, les friandises are hidden from Jean-Marc, though I know our sweets thief will end up with them all tomorrow—when he’ll split le butin with his bewitching belle-mère Jules. Just don’t share with Ricci—chocolate is poisonous for dogs! Instead, we’ll offer her the pumpkin-themed jelly beans.
Voilà, my stab at a Halloween report--or essay--this year. Time, now, to figure out how to close this birthday post disguised as a spooky story…
On this, l’anniversaire of French Word-A-Day, I’d like to express my heartfelt gratitude. Merci beaucoup, dear reader, for lining up outside my door, like the most faithful trick-or-treater, waiting to see what goodies are in store for you today. I wouldn’t be here, all dressed up in my Writer costume, if it weren’t for you showing up on the other side of this portal. And now here we are together, many Halloweens later! Max and Jackie are all grown up and will greet trick-or-treaters chez eux. So many changes in your lives, too. Yet through it all, we continue on—writer and reader—for as long as we can say bêtise ou friandise, Trick or Treat! Ultimately, while writing may be fraught with uncertainty, it is also filled with countless blessings, reminding us that every word penned is a gift shared between writer and reader.//
Ricci peeks at the candy for our trick-or-treaters: chocolate euro bills, jelly beans, chocolate skeletons, ghosts, bats, and pumpkins. Ricci jette un coup d'œil aux bonbons pour nos petits monstres : billets en chocolat, bonbons gélifiés, squelettes, fantômes, chauves-souris et citrouilles en chocolate.
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FRENCH VOCABULARY
AUDIO FILE: Click here to listen to Jean-Marc pronounce the French:
Les Arcs-sur-Argens = a medieval village in Provence
le bonbon = candy
la citrouille d'Halloween = jack-o-lantern
le frérot = brother
se défiler = to parade
la sorcière = witch
le fantôme = ghost
la citrouille = pumpkin
les enfants = children
solliciter= to solicit
l’essai (m) = essay
essayer = to try
la Toussaint = All Saints' Day
la friandise = candy
le butin = loot
la belle-mère = mother-in-law
voilà = so there you have it
l’anniversaire (m) = anniversary
merci beaucoup = thanks so much
chez eux = at their place
bêtise ou friandise = trick or treat
Did you notice anything missing from the above list? Any other errors? Thanks for letting me know here in the comments.
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For more online reading: The Lost Gardens: A Story of Two Vineyards and a Sobriety