A Mystery: Diriger, benir, and the anonymous gift we received
Recipe + Hospitality + gardons les choses simples (one pot meal in the Land of 5 Courses)

To wish + Heureuse année, bonnes resolutions, and to get on one's nerves!

port alon saint cyr-sur-mer south of france golden retriever smokey wooden picket beach fence

A favorite place to walk and talk. Conversation with my daughter in today's story.

TODAY'S WORD: se souhaiter

        : to wish one another, to wish each other

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:


Le 31 Décembre à minuit les français se souhaitent une bonne et heureuse année et prennent parfois de bonnes résolutions pour changer leurs habitudes.
December 31st, at midnight, the French wish each other a good and happy year and sometimes make good resolutions to change their habits.

ECOUTEZ - Hear Jean-Marc pronounce today's example sentence in French:
Download MP3 soundfile


A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE

    by Kristi Espinasse

Yesterday, I found my daughter sitting in the sun on the front porch. "Hey, what are you up to?" I said.

"I was thinking about going for a walk at Port d'Alon."

"Oh..." Walking alone along the littoral is not a good idea. A week ago while hiking with my husband we encountered Charles Manson (or his look-alike, who acted just as étrange as he bee-lined towards us, shirtless in winter, waving his arms and babbling in French. We remained calm until he finished his one-way conversation and disappeared down the path). For this reason, I was about to talk Jackie out of the coastal walk when suddenly she asked if I wanted to join her.

How could a parent turn down an invitation by her child to walk in nature? What an immeasurable step up this was from the mall request!

My teenager drove and I did my best not to grip the door handle or suck in my breath each time I sensed a threat. "It's not you, Honey. It's the other drivers, who cross over the median!" Soon we made it down into the calanque, its parasol pines so tall they leaned over, ready to snap. To our surprise the park was teeming with people. Mais bien sûr -- ce sont les vacances de Noël!

Jackie took charge of Smokey (as she has ever since our golden retriever ran off with my arm, dislocating my elbow), so all I had to do was walk and not say Annoying Mom Things--and so spoil this privileged time together.

I bit my tongue when we passed a nice young man (Jackie's age? Her type?) who was training his border collie. I watched as the dog weaved in and out of his master's legs, on command, then jumped--twirling in the air!

And it did not escape me when the young man looked over at the girl walking her golden retriever.... That's when I began herding us over toward the (single? local?) entraîneur, but my daughter had her eyes on the shoreline, which seemed to pull her toward the salty waters.

"Il fait tellement beau!" she sighed. "Ready to hike?" and with that Jackie turned abruptly toward the sentier.

Half way up the path, we were immersed in the scent of pine and surrounded by blossoming pink bruyère! "Isn't this beautiful?" I asked, only to notice my daughter's eyes were glued to her phone.

"Ça me saoule!" she complained.

"Pardon?"

"He is still sleeping and it's 2 pm! He hasn't answered ANY of my messages!"

"Who? Your boyfriend?"

"IL ME SAOULE!" came the confirmation.

"He get's on your nerves? That would be a good French word of the day--SAOULER!" I smiled, trying to get my 19-year-old to laugh about it. IL EST SAOULANT! I shouted, for good measure. But that would be the extent of any weighing in on my part.  This young love would have to figure it out herself. All I can do is try, when the occasion arises, to herd her toward the more chipper, engaging, and interesting types. They are there, in her midst, weaving in and out of her path--jumping for her attention. She just hasn't woken up to them yet.


Jackie-at-Port-Alon-2016

Stories you may have missed: The town we are moving to and Did you know this rule for cheese?


FRENCH VOCABULARY
Increase your vocabulary with these words. More word-building here.

le littoral
= coastline
une calanque = sea inlet (story and bilingual post here)
étrange = strange
mais bien sûr
= but of course
ce sont les vacances de Noël!
= it's Christmas break!
il fait tellement beau =
the weather's so nice out
le sentier
= walking path
la bruyère = heather flower
saouler = to get on one's nerves

Jackie-smokey-fetch
Jackie and Smokey, earlier this year


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Heather
la bruyère - heather blooming in the Mediterranean forest


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Calanque-jm

MERCI BEAUCOUP
Thank you very much for reading this journal over the year. Wishing you a peaceful, happy, and healthy 2017!

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Comments

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Sarah LaBelle near Chicago

Ah you have flowers in bloom in the woods at the end of December. C'est si bon ! Bonne année !

Katia

I love that photo of beautiful Jackie with the quietly stunning, peaceful scenery. I miss the walks I used to take with my parents in my teens. I'm going to spend a week with them and am looking forward to us spending some time in the outdoors. Wishing you and your family a wonderful end of 2016 and an even better start to 2017!

Albert Trachtenberg

Se saouler also means to get drunk, n'est-pas?

onehsancare

Heureuse ET CALME année!

Lynda House

This post made me smile ..... 'Annoying mum comments' ..... Ah yes! Sometimes it seems everything a mother says to her offspring annoys or irritates them. It doesn't just happen when they are emerging from childhood to adulthood ..... My 45 year old son is my severest critic ...... He usually tells me I am opinionated and judgemental ...... When I dare voice an opinion that differs from his. But I love him and he loves me. The closer you are to your children the thicker your skin needs to be.

And why do they choose the wrong boyfriends/girlfriends? Why do they never learn? Arrrrgh! But then what were we like at their age? Probably just the same ....

Hope the house sake goes through smoothly. It must be a relief now the decision is made .....

Happy New Year to you Kristi and may all your family prosper and thrive.

djpollock@optusnet.com.au

Kristi. Living in Melbourne I love the connection to France de temps en temps. Thanks for your blog which I love. All the best for 2017. Daniel.

Alyssa Eppich

I meant to tell you last week, but only remembered this week-the photos have returned to my email of French Word-A-Day! Hooray! And Happy New Year to you, Kristi, and to all of your family!

Suzanne Codi

What a lovely way to end the year...spending time with Jackie and Smokey by the shore is such a precious time, so glad you recorded it for us...and yourself! I was just up in Ct. for Christmas visiting my elderly aunt and uncle, and the girls came across a very old, falling apart picture album, so we sat on the floor going through the tiny b&w photos ( some of me as a baby, VERY old...!!) and it made me think how lucky we are to have such wonderful technology now that we can record and share beautiful moments in stunning color in an instant!
Thank you Kristi ( and Jean-Marc) for sharing the beauty of your surroundings and of your family with us, it is always a highlight of the day to read you in the morning! And bonne et heureuse annee to all of you!

Audrey Wilson

A beautiful view indeed & very well photographed . It is true we Mums have all been there with inappropriate partners for our children,but eventually mine all found the right ones (phew !!)
I,too, wish a Bonne Année with health & happiness & good fortune in all that is in the future for you all

Eileen deCamp

Hi Kristi,
Beautiful post and photos! I am so excited when my daughter asks me if I want to go with her anywhere. It's so nice to spend time together! She asked me to go to the movies while she was here on break from work and we were ready to see La La Land and it was sold out except for one seat. We instead saw Assassins Creed which was awful but the time together laughing at such a bad movie was great! :-)

mary tindukasiri

Oh, yes! Mother/daughter relationships are infinitely complex and so life-giving when we can step back a bit. Happy New Year to all of you and blessings for the sale of the vineyard. xoxo Mary

Faye in Gleneden Beach OR

What a lovely post. You described perfectly the eternal mother-daughter dance. Have a very happy new year -- and thank you for inviting us into your world. I'm looking forward to your adventures and your move. Stay well!

Bob Dinwoodie

Happy Hogmanay Kristi to you and your family . Lang may yer lum reek !

Joanne

Bonne et heureuse année! What a wonderful gift to have quality time with a loved one! Before my mother died we took a road trip
To the Anza Borrego Desert over The Easter vacation. My father
Died the previous October so we took one of his favorite trips together as a remembrance. That year we celebrated Easter at an
ecumenical sunrise service en plein air which was especially beautiful because the desert wildflowers were in bloom. Your story and photo of the heather in bloom recalled this lovely experience to
me. Thank you, Kristin!

Marie

Happy New Year to you and your family, Kristi. Thanks for sharing your life with us, it's always a pleasure to live vicariously through you :) Que 2017 soit pour vous l’année de toutes les réussites, et de toutes les joies. Bonne Année !

Nancy

Thank you for your beautiful pictures, lovely writing and endearing insights. Goodby 2016!!! Welcome 2017!! May it be a wonderful year for all of your family.

Cynthia Gillespie-Smith

Lovely post, Kristi. Thank you for this one and all the others you pour your heart and soul into! You are much loved and respected by your readers and more importantly, by your family.

Kathleen from Connecticut

Looks wonderful and probably warmer than here in Lizy sur Ourcq. We have had la brouillard almost every day and from -2 to 2C for the last couple of days. But we look forward to a new yaer with hopes that the US will survive the next 4 years.
Heureuse Années .
Kathleen

nyc trish

Yes, it does, but in your example, "se saouler" is a reflexive verb; in this story, Kristin uses the transitive verb, "saouler," which means that the subject and the object of the action are different.

For example: Jackie's boyfriend is annoying her (by sleeping late and not responding to her texs): "Il me saoule"- he's annoying me/he's ticking me off!

However, if one were to say, "Il SE saoule", then that would mean that the subject of the sentence is in the process of getting drunk. "Il" and "se" refer back to each other.

Here's hoping that "personne ne se saoulera pendant le réveillon" and will drink only enough champagne to ceremonially usher in 2017! Happy New Year, everyone!

Robyn O'Neill

I am so happy for you and your wonderful family, including the dogs. It was a wise move not to come to the US, especially now with our terrible and chaotic political situation. You would never find any place as beautiful and good as France. It's true. Since food came up in your blogs, as it often does, I wonder if you could answer a question I have about a jar of "riste" I got at Monoprix in Paris a few times. It's supposed to be a Provencal recipe for a tomato-based spread, with eggplant in it and it's delicious. Are you familiar with it? Does it have another name? Thanks for listening and any info you may have about it.

C-Marie

Dear Kristi, A lovely story with wise momisms!! And if you ever choose to be a professional photographer, your talent is certainly visible!!! God bless you, C-Marie

carmelmaria41@gmail.com

My very best wishes to you Kristi and your lovely family. I hope 2017 brings you all happiness, peace and health and thank you for giving us all so much joy with your blog. Continuez votre bon travail!

Judi

Mother-daughter time is so special! Glad you had a nice walk together - especially nice when invited!

Natalia

Our dear Kristi,
Your beautiful post and pictures have once again wrapped us in smiles!
You and dear Jackie have such a loving bond;with gratitude it so reminds me of the happy times that my own sweet Mama and I shared.
Truly a gift!
Also a gift for us,your extended FWAD family,to share in your life and the inspiration your words never fail to fill us with.
THANK YOU,dear Kristi!
Happy New Year! One filled with all blessings of health and joy for you all.
Please know we keep you in our prayers.
Love
Natalia XO

Tom Mann

Happy new year to you, Jean Marc and the kids, Kristi

joie in Carmel

May the new year bring you peace, health, a new home, laughter, special time with the kids and Smokey, warm days and starry nights.
joie

Leslie NYC

Merci pour une annee plein de bon coeur et bonne ecriture!

Chris Allin

Dear Kristi,
Happy New Year to you and Jean Marc and all your family. As you move forward toward new horizons, we wish you peace and grace ...and lots of smiling sunflower faces! 🌻💛🌻

Suzanne in Monroe, NJ

Happy New Year, Kristin. No stronger bond of parent to child than life partners. So glad you and she have reconnected after her mono. She will find her soul mate as you and JM found each other:

Angela Sargent

Happy New Year Kristi,

Your weather makes me jealous!

Angela

Paul DeBoer

Kristi, thanks again for sharing your stories with us. Makes me miss Provence every time I read them. Blessings to you for this new year and to your dear family

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