Piquer: Guess who moved out of our house and stole away with our stuff?
Friday, September 16, 2022
Max, working from his new îlot central. After 8 months of renovation, our son is finally settled into his new appartement.
Visiting La Ciotat or a nearby town? Stop in and see us at Jean-Marc's wineshop. Call ahead and we'll set up a visit.
Today's Word: piquer
: prick, bite, sting
: to steal, nab, nick
Her Own Legacy by Debra Borchert: A Woman Fights for Her Legacy as the French Revolution Erupts. Available in paperback or read it on Kindle
FRENCH SOUND FILE: Click the following link to hear Jean-Marc pronounce piquer +hear all of the French words in today's post. Then scroll down to the vocabulary section to check your French comprehension.
A DAY IN A FRENCH LIFE...by Kristi Espinasse
Lunch Chez Max
Mom and I were driving to Max's new digs when I cautionned my passenger for the nième time to Hang on!
But what is there to hang on to when you are seated with a cactus? We had just bought the prickly housewarming gift at la pépinière's, only to discover it was too tall to fit into the back of our jeep. That left the passenger seat....
As the tires eased over another nid-de-poule in the road, Jules shielded herself with a flimsy towel, using it as a barrier between her and the spiky cadeau which was set on the floorboard and stood level with Mom's shoulders. By the time we arrived at Max's condo complex, both driver and passenger were already worn out from the gift-buying adventure. Only now there were four flights of stairs to climb (pas d'ascenseur), to make it to Max's pad.
Introducting FLOF = "Free Lunch on Friday"...
We are so proud of Max for the way he planned and orchestrated the renovation of his appart (make that "condo" in English, because even if apartments and condos look similar in France, in some cultures you don't buy an apartment--you rent one). Max called on friends and family for all works associated with his condo and managed this bighearted team on his own. Max and Uncle Jacques demolished walls and Jacques put in the dry wall, Aunt Cécile did the woodwork, architect friend Zoë drew up a floorplan, pal Clément installed the electricity, best friend Yann, his brother, and father put in the floortiles, Anaïs added many loving final touches and Jean-Marc and I did various errands and a lot of cooking! In the 8 months it took Max et compagnie to renovate his apartment, and while he continued to live here at home--nourri, logé, blanchi--I often hinted that it would be nice to eat chez lui one day. "We can call it FLOF! Free Lunch on Fridays!" Thus, FLOF was born and here we were, about to enjoy a meal--our first FLOF--chez Max!
But, as guests...what to buy for someone who has everything? Let me tell you a little bit about how that happened. First, do you know the verb in French for "swipe" or "steal"? It's "piquer"! Here are some examples/funny synonyms of piquer--as well as a list of missing items from our family home:
Max a piqué le canapé... he nabbed the couch
il a piqué le gel douche... he pinched the shower gel
il a piqué la lessive... he pilfered the laundry detergent
il a piqué le miroir... he lifted the mirror
il a piqué la table de nuit... he swiped the nightstand
il a piqué le repose-pied ... he stole the foot rest
il a piqué trois tabourets de la cave de Jean-Marc... he took three bar stools from Jean-Marc's wineshop
il a piqué la planche à découper...and he ran off with the cutting board!
(He yanked that last item right out from beneath the veggies I was about to chop! And, as usual, he offered a grinning and irresistable explanation: he's taken these items in the name of sentimentality. He grew up with a lot of this stuff--and would like it to live on chez lui. Blame it on la nostalgie!) As for the shower gel and clothes soap, his sister stole it back. (Go, Jackie!) I'd like Aunt Cécile's cutting board returned, but it does look good in Max's kitchen and who can resist that devilish grin, that twinkle in his eyes that says: it's mine now.
Despite all that our son looted, I still got him an early crémaillière present. So, you might ask, what does one offer someone who steals? (Quelqu'un qui pique?)
Something piquant, of course!
And so, dear reader, we got him a cactus.
***
The cactus gives a touch of Max's southwest American roots.
While saving for a dining room table, Max is using this foldout card table (also snatched from our place...). He got the bistro chairs free, too, from our friend Fabrice, at Le Vin Sobre Marseilles, who was clearing out his own wine shop. The chess board was a gift from grand-mère Michèle-France, years ago. Max's cork bar stools (you can barely see one there at the kitchen island) are are available here. The bar stool reminds us of a champage cork and the wire cage surrounding it.
***
Related Stories from the Blog Archives:
Mortgage is a Creepy Word... (Max looks to buy an appartement
Nid-de-Poule - insight into one of our vocab words via a story Max wrote when he was in high school
Cécile's work - a story about my belle-soeur
FRENCH VOCABULARY
un îlot central (de cuisine) = kitchen island
un appartement = condo
piquer = pinch, nab, nick, steal
nième = umpteenth
la pépinière = the garden center, nursery
le nid-de-poule = pothhole
le cadeau = present
nourri, logé, blanchi = "fed, housed, laundered", the term is often used in a humorous, sarcastic sense
Max a piqué le canapé = he nabbed the couch
il a piqué le gel douche = he pinched the shower gel
il a piqué la lessive = he pilftered the laundry detergent
il a piqué le miroir = he lifted the mirrorµ
il a piqué la table de nuit = he swiped the nightstand
il a piqué le repose-pied = he stole the foot rest
il a piqué trois tabourets de la cave de Jean-Marc = he took three bar stools from Jean-Marc's wineshop
il a piquer la planche à découper...and he took off with the cutting board
la crémaillère = housewarming party
piquant(e) = prickly
Max and his grand-mère, Jules
Feathers and clouds...
Jean-Marc enjoying Max's pasta. Max also made a delicious green salad and served Magnum ice cream chocolate pops for dessert.
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Couldn't read this blog without saying what lovely apartment (or condo!) Max has made, with his friends and family's help - it's gorgeous! He has good sense (choosing his place and getting help with the improvement work) and good taste (decor and design) and it's lovely to hear about FLOF. Heartwarming that he has taken things which he grew up with, to make his new home with some of the old home. May he have many happy times there - congratulations to Max on obtaining this first place of his own and congratulations to you and Marc on raising such a wonderful young man (and your wonderful young woman, Jacqui, also!). You must all be very proud of your achievements. Enjoy!
Posted by: Lorraine | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 11:34 AM
Félicitations, Max! Magnifique! How nice to see you so grown up and in your own place. We have all watched you grow up! We’ll done.
Posted by: Lynn ar Southern Fried French | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 11:55 AM
good taste! Love the mirror, no wonder he stole it :-)
Enjoy!
Posted by: Kristina | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 01:31 PM
Well done, Max! It’s a classy and comfortable apartment. You have a good sense of design. Wonderful to have such generous friends and family to lend a hand and furnishings. :) Enjoy your new digs!
Posted by: Susan Stafford | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 01:49 PM
Congratulations on your new digs, Max, and also to the renovation crew! Being married to someone in the business, and having done a lot of this work myself, I can tell you all did a fantastic job! Love the wall colors too. Enjoy!
Posted by: Suzanne Codi | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 01:49 PM
Don't tell me there's a mirror over the stove - holy tamale!
Posted by: Suzanne Dunaway | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 01:52 PM
Haha! That is the mirror he swiped...from my own stovetop. It used to reflect all the green outside our kitchen window. Now, chez Max, it reflects the sea. He has a small view of the Mediterranean and now he can also see it while cooking. The only negative is grease marks, but they are not to hard to keep up with.
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 01:57 PM
Terrific story as always! On the blog archive link for nid- de poule, may I suggest “insight” instead of “incite”?
Amitiés,
Karla
Posted by: Karla Ober | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 02:27 PM
Bon boulot, Max ! Or, as we say in my house, Bumbelo !
Kristi, you'll want to remove the accent: le cadeau = présent
Bonne journée, les Espinasses et grand-mère !
Posted by: Maureen McCormick | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 02:45 PM
Thank you for catching that, Maureen. So helpful. And I love Bumbelo!
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 02:50 PM
Thanks, Karla. Off to fix this one, and much appreciated!
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 02:52 PM
Correction: it's not nieme, it's enieme with an accent grave over the second "e".
Posted by: Gail | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 03:08 PM
Thanks for your note, Gail. As far as I can see there are two possible ways to spell umpteenth in French:
https://www.wordreference.com/fren/nième
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 03:12 PM
Max's condo is fantastique! Having met him 13 or 14 years ago it is so nice to see him in his own place as a young adult. That cactus looks perfect against the sage wall with the tv. Is he is La Ciotat or a nearby town? Congratulations to all of his friends and relatives who made this possible.
Posted by: Suzanne M Dennis | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 03:49 PM
Thanks, Suzanne. Cécile helped him with the wall color. He lives in La Ciotat, too!
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 04:35 PM
What a gorgeous pad for Max! And kudos to him for such organization of workers to accomplish the task. How proud of him you must be!
Posted by: Sue Lennox | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 04:57 PM
Mais sa mère l’aime.
Posted by: Henry Lambert | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 05:05 PM
Brilliant choice on Max's part of his condo, with its light and airy aspect. And such good work and design in all of the renovation! Bravo Max and team FAF (Family and Friends)!
Posted by: Ellen | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 05:07 PM
What a handsome place for a handsome young man!
Such a great story about giving and receiving love, too!
Happiness and the best of times to you all!
Posted by: K.J. Laramie | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 05:12 PM
Hi Kristi,
What a nice apartment and I love the balcony! So nice that he is right there in La Ciotat!
The mirror looks great and I love the cactus! Is it a saguaro?
Have a lovely weekend!
Eileen
Posted by: Eileen | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 05:13 PM
Hi Eileen, Saguaro—that is my guess too. Thanks and enjoy your weekend, too.
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 06:17 PM
Just wanted you to know that we stopped at Jean-Luc's wine shop in May. He was not working, but his assistant was and we purchased 6 delicious bottles for our journey in the south.
The apartment is great.Congratulations.
Posted by: LeeAnn Bartolini | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 07:37 PM
I get the mirror over the stove thing. I didn't have a mirror over my stove but a microwave with a dark glass door. Behind me was a big picture window overlooking our lake and I could stand at the stove and see the reflection of the lake with boats going by, birds and waves. Great when you're waiting for something to boil, etc. Always enjoyed that!
Posted by: Jill Mather | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 08:06 PM
Max’s appart looks great - so modern & stylish! Love the stools! So perfect for Max. And, the cactus is an excellent choice (I’m slightly prejudiced, being from AZ).
Posted by: Judy Feldman | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 08:46 PM
It’s so exciting to see our children thrive and blossom! Congratulations and enjoy the FLOFs!
Posted by: Julie Zoeller | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 08:49 PM
What a fun story, Kristi! I fully understand how our sons can persuade us mothers with those twinkling eyes and smiles. And how the sisters who set things straight! Bravo Max! Un très cool apart! p.s. - love the cactus - way to represent from Arizona!! ♥
Posted by: Beth Fiacco | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 08:59 PM
Love Max’s apartment and looks like a beautiful view. Best of Luck to him.
Posted by: Karen Cafarella | Friday, September 16, 2022 at 10:35 PM
Kristie,
I’m trying to find a great rosé.. I bought yours on a trip to Washington DC , but now I need more and I don’t yours is available near me. So what other one would you or John Mark recommend? There are too many for me to find one by trial and error. Merci
Diana🍷
Posted by: Diana weaver | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 12:23 AM
Waouh! Quel appart! Trés chic!
Posted by: Joanne | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 05:24 AM
Bravo to Max. The apartment is fabulous and the cactus is perfect in every way. It definitely references his southwestern heritage and also reminds me of Jules time in Mexico.
Posted by: Jacqueline | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 10:09 AM
Hi Diana, I just sent a note to Max and JM and hope to get back to you. What city are you in? It will depend on your location.
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 10:38 AM
Wow, Please tell Max I am very impressed, and a Hello to Cecile from the very appreciative American she took to la gare.
Posted by: Vance Anderson-Inks | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 08:37 PM
Chère Kristi,
Les phrases utilisant piquer étaient hilarantes!
Chin-chin, Max!
Bisous, Barbara
Posted by: Barbara Stephano | Saturday, September 17, 2022 at 08:38 PM
Chere Kristi,
What a lovely place he's got! Looks like my dream home. Perfect in every way, especially with all your nice things. When I left home to go to college at 18 my father accused me of putting the house on wheels and taking it all. The truth is, I hardly took at thing because I moved into an apartment the size of a closet. Oh well.
xoxo
Cate
Posted by: Cate Salenger | Sunday, September 18, 2022 at 10:33 PM
wow! time goes by. Max has grown into a handsome man
Posted by: maryann 'mimi" taylor | Friday, November 04, 2022 at 06:30 PM
Chere Kristi,
Have you or any of your readers ever wondered what everyday life was like in France three hundred year ago? Six hundred? Nine hundred? People like you and me, but way back then? Imagine for a moment a you-are-there cinema-like account of daily life in 1003, 1193, 1260, 1346, 1440, 1539, and so on. Today, as we look at the tohubohu of daily life around us, we can't imagine what life must have been like before electronics, self-powered vehicles, water we can drink, and prise électrique with wires coming out that give us light, warmth, and easy-to-prepare meals that would be fit for gastronomic royalty two hundred years ago.
Now imagine stepping back fifty years into France in the early 1970s. Would daily life in 1973 more resemble modern life, or life centuries gone by? I lived and travelled all over France and Francophone Morocco back then, and came away with detailed diary notes and photo slides of what life was like even so short a time ago. Mere jottings then, I came across them three years ago stuffed into a box I had forgotten for forty-five years. I was shocked: this was living history—and the diaries and photos described a world more like centuries prior than today.
So I wrote a book about daily life in France starting in the year 1003, progressing one or two days per century all the way up to 1975. I wrote it so the readers will feel as though they are walking side-by-side with people who lived in 1193, 1260, 1518, 1660 … all the way up to 1975.
Still that wasn’t enough. Words would be inadequate to fully get across the tenor of the times for we who live unimaginably distant from them. Hence I went back to pictorial images that were produced during the years described in the chapters. Illuminated manuscripts, Books of Hours, drawings, frescoes, engravings. It is astounding how much pictorial evidence exists of daily life in the thirteenth, fifteenth, or eighteenth centuries. I illustrated the book with 240 images that go back as far as 1171. Daily life reality in ancient France has never had so vivid a rendering.
To belabour the point no further, the book, called “Book of Days” (emulating the myriad Books of Hours produced between the 1300s and 1600s), is available for FREE to anyone who wants to download and read it. You and your readers can peruse and download it at .
Could you please post this for your readers? The daily lives of people long ago are just as real as our neighbours and your son Max at the chessboard in his dining table today
Thank you,
Douglas Bullis,
South Africa
Posted by: Douglas Bullis | Friday, November 04, 2022 at 06:54 PM
Kristi, the web link is issuu.com/douglasbullis/docs/book_of_days_300_dpi_261_mb
Posted by: Douglas Bullis | Friday, November 04, 2022 at 06:56 PM
Wow..I missed this post from last year. I can't believe Max is all grown up now with his own beautiful apartment. I've been following these stories since I moved to France ~18/19 years ago. The kids have grown up, there have been several moves, there is always a wonderful adventure to read about.
Posted by: Aleta | Friday, August 18, 2023 at 05:49 PM
Thank you, Aleta, for reading this post from the archives. I am so touched to know you began reading when the kids were little. Wishing you a lovely rest of the summer. À bientôt. 💕
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Friday, August 18, 2023 at 08:26 PM
I must have missed this post, and just saw the comments when reading about Max's new place.
I tried the link sent by Doug Bullis, but got a message that it said it couldn't find the page I was looking for. Is the "Book of Days' somewhere?
Marianne Rankin
Posted by: Marianne Rankin | Thursday, September 07, 2023 at 03:26 AM
Hi Marianne,
Try this link:
https://issuu.com/douglasbullis/docs/book_of_days_72_dpi_43.6_mb_issuu_no_isbn
Cheers,
Kristi
Posted by: Kristin Espinasse | Thursday, September 07, 2023 at 07:56 AM