Why is it called? Part 2: French place names
French Like Moi: City of Light Bulbs
By Scott Dominic Carpenter author of French Like Moi
Listen to Scott read City of Light BulbsSurprise is the highest form of pleasure, and it’s easier to find than people think. You don’t have to invest your 401(k) in Powerball numbers to enjoy the fruits of unpredictability, or even travel by Amtrak. No, it turns out you can simply move to Paris, where the ordinary so often leads to adventure.
It went like this. Shortly before Anne returned from the States, I finished painting the walls and pushing the furniture back in place. During my final check, I discovered the bedroom lamp had burnt out. This led me to hoof it to the local supermarket, which stocks bulbs of various shapes and sizes.
Only after I returned home with my trophy did I realize my error.
In France, the base of a bulb is called a culot, a word derived from cul, which translates as “ass.” Although ungentlemanly in some contexts, c…
We love Le Chat and he is setting up on the Champs-Elysées!
From 26 March to 9 June, the City of Paris hosts a temporary installation of twenty monumental bronze sculptures of the famous "Le Chat" by Philippe Geluck on the Champs Élysées. The exhibiton is called LE CHAT DEAMBULE. The famous fat, but highly intelligent and well dressed tomcat takes up residence in central Paris, before undertaking a grand tour of France including Bordeaux, Caen. The sculptures continue on to Luxembourg and Brussels arriving for the inauguration of the Le Chat and cartoon drawing museum in 2023. Don't miss this fun event that will be reminiscent of the Botero sculptures on the Champs in the early 1990s.
If you haven't yet discovered this ironic cat it is time you did. He's the central character in more than 20 cartoon albums and has some pretty funny observations on the quirks of life. In thirty-eight years, Le Chat has entered the hearts of all generations with his good nature, his humor, his humanism and his very particular way to tackle …
Virtual visit: Black & White: an aesthetic of photography
After three (!) attempts to open the exhibition to the public "Black & White: an aesthetic of photography Collection of the National Library of France", the Rmn - Grand Palais has innovated and put virtual tours online until 18 June. Their hope is that the public will enjoy the exhibition anyway, but FUSAC reporter Judith Bluysen was not convinced.
The Noir & Blanc : une esthétique de la photographie exhibition presents black and white masterpieces from the photographic collections of the National Library of France (BnF), exceptionally brought together for the occasion. Nadar, Man Ray, Ansel Adams, Willy Ronis, Helmut Newton, Diane Arbus, Mario Giacomelli, Robert Frank, Wil…
Women Scientists International women and girls in science day
International Women's Day is 8 March. But I didn't know there was a day dedicated to Women Scientists - I should have suspected it though. This year and (every year) it was 11 February. We missed it, but we can still bring forth Women Scientists and doubly honor them for International Women's Day. These three were pioneering women scientists, two American, one French, who surrounded Rosa Bonheur, the namesake of our Book Room.
Natalie Micas was Rosa Bonheur's partner in life. She was a painter, like Bonheur, but also an engineer. She was born in Paris on the 26th of April 1824. Nathalie Micas was represented in the Hall of Science at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chica…
The Statue of Liberty in France
The Statue of Liberty, whose full name is Liberty Enlightening the World, was one of the greatest gifts ever given. The original was given by the people of France to the United States in 1886 and was installed in New York's harbor but did you know there are lots of Lady Libertys in France today? There are at least 25 in France and even more throughout the world.
In Paris alone there are quite a few. The one you need to know about is the one on the Allée des Cygnes which was a gift from the American community of Paris to Paris to commemorate the centennial of the French Revolution. On her tablet is the date July 14, 1789, as well as July 4, 1776. Then there's the one in the Luxembourg Gardens, inside a private lobby on rue du Cirque, there is one on the roof of a peniche near the Eiffel Tower and one in the Musée d'Orsay. Yet another is very tiny and hard to see; it is incrusted in the torso of César's Centaure (place Michel Debré Paris 6th) near his le…
International Bookstores in Paris
FUSAC's own Bill & Rosa's Book Room, is composed mainly of used English books. We also have a certain number of French language books. And when we also receive books in other languages Norwegian, Spanish, Portuguese, German and Polish we are reminded what a cosmopolitan city Paris is. In fact we read recently on the city of Paris' website in carefully inclusive French that the population of the city is composed of 22% Paris-born, some place else we saw 26% foreign-born and the rest of Parisians are non Parisian French. The international community stems from 176 nationalities. And 3/4 of Parisians think the ideal city is multicultural. This got us to thinking that there must be bookshops that deal in other languages beyond English and French so we set out to see what we could find and composed this list. After the foreign language shops there's a list of English bookstores in Paris and a few of the historic French shops we thought we just couldn't leave out. If you love…
A Passion for Complication
A slightly adapted excerpt from Demystifying the French: How to Love Them and Make them Love You, published by Winged Words Publishing, 2019. Copyright Janet Hulstrand, all rights reserved.
It’s best, whenever possible, to give the merchant exact change when buying something in France. “I do not know why, but I do know that French people really, really, really want you to give them exact change if you possibly can. They just do,” I tell my students.
This can lead to a confusing situation for Anglophones, because the word for “change” in French is monnaie. So if a French person looks at the money you have given them and says “Vous n’avez pas de monnaie?” you might understandably be confused. After all, haven’t you just given them monnaie?
But no, you see, you have not. You have given them argent, which means, literally “silver,” and is the word used for money. Or you have given them espèce, which means “cash”: but you have not given…
LOOFE 2020 is out! It’s free, fun and interesting
LOOFE, which stands for Light & Lively Observations on France Extraordinaire, is an annual magazine about life in France. Inside you’ll find short articles about different facettes of France and French society. You’ll find history, books, culture, people, language, photographs and nature explained helpfully with a touch of humor.Think of it as a manual for life in L’Hexagone! (L’Hexagone, incidentally, is one of France’s nicknames due to the nearly hexagonal shape of metropolitan France)
The third edition, which is out for 2020, contains articles called
Small is Good: Les Petits Plaisirs [of France], Laughter in France Rosa Bonheur, Broad with a Brush Photo essay Paris is not the Eiffel Tower Food Focus on Pâté en croûte See Paris and Die The Senate and of course there is a Culture Quiz, a Speak Easy Puzzle and "In Every French Household" Plus classified ads and advertising of places you should know in Paris …