This French Life

Author: Craig McGinty

  • French café favourites of Terrance Gelenter

    Gelenter THERE are many stories to be told about the streets of Paris, and author Terrance Gelenter is the man to guide you through some of the tales.

    His latest book, From Bagels to Brioches: Paris Par Hasard, takes you around the coffee tables and bookstores of the capital where you will meet many interesting characters.

    Here Terrance provides an extract from his book and offers up a stop at a famous café or two:

    Quotesstart_2The café in France is not just a place to have that morning pick me up necessary to launch another day at the office. It is your home away from home. It’s the place where friends and family can find you. Your quotidian café defines you as distinctively as the clothes you wear and the profession you ply.

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  • Preserving the bounty of your French vegetable garden

    Preserves-france
    WITH the rentreé all sewn up and relative calm returning to our households, we are probably all facing the same dilemma, writes Helen Aurelius-Haddock.

    Just what on earth are we going to do with all the produce from our gardens and fruit trees?

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  • Frequency lists for words in French language

    French-frequencyA LIST of the most frequently used words in French may prove handy when learning the language.

    There are a couple of helpful online stops that list common words, the first is Language Daily that lists 700 words, the first collection of which are audio enabled.

    So you can listen to the pronunciation of common words such as savoir or aller, while continuing through the list and find mieux at 159, or reconnaître at 546.

    Another web page to take a look over is on Wiktionary which lists 2,000 key French words, and if you click on the individual words you can find a simple translation and explanation.

  • The Linky – electricity measurement gadget from EDF

    LinkyCOMING to a home near you, the Linky is set to be installed in all new houses from 2012 and across France by the end of 2016.

    But what is it? The Linky is a device from EDF that aims to provide accurate measurements of electricity consumption and enable remote collection of data without disturbing home owners.

    The Linky has been trialled in around 300,000 homes in Indre-et-Loire and around Lyon, however the new system has its critics.

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  • The peace of the river Dordogne from a canoe

    Canoe-dordogne-top
    GLIDING through the water in your canoe as you pass the turrets and towers of Castlenaud on the river Dordogne, all you can hear is the splash of your oar as you head downstream.

    With the holiday season coming to an end, and the sun still warm on your back, now seemed a good time to take a trip down the river from Vitrac to Beynac.

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  • Coping with Parkinson’s disease in France

    Parkinson-franceBEING ill in France can really test your language skills, trying to describe where pain is and how you feel can be both exhausting and have potentially disastrous consequences.

    The Telegraph covers the problems faced by Britons living overseas who have Parkinson’s considering there is no test for the illness and that patients will have to see a specialist who will look into their health history.

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  • Photographs from a Dordogne summer

    • Sumer-dordogne
    • Sumer-dordogne-mushroom
    • Sumer-dordogne-morn
    • Sumer-dordogne-besse
    • Sumer-dordogne-corn
    Sumer-dordogne-corn

    HERE are some photographs from around the southern corner of the Dordogne, taking in the still morning air, mushrooms under the chestnut trees and a musical concert in the historic church of Besse.

  • Opening the doors at Domaine de La Gachère

    Gilles-lemoine

    Gilles Lemoine welcomed people in to Domaine de La Gachère

    FRANCE is a place of clichéd landmarks: Say Provence and infinite fields of lavender will appear along with its attendant charms and sun drenched monuments, writes Helen Aurelius-Haddock.

    Say Ile de Ré and golden sandy beaches and white sails draped around its chic harbours resonate in the mind’s eye. Say Deux Sèvres and you will be rewarded with a blank look.

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  • Tips when selling your French property

    House-1810FOR every person looking to buy in France there has to be another willing to sell, but what are the steps involved when putting your home up for sale?

    As in England, selling a property in France is generally more straightforward than buying, but there are still plenty of traps for the unwary, writes Guillaume Barlet.

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  • The last tobacco harvest

    JUST around the corner here in Loubejac the Pomès family are busy in the fields, with the help of their friends, collecting the tobacco plants.

    Tobacco cultivation starts with the initial planting of the seeds in trays in mid-March, towards the middle of May the job of planting around 20,000 plants in the field begins.

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