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Se faire la pluie et le beau temps
French film director Jacques Demy was born on June 5, 1931. He was associated with the Rive Gauche (Left Bank) directors, an offshoot of the Nouvelle Vague (New Wave). His most famous film is Les...
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Il faut aimer la vie, même dans ses formes les moins attirantes
I was recently shocked to learn that my students have no clue who Jacques Cousteau was. I grew up on his TV specials about marine life, narrated by his gentle voice. Jacques-Yves Cousteau was born on...
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Tomber sur le paletot de quelqu’un
French teachers need to learn new vocabulary too. My favorite French language website is My Little Paris. In addition to lots of branché information about the City of Light, there are editions that...
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Trouver par hazard
I stumbled across a gorgeous French life-style blog last week, Trouvais, devoted to “French interiors, rough luxe, and flea market finds.” Author Trish Lyon Allen lives in northern California where...
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Un Branché
I’ve mentioned in the past how much I enjoy and benefit from the website My Little Paris. Now they have added My Little Video. Five days a week, they bring me a short film of two or three minutes –...
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Engrenages
My daughter has gotten me hooked on a French TV series, Engrenages (ehn-gren-aje), which means “gears” or “cogs.” If you’re familiar with the American series Law & Order, this is similar in that it...
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Le Bien-dire
When I was making the switch from lawyer to French teacher, I had some work to do. My French was good enough to be a tourist, but that was it. One of the resources that helped me enormously was a...
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Comme une Française
Clearly, you love french culture, or you wouldn’t be reading this blog. If you’d also like to speak and understand French better, the video blog Comme une Française (kum oon frahnsez), which means...
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Aquarelles
I’ve become enamored of the iPad App Waterlogue. It also works for iPhone and iPod Touch. The $2.99 App from Tinrocket turns your photos into quite decent looking aquarelles (ak-wahr-el) or...
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Un mot-dièse
One of the things I like best about teaching is that my students keep me rooted in the here and now. This is especially true when it comes to social media. I would never have set up this blog if I...
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Votre 06
You’re in Paris. You meet someone delightfully . . . French. After a philosophical discussion during which you resolve all of the world’s problems, your new friend says, “Votre 06, s’il vous plaît?”...
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Une maison témoin
I stumbled across a French TV series on Netflix; if you like suspenseful police thrillers, I think you’ll enjoy it. It’s entitled Les témoins (tay-mwahn), which means “Witnesses.” One of the main...
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Rien ne sert de courir
A few months ago, I found a podcast that I really enjoy, Happier with Gretchen Rubin and her sister Elisabeth Craft. Rubin is the author of a number of popular books about, well, happiness and how to...
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Five on Friday
I have to confess, I’ve been feeling a little ambivalent lately about continuing the blog. I thought I would experiment with a different format for the summer to shake things up a bit. One post a...
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Five on Friday
Well, the verdict on the new format was positive, so here we go again with a round-up of francophile recommendations: Artist makes the Louvre Pyramid disappear – I am looking forward to seeing this...
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Five on Friday
Peabody Essex Museum – Salem, Massachusetts is a funny town. There are great antique shops next to purveyors of witch-kitsch and lovely dockside restaurants next to people who are willing to sell you...
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Five on Friday 4
Wadsworth Atheneum Museum of Art – A couple of weeks ago, we headed over to Hartford, Connecticut to the Wadsworth Atheneum. The oldest public art museum in America recently re-opened after a major...
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Five on Friday 7
This morning, the news from Nice was profoundly sad. Here, in Paris, the sun is shining brightly and it’s a simply beautiful day. It’s hard to imagine that France has once again been the victim of...
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Five on Friday 9
I’m now home from Paris. The time always flies when I’m there! The last week of the Program was so busy that it wasn’t possible to post to the blog. Here are my francophile recommendations for the...
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Five on Friday 10
The Spectacular Second Empire 1852-1870 – If I were still in Paris, I would totally go to this exhibit at the musée d’Orsay. The Second Empire marks the reign on Napoleon III, a time of wealth and...
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